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Drawing a Blank: Or How I Tried to Solve a Mystery, End a Feud, and Land the Girl of My Dreams

Drawing a Blank: Or How I Tried to Solve a Mystery, End a Feud, and Land the Girl of My Dreams

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Drawing a Blank: Or How I Tried to Solve a Mystery, End a Feud, and Land the Girl of My Dreams

Author(s)

Daniel Ehrenhaft

Co-Authors / Illustrators

Trevor Ristow

Publisher

HarperCollins Publishers

Genre(s)

General Fiction

Age Range

12+

Release Date

April 25, 2006

ISBN

0060752521

Buy This Book

I don't know how this happened

One day I'm snug in my loner existence at Carnegie Mansion School, and the next I'm tramping through the Scottish wilderness looking for my dad. Who's been kidnapped. Because of a feud that started in medieval times. Or something. Suffice it to say, I never paid too much attention because I thought the whole thing was some twisted figment of my dad's imagination.

Now my only company is a wannabe cop who just might be my superhero dream girl. And if I don't deliver some piece of mysterious "proof" to the kidnappers, my dad is toast. I've got my fair share of issues with my dad, but I don't really want to see him burned to a crisp.

Anyway, you in?

This is not the first time I've been wrong about something.

I don't know how this happened

Anyway, you in?

This is not the first time I've been wrong about something.

Editor reviews

2 reviews

A tale of an unlikely hero (and heroine)

April 22, 2006

Overall rating

5.0

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I like funny. Funny is great. Funny, unlike tear-jerking dramas, doesnt leave you feeling wrung out like a washcloth or with a pile of soppy tissues by your feet. Not that theres not a fair share of drama in Drawing a Blank&after all, there are toilet swirlies, cold-freezer storage-prisons, daggers and letter openers&and, of course, Signy the Superbad.

Carlton Dunne IV is a bit of an unusual kid (or misanthrope, as his dad would have it), but nowhere near as cracked as his father, who believes hes caught in the middle of an ancient blood feud with the Clan Forba back in Scotland. Carlton is sure his dad is just completely off his rocker until his father is actually kidnapped by said Clan and it turns out that the feud really wasnt just a figment of his fathers imagination. And the demented Scottish voice on the telephone keeps demanding the proof, whatever that is.

So, whats a budding graphic artist to do (Carlton draws a comic called Signy the Superbad for a paper, even though they think its his dad that does it)? Though he doesnt always (seem to) have a lot of love for his crackpot father, he cant bear the thought of his half-sister Olivia losing a dad. So he packs his drawing pencils and heads off to the bonny land to save his father.

And almost immediately gets run over. But, he meets Aileen, a beautiful blonde Scottish butt-kicking lass, who decides to help him so she can get experience that will help her get a job as a cop one day. Heh. Try saying that twice.

He and Aileen traipse all over the countryside experiencing all manner of dangers and fish-breath until they actually discover the proof. And then all kinds of things happen and I cant tell you any of them, or Ill give too much away. Shoot, Ive already left off all kinds of interesting bits (like Carltons fan mail from NightMare, his trip to a not-quite-Comic-Con-Con, and forays into dank Scottish castles), but youll just have to read the book for yourself.

This is another fantastically funny novel from Dan Ehrenhaft. I recommend it for readers aged 12 and up, anyone with a passing interest in strange old family feuds, and graphic novel readers (Signy the Superbad comics are illustrated throughout) and dont ye dare cull tha a comic book!

Kimberly Pauley Top 50 Reviewer 393 reviews

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User reviews

2 reviews

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4.0

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4.0(2)

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The Best Could Happen but Wouldn't Book

February 13, 2008

Overall rating

3.0

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Reader reviewed by Deirdre

This is a book about a lonely teenager at boarding school, but this isnt any normal preppy person at a really executive school. This is a boy named Carlton Dunne IV, who has an amazing ability to draw comics. So to use this extra special talent Carlton calls a comic book editor and ends up using his fathers name and pretending to be 48 years old, so he can get his comics, about a heroine named Signy The Superbad, published.
All this works out until his father gets kidnaped by a Scottish clan, called the MacCloughs, set on vengeance for something that happened hundreds of years ago. Something that made the Dunnes very rich and the MacCloughs very angry. Now they have Carltons father and are willing to do anything for the proof.
The thing I most liked about this book was the voice. You could actually believe that a 16 year old was telling you this story. Carlton didnt use words a average teenager wouldnt know.
The thing I didnt like about this book is that it gets very confusing when Carlton fist arrives in Scotland. The writer has too much to write about at this point and it seems like Carlton is just standing there for a few hours, because they have a chapter explaining different things. This makes it sort of uninteresting and boring.
This is a good book for early teens and is not very hard to read.

Guest #1 Reviewer

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I want more!

July 26, 2006

Overall rating

5.0

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Reader reviewed by Carter

If you want an interesting, funny, teen appropriate summer read this is the one for you. If your a teen looking at this site then you should know that you will love reading it and your parents will love that you are actually stimulating your brain instead of zoning in front of a tv. This is my all time favorite book and Daniel writes a lot of other great stuff too. The book contains relatable characters, edge of your seat action, crazy twists and turns and a lot of fun. READ IT!

Guest #1 Reviewer