Chronicles of a lizard nobody by Patrick Ness

Monitor lizards, Zeke and Daniel have been selected to be school Hall Monitors by Principal Wombat who insists it is a coincidence that they and Alicia, the only other monitor lizard, have been chosen for the role. They each are given a sash and must make sure any student in the hallways out of break times has a hall pass. This proves quite difficult as the other students generally tend to ignore the lizards who are bused in from the poorer part of town, part of a program to encourage diversity at the school. When the school bully Pelicarnassus taunts the monitors in the hallway (he didn’t have a pass) Zeke punches him in the beak. The bully’s mother is a supervillain who had attacked Canada with robots, just for the sake of it and transported the White House to the moon, so when Pelicarnassus says he will tell his mother, it is a big deal. Zeke is demoted from Hall Monitor and he has to apologise to the pelican and his sidekicks but he has made an enemy of the powerful bully. When Zeke, Daniel and Alicia befriend a blind red-tailed hawk named Miel the friends are able to work together, combining their strengths to combat the threats to their school and to support each other through personal difficulties. Ranging from dealing with Ms Pfister, the terrifying pony who runs the school supplies room, to the invasion of France (which is located on Zeke’s knee), the story surprises at every turn. The friends accommodate each other’s differences and provide sensitive support to Zeke whose mother is crippled with depression.

The strong lines of Tim Miller’s illustrations complement Patrick Ness’s writing which is not shy of stepping outside the story, inserting asides and poking fun at the typical storylines usual in this genre. Even though Principal Wombat says “we don’t tolerate violence at this school” there is a fair bit of violence, including the school being torn apart that might not sit well with Australian readers, however, the take home message about use of power and choosing not to be a tyrant is universal, as is the point that we can all contribute no matter what or who we are.

Themes: Friendship, Humour, Diversity.

Sue Speck