Chronicles of A Lizard Nobody Series

In the second book in this wry series, award-winning author Patrick Ness explores school anxiety and the highs and lows of friendship with sidesplitting honesty—and pits our heroes against a slippery new supervillain.

On what should be a normal school day at their normal school—recently rebuilt at great expense by the town’s supervillain after her son destroyed it with a giant robot pelican suit—things begin to spin out of control for monitor lizards Zeke, Daniel, and Alicia and Meil the hawk the moment they board the school bus. For no good reason, Zeke is deeply unsettled by Daniel’s new pink hat. The tower sprouting on the town’s tallest hill surely contains a Death Ray of Death. And Meil’s predator instincts have kicked in: what if he accidently eats his friends or their new classmate, Peggy the flounder, in her portable aquarium? At school, Zeke suspects the new guidance counselor—who hails from the same pelican crime family as their nemesis—of turning Daniel and Alicia against him. Or was it something Zeke said? With lively graphic illustrations, breakneck action, and a big heart, book two blends droll satire with belly laughs to prove that when life turns up the heat ray, you get to choose who to be. Even unlikely reptilian heroes need the courage to say they’re sorry.

From the best-selling author of A Monster Calls, this funny, wise middle-grade series explodes every stereotype—including what it means to be a hero—in a brilliant reptilian take on surviving school.

When Principal Wombat makes monitor lizards Zeke, Daniel, and Alicia hall monitors, Zeke gives up on popularity at his new school. Brought in as part of a district blending program, the monitor lizards were mostly ignored before. Reptiles aren’t bullied any more than other students, but they do stick out among zebras, ostriches, and elk. Why would Principal Wombat make them hall monitors? Alicia explains that it’s because mammals are afraid of being yelled (hissed) at by reptiles. The principal’s just a good general, deploying her resources. Zeke balks, until he gets on the wrong side of Pelicarnassus. More than a bully, the pelican is a famed international supervillain—at least when his mother isn’t looking. Maybe the halls are a war zone, and the school needs a hero. Too bad it isn’t . . . Zeke. Smart, relatable, and densely illustrated in black and white for graphic appeal, this middle-grade series debut by a revered author returns to his themes of grief, bullying, and negotiating differences—but with zeal and comic relief to spare.