[.ca] Growing Like A Weed: A For Better of For Worse Collection (ISBN 0836236858)

SPECTACULAR!:
This was by far one of the best and most touching book in the FBOFW collection. I could not stop reading this book. I loved how Lynn brought back a very old character back into the strip, and for all of you FBOFW fans.......you will be surprised at who it is and how they are brought back into the strip. I cannot believe how talented Lynn is! This book proves true talent of yours Lynn. I can guarrentee that you will not stop laughing and that you will not stop turning the pages. Before you read this book, you might want to go out and buy something for a stomachache 'cause you will be working that diaphragm of yours. I hafta admit that I cried and was truly touched by some of the book issues. Get out the kleenex, too! There are no words in any language to describe how truly wonderful this book is!

Oh, no! Here SHE comes!:
Mrs. Lynn Johnston continues to impress us with her very skillful artistic talents and true-to-life storytelling (though she does has an assistant or two in her studio) and all the characters are quite believable and lovable, thus easy to relate to. Especially the funny young Michael! But guess who's the least easy to relate of all. Little Missy Princess April Patterson, of course. That arrogant little kid rules over the whole household with a very sticky fist. She's forever lost in her own little fantasy world and whether she's back in the "reality", she's always throwing temper tantrums, demanding her way, molesting her big sister's personal things, leaving such disgusting messes (including fecal matter in the pet rabbit's litter box), and just plain driving the poor middle-aged mother right out of her mind with her "cutesy" antics. In fact, she even gets involved into two real crisises; one at the riverbank that cost the life of the poor old Farley and the other that left Jeremy Jones with a broken leg in the hospital. But - that's not the worst yet to come...so when she becomes a rebellious teenager - RUN, RUN FOR YOUR DEAR LIVES!

I CAN'T STAND APRIL!:
Count me in as an April buster. I think she is one of the biggest brats to hit the funny pages in years. She hogs the bathroom, thus negatively impacting on Liz's time. Poor Liz keeps taking the rap for nasty April's misdeeds. April has tantrums, has a fresh mouth and never once gets punished. She does not own up to her actions and has no sense of responsibility. I agree with the other reviewer that her stunt down by the river cost poor Farley his life. Had he not sacrificed his own life to save the brat, he could have at least died in a warm and comfortable house. April is very babyish for her age. She wears these stupid overalls and says "gots," which sounds just plain stupid. She never helps around the house and she asks for trouble. Don't forget, it was Bratface April who came up with that mean song about Jeremy. She's no innocent bystander. She is trouble with a capital TROUBLE and, like another reviewer aptly noted, head for the hills and don't look back once she hits the terrible teens. I can't abide April!

Growing Weed?:
Why would this beloved author write such a dreadful storyline? Growing weed? C'mon why do we need another book about the glories of weed. I know that Johnston is fron Canada, where the laws on marijuana are a little more liberal than that laws in the US, but to actively promote getting high and then eating everything in sight makes for a good comic? Micheal, Elizabeth and April have become no match for the evils of marijuana. In fact the dad has been giving prescriptions to his patients of medical marijuana. Watching the kids get high at home, at school, at dance class and other places is a shocking thing to see in the comics. In one of the episodes, Micheal has a gay encounter with a man twenty years older than he is, is this Johnstons way of showing support for her liberal causes? One of them being the support of the disease of gayness? I generally don't like cutesy comics, such as FBOFW, in fact I think comics should not be cutesy and only be funny, but at least the original formula was less offensive.

A HARVEST OF GREAT STORIES!:
This book has yielded a rich crop of great stories. The cast is certainly a convincing one. They are all folks one can recognize from real life counterparts, from funny, savvy Mr. Jim Patterson to the spoiled, unplesant April. She's the only one I have never been able to like. (I don't know how she gets by with her mouth. I'm surprised nobody ever put their foot down to her and she takes advantage of everybody. April is the weed growing in the garden)! It was good reconnecting with Gordon, who is a sterling success story (from the poor boy who was often picked on and who lived with domestic violence to the successful entrepreneur -- you go, Gordon)! Lawrence, too, was an added treat as his orientation has helped pave the way for acceptance of gays among his "real" counterparts. Love the book! It was great, as I expected it would be.