My Life as a Cartoonist (30 page)

Cartoon club ends, as does Matt's comedy class. (Mr. Owens seems more upset about it than Matt does.) So with some extra time on my hands, I decide to make a new comic strip. This one doesn't showcase a monkey with super powers or a criminal baby seal, but a quiet mutt and a noisy boy. Sure, if you substitute a stuffed tiger for the dog it's a bit like
Calvin and Hobbes
but even if I draw every day for the rest of my life I could never hope to come up with anything half as good as that.

The boy in my cartoon is not as mischievous as Calvin and the dog is definitely calmer than Hobbes. The strip is called
Man's Best Friend
, which is kind of a joke because the boy is nowhere near ready to be a man, except for a few times here and there when he actually thinks about other people first and makes an unselfish decision. But more often than not, the kid's your average goofy twelve-year-old and the dog is content just to hang out with him.

Matt's always liked a lot of action in my cartoons, so he keeps trying to get me to add explosions and runaway trains. I love that stuff too, but it doesn't belong in this comic. For
Man's Best Friend
, I want to show how much a pet can mean to a kid. I experiment with backgrounds, and my lettering is getting better. Dad thinks it's my best work yet but you can't really go by him.

I've been working on it all week, throwing away a zillion drafts that didn't work. I almost call it quits several times but remember something Umberto said about not giving up. The perseverance Umberto demonstrates in his cartoons—never mind day-to-day living—inspires me to keep going. It may take me a while, but I know I'll get there.

I sit in the backyard against the fence with Bodi, underneath the wall of jasmine, and wonder if I'm a good enough cartoonist to get across how much growing up with him has meant to me. How excited I've always been to run into the house after school and see him waiting by the door, wagging his tail. How my earliest memory is putting my hand inside Bodi's soft mouth. How in half of my baby pictures, I'm lying on the rug alongside my dog. How he grabbed me by the diaper and pulled me out of the ocean when I was two years old. How he smells like summer after rolling around in the wet grass. How he always finds a little piece of sunshine to relax in, even when the backyard is filled with shade. How he didn't have any sibling rivalry when Frank came to live with us. How he always knows when to put his paw on the edge of my chair when I'm sad. How I never mind picking up his poop, even the two-baggers.

Dad says a cartoonist's job is to try to capture moments in life that are funny or filled with real emotion. I doubt I'll be a good enough cartoonist to express all these memories in my drawings but I sure can try. I look over at my dog, grateful beyond words he's still alive. I reach for my marker and begin.

About the Author

Janet Tashjian is the author of many popular novels, including
My Life as a Book
,
My Life as a Stuntboy
,
Tru Confessions,
and the Larry series. She loves doing school visits and talking to kids about writing. She lives with her family in Los Angeles, California.

janettashjian.com
•
mylifeasabook.com

About the Illustrator

Jake Tashjian is the illustrator of
My Life as a Book
and
My Life as a Stuntboy
. He has been drawing pictures of his vocabulary words on index cards since he was a kid and now has a stack taller than a house. When he's not drawing, he loves to surf, watch cartoons, and make his own movies.

Praise for
My Life as a Stuntboy

“Another fun, emotionally resonant read for the Wimpy Kid set and beyond.”

—Kirkus Reviews

“This is a great package for kids, especially those like Derek who don't think they like to read.… The draw of the story is matched by Tashjian's keen observations of how kids really feel and how they interact with the world.”

—Booklist

“A fast-moving plot and relatable protagonist make this stand-alone sequel a good choice for boys who, like Derek, would rather reach for a TV remote or game controller than a book.”

—School Library Journal

“Derek's voice remains dry, witty, and above all, honest, and his efforts to overcome his learning disability will certainly strike a chord with those readers struggling with similar issues and offer insight to their bookish counterparts. Jake Tashjian … provides another slew of wonderfully comic stick figures to populate the margins, mirroring and often elaborating on the text's sly humor. Fans of the first will be utterly delighted by this sequel and anxious to see what Derek will turn up as next.”

—Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

 

Other Books by Janet Tashjian

The My Life Series

• My Life as a Book

• My Life as a Stuntboy

• Fault Line

• For What It's Worth

• Marty Frye, Private Eye

• Multiple Choice

• Tru Confessions

The Larry Series

• The Gospel According to Larry

• Vote for Larry

• Larry and the Meaning of Life

 

Text copyright © 2013 by Janet Tashjian

Illustrations copyright © 2013 by Jake Tashjian

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