"Bluffton" by Matt Phelan

What would it be like if an elephant, a zebra, and a whole host of entertainers moved to your town for the summer. What if one of the entertainers was the brilliantly comic Buster Keaton? You no longer have to wonder, because Matt Phelan has created "Bluffton", another gorgeously illustrated graphic novel about Buster Keaton's summers in Michigan.

It starts in the summer of 1908 when Vaudeville actors rent cottages in the town of Muskegon, Michigan. Henry, the son of a shopkeeper, is instantly entranced as he meets young baseball-loving Buster Keaton. Buster has traveled the world with his parents as part of The Three Keatons and knows all kinds of amazing tricks. Henry spends his summers witnessing pranks, hearing stories, and trying to weasel tricks out of Buster. His small-town world expands to encompass a zebra, an elephant, and a whole host of larger-than life characters who have traveled the world, and his life is forever changed. 

This book is not a biography, but a novel based off of Keaton's real life experiences as a boy. It will inspire you to watch some of his movies, however, and perhaps even try a few gags! The story is appropriate for the 3rd to 6th grade crowd.

--Andrea W., H.Q.

P.S. To watch Buster in action, check out "The General" today!