When Auntie Cami stood in front of her creative writing class, she panicked. Before she knew what was happening, she declared that she's proud of her lawyer nephew. The problem is, he's just a kid. An eight-year-old kid. Now, an hour from her next class, she calls her nephews, Karter and Kayden (the eight-year-old)—asking them to somehow send a pic of Kayden miraculously dressed as a lawyer. Otherwise, she'll have to come clean to her class and face the shame. Of course, they want to protect their beloved aunt, so they rally the Rising Sun Way Gang, who seem pretty used to saving adults. To successfully help Auntie Cami, they perform a heist that involves sneaking into their grandpa's (who's an actual lawyer) office to steal his oversized clothes.
Cami Kershek's SAVED BY THE KIDS: The Big Fib is a picture book with lots of absurd humor. With illustrations by Rob Westall, the story is easy to follow and visually appealing. In fact, the illustrations are reminiscent of early-2000s cartoons. Meanwhile, the third‑person omniscient narrative technique works well for the quick cuts between Auntie Cami’s classroom and the kids’ adventure.
Kershek portrays Kayden's older brother Karter as very confident. Declaring that “the adults depend on us to solve all their biggest problems," he has an unfiltered arrogance that's funny and still age-appropriate. Then there's Rose, Tripp, Trixie, and Reddy, the supporting cast who are given names and single actions (grab the tie, grab the shoes, keep lookout) but no personalities. Kershek succeeds most with Auntie Cami, whose anxiety feels so real and surprisingly vivid: “she felt as deflated as a ten‑day‑old balloon.” There's genuine vulnerability in the way her head hangs low as she's resigning herself to the possibility of having to confess the truth in front of the whole class. Grandpa Den, on the other hand, is relegated to a singing, snoring obstacle with very limited input—making him function more as background noise for convenience.
From sneaking into an office to hiding in a Yukon, a huge chunk of the heist seems to exist simply to create spectacle in a way that's too conspicuous. Also, there's a number of logical gaps that are quite hard to ignore. For a children’s book, the moral absence caused by how everything plays out is quite glaring as well. Some much-needed balance is eventually created when a “know‑it‑all kid with a plugged, runny nose” raises his hand and asks a question, making for a funny and almost cynical closing image. On the whole, though, the plot holes and other flaws arguably overwhelm SAVED BY THE KIDS: The Big Fib's better qualities.
Cami Kershek’s SAVED BY THE KIDS: The Big Fib humorously portrays how children can band together to help loved ones while taking readers on a whimsical adventure, but plot issues and the book's lack of a moral throughline undermine its value.
~ Gabriella Harrison for IndieReader