“Lucy, we did so well in the last game!”

From Jeffrey Brown’s Lucy & Andy Neanderthal: The Stone Cold Age.

For as long as the young neanderthals Lucy and Andy can remember, life has consisted of their parents, baby brother, and cavemates Phil, Margaret, and Mr. Daryl. However the recent discovery of a group of people searching for a new home has changed the family’s world forever. Lucy and Andy’s parents had happily agreed to help their new friends find a home and learn to live in the region, but the recent super cold weather has forced everyone to stay in the Neanderthal’s cave. While the new situation has brought lots of kids for Lucy to play with, Andy quickly grows tired of the cramped quarters in their cave and always feeling like an outsider. Wanting his cave back, Andy pushes for the adults to continue the search for a separate cave, but many problems keep popping up… including a cave bear named Big Bob. When even an amazing trip to the beach does little to better Andy’s feelings, he returns to the cave desperate for change, but when he comes face-to-face with Big Bob, Andy is given the chance of a lifetime to be brave and change his life forever.

This graphic novel is full of quick chapters that easily create a full world for the fun characters to explore. While the scientific interjections offer interesting information, they do throw off the pacing of the story a bit. Again, the illustration style is not refined and the story isn’t overly complex, but young readers will find Lucy & Andy Neanderthal: The Stone Cold Age to be a laugh-filled read that’s impossible to put down.