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Calvin Coconut: Trouble Magnet (2009)

by Graham Salisbury(Favorite Author)

3.5 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

0385737017 (ISBN13: 9780385737012)

languge

English

genre

Humor

publisher

Wendy Lamb Books

series

Calvin Coconut

review 1: This is a cute multicultural story for about second or third graders that starts off a long series. In this story Calvin is just starting fourth grade, trying to avoid a bully, and be responsible for his single mother. It takes place in Hawaii and most of his friends have never left the island. A new boy in school is from California; they call him a halo because he is white and doesn't know about the food they eat or things they do. In reading this story, you really see how different growing up in Hawaii would be.I could really see using this book as a small group read. There are a lot of cultural facts to pull out in addition to the novelty for many students to hear about a white skinned child being odd and unusual. The whole book is just fun and l... moreight.
review 2: As a whole, this was a good introduction to Calvin Coconut, his family, friends, and some of the differences that exist between the Continent and Hawai'i, exemplified in the new haole kid, Willy. I thought that the book did Hawai'i justice and had no mention of your usual Hawaiian stereotypes - surfing, hula, and pineapples. The book talks about the diversity of races and ethnicities found amongst Hawai'i's youth, the diversity amongst the foods they eat, and their family units. Having grown up in Hawai'i, it is obvious the author has a well-rounded view of Local kids. The author even goes so far as to distinguish the races of the characters, making it obvious that only some characters are Hawaiian despite most of them being born in Hawai'i. This was a subtle and excellent point to make that many people outside of Hawai'i do not recognize.There are really only two issues I have with the book. The first is the cover which is reminiscent of all things stereotypically Hawai'i. On the cover, Calvin is shown running into the ocean with a surfboard. As far as I can recall, surfing is never mentioned in the book really, especially not Calvin and his friends surfing. There is an incident with a kiteboard, but the cover would not accurately portray that scene. I wonder, then, why the illustrator and others involved in the decision making portion of the artwork (editor, publisher, etc.) felt it necessary to rely on pre-conceived notions of Hawai'i. Was it to make the book more accessible to kids? Seem more exotic? The normal life that Calvin lives as a kid who is always getting into trouble isn't enough to sell the book on its own? I find all of this hard to believe and am disappointed in that decision.The second issue I have with the book is the treatment of family friend Stella when she comes to visit. Stella arrives from Texas, a blonde haired, blue eyed beauty, and everyone falls all over her. The kids don't really fall all over anyone else in the book or find anyone else overtly attractive - which is to be expected since they're in 4th grade - except for Stella. I may be being overly sensitive, but why did that character have to be the typical western concept of beauty. She could've been any race coming from Texas. Hell, Texas even has a Pacific Islander population. They already indicated that there are few white people in their school in Kailua and that white people are a minority. They got a new white kid in their class - also blonde haired and blue eyed (what, white people don't have brown or black hair anymore? The contrast between white and Pacific Islander has to be so overtly apparent?) - so I don't really understand the need and arrival of this goddess. Yes, she's surly and mean and full of teenage angst which is unattractive, but for the most part this all proceeds as something she will grow out of and adjust out of once she feels more at home.The last few chapters of Stella really ruined this book for me. I was pretty excited about it up until this point. I think that I will have to read the next installment in the series to see Stella's role before I make up my mind on recommending this book to APA kids. less

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