Calvin Coconut: Trouble Magnet

Publishers Weekly

Salisbury (Night of the Howling Dogs) brings the Hawaiian locale and boy-centric vibe of his novels to a younger audience in this kicky start to a middle-grade series. For four years, Cal has been "the man of the house," standing in for his absentee dad, the famous crooner Little Johnny Coconut (who saddled the family with its stage-ready surname). But things get topsy-turvy when a surly teenage family friend arrives to be a live-in babysitter for Cal and his little sister, and Cal makes some missteps in the first days of school in Mr. Purdy's Fourth-Grade Boot Camp, which include a lost centipede and a class food fight. Salisbury uses humor and lots of action to guide Cal as he deals with a neighborhood bully, his new teacher and the upheaval in his home life. Fun details of Hawaiian life, including descriptions of snack foods, beach pursuits and the characters' melting pot of heritages bring the setting to life. The tone is realistic, warm and light as an island breeze-perfect for luring newly confident chapter-book readers. Ages 7-10. (Mar.)

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Children's Literature - Phyllis J. Perry

Set in Hawaii in the beach town of Kailua on Oahu, Calvin Coconut and his friends are making the most of the end of summer vacation before returning to school when Calvin learns that a 15-year-old girl from Texas is coming to live with them. He will have to give up his bedroom and move into a storage shed. Even more upsetting is the fact that the neighborhood bully, Tito, is upset with Calvin and looking for a fight. Graham Salisbury (author of Night of the Howling Dog) uses interesting multicultural characters, lots of action, and humor to move the story right along. Calvin finds himself dealing with a runaway kite, an escaping centipede, a broken bedroom door lock, and a food fight, as well as facing situations with his mother who counts on him, his little sister, the new teenager who has moved into his house, the new boy at school, and a fourth grade teacher who runs class like a boot camp. Small black and white drawings add interest to the text, and young readers will want more of Calvin's adventures. Reviewer: Phyllis J. Perry

School Library Journal

Gr 2-4

In the first installment of a planned series, readers meet nine-year-old Calvin, whose singing-star father changed their last name from Novio to Coconut before leaving the family four years earlier. In Mr. Purdy's fourth-grade class in Kailua, HI, Calvin's year is off to a bad start when he accidentally lets loose his new pet centipede, forgets to pick up his little sister after school, and incurs the ire of middle-school bullies Tito and Frank. At home, he's got to give up his room to Stella, the blond, beautiful but surly teenaged daughter of his mother's friend who's come from Texas to stay for a while. He gets off on the wrong foot with her, too, when he forgets to fix the lock on the bedroom door, necessitating a window escape. Humor, lots of local color, and richly varied cultural details abound in this accessible, fun read, and a map of the town and sketches throughout help bring readers into Calvin's world. (It does seem odd, though, that Calvin's mother would go shopping while her new guest is locked in the bedroom.) While light on character development and more episodic than plot-driven, this title will be enjoyed by readers venturing into chapter books, and it lays the groundwork nicely for the titles to come.-Marie Orlando, formerly at Suffolk Cooperative Library System, Bellport, NY

Kirkus Reviews

Believable, funny characters populate this chronicle of fourth grader Calvin's life on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. In short chapters narrated in the first person, Calvin and his friends reluctantly bid summer adieu and begin the new school year. Coinciding with this is his mom's announcement of the imminent arrival of her friend's teenage daughter from Texas. Her stay forces poor Calvin to move into the storage room, crawling with a host of creepy insects, including a centipede he captures in a jar. As the subtitle suggests, only mischief can ensue. The story line here is a familiar one of an (at times, overly) energetic but well-meaning boy stumbling into mishap. Yet the cultural details of Oahu emerge naturally, the inevitable neighborhood bully is richly developed and the familial relationships among Calvin and his sister, their mom and her boyfriend are touching, realistically tempered with moments of frustration. Rogers's lively ink-and-wash drawings augment the story and evoke a playful feel. An auspicious start to a series that is likely to have broad appeal. (Fiction. 7-10)