The Bubble Wrap Boy

October 5, 2015
Fourteen-year-old Charlie Han is short, clumsy, and friendlessâsave for fellow school outcast Linus (aka Sinus), with whom he has nothing in common. Charlie's overprotective mother (who insists that he ride a tricycle when making deliveries for the family's Chinese takeout restaurant, Special Fried Nice) doesn't help his basement-level social status either. After Charlie discovers skateboarding, it feels like his life is turning a cornerâuntil his mother has a mortifying meltdown at the skate park. His peers respond with a prank that involves wrapping him in bubble wrap, an event that is recorded and goes viral. Charlie's amusing sarcasm ("It's bad enough fulfilling every racial stereotype possible by being a Chinese kid who lives above a takeout place, without the takeout having the lamest name known to man") masks a vulnerability that will resonate with anyone who has felt like an outsider. The humiliation of being the butt of a joke is sensitively rendered, as is Charlie's slow reclamation of his pride in this witty, true-to-life story. Ages 10âup. Agent: Jane Willis, United Agents.

August 1, 2015
Fourteen-year-old Charlie Han, aka "Tiny Charlie," aka "the Chinese midget," is used to being bully bait, the lethal combination of his oddly small stature and klutziness making him a shoe-in for the worst junior high has to offer. It doesn't help that his mother is overprotective to the point of smothering or that he's unsure whether "Sinus" Sedgley is his best friend or just an equally bullied buddy by default. All Charlie wants to do is find his "thing," that special something that will finally make the kids at school see him, truly, for the first time. A newfound love of skateboarding may just be that thing, and, together with a real friend, it offers him a chance to soar. Charlie's narration is both laugh-out-loud funny and heartbreaking. He may be small, but his determination to change his lot in life is enormous. Though a secondary plotline meant to explain his mother's extreme overprotectiveness is slightly difficult to swallow, the rest of the story more than makes up for it. In the fast-growing bullying genre, Charlie's story stands out. This isn't a kid who will do anything to join the cool clique. This is a story about staying true to yourself and following your passion. As much as Charlie would hate hearing it, good things do come in small packages. (Fiction. 9-14)

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September 1, 2015

Gr 4-7-Charlie Han is small for his age and uncoordinated and possesses limited social skills. Those problems pale in comparison to the challenge of his mother, who is so protective that she still keeps a baby gate at the top of the stairs, and makes him ride a tricycle rather than a bicycle. Charlie's life changes the day he sees a boy on a skateboard. Deciding that he needs to try it himself, despite the knowledge that his mother would never let him, Charlie learns that he has real talent. His covert training is inevitably discovered by his mother, who publicly humiliates him, stripping him of his skateboard and all privileges. While grounded, Charlie finds out that he's not the only one in his family with a secret. His mother has been hiding a shocking one, and Charlie begins to understand her overprotective nature. He develops a closer relationship with his previously distant father and soon hatches a plan to bring the family secret out into the open. The Bubble Wrap Boy begins slowly, with Earle spending the first few chapters showing how awkward and socially inept Charlie is. Thankfully, the pace picks up when Charlie begins skating, and the tempo further accelerates when the boy discovers his mother's secret. Important topics such as bullying, resiliency, and shifting family dynamics are explored in this coming-of-age novel. Charlie's sidekick Sinus provides welcome comic relief and widens the novel's appeal. Charlie is a likable character, and his first-person narration allow readers to experience firsthand the highs and lows of a remarkable year in his life, though his voice often sounds older than his intended age. Earle excels at showing personal growth in the characters, and it is gratifying to observe the believable evolution of Sinus's and Charlie's parents. VERDICT Family drama with a solid mix of action, adventure, and humor. Purchase where upper middle grade coming-of-age novels are in demand.-Juliet Morefield, Multnomah County Library, OR

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2015
Grades 5-8 Charlie Han would like nothing more than to rise above the limitations of his extremely short stature, apocalyptic clumsiness, and insanely protective mother. But humiliating notoriety is all he ever manages to achieve. When he discovers skateboarding, the odds of success are not in his favor. Yet Charlie proves surprisingly adept, and he secretly takes up the sport, knowing his mother would never allow it. Her reason for being so overprotective is revealed as the story progresses, and it is the reader's willingness to accept it that determines the book's plausibility. There is a real lack of adult leadership in this book, from Mrs. Han's tone-deaf attitude toward how her behavior affects her son to the teachers who are oblivious to bullying at school. Still, Charlie is a character to root for. He is witty and perceptive and has a secret weapon in his best friend, Sinus Sedgely. The skating sequences are exciting to read and add zest to a narrative that covers a lot of emotional territory.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)