The Zippy Fix

September 1, 2009
Gr 3-4-This book is bewildering. It's written to a very narrow audience, one that apparently needs to already know about Hawaiian pidgin. Newly independent readers will be confused as to why some characters speak as such: "Whose birfday you was talking about back at the store? You going to buy um cake and pointy hats, or what?" Also problematic is the use of some odd terms: one character calls another a "strange bazooks." Furthermore, there are times when Calvin's words don't ring true for a boy his age. According to him, Stella's eyes "twinkled like sequins"; and he instructs his pals to "run silent, run fast." What fourth grader speaks like this? There are issues of randomness within the plot, too; for example, Calvin's attempt at mischievous revenge on 16-year-old Stella, who lives with his family, backfires and forces him to make amends, but it is so bogged down in inexplicable plot distractions and exasperating language quirks that any accompanying entertainment value is utterly lost."Alyson Low, Fayetteville Public Library, AR"

Copyright 2009 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2009
Grades 3-5 The impish Hawaiian hero from Calvin Coconut: Trouble Magnet (2009) returns for another bout of good-intentioned but mischief-centric adventures. Constantly at odds with the Texas teenager, Stella, who came to live with his family (and snatched his room, no less), Calvin takes a revenge plot a little too far and afterward feels just awful. Wanting to make a peace offering in the form of a CD, he flits about town odd-jobbing his way to the $18 purchase price. Salisburys buoyant look into growing up in Hawaii will be revealing to many stateside readers; for all its differences, there are just as many sames.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)