Calvin Coconut: Hero of Hawaii by Graham Salisbury (Wendy Lamb Books, 2011) This book is a Cybils nominee, nominated by Deb Nance at Readerbuzz (All opinions are my own and are not meant to reflect the opinions of the entire judging panel.)
Middle grade fiction, as my current Cybils reading marathon is showing me, runs the gamut. "Lower" MG could be read by a 2nd or 3rd grader, while the "Upper" range ("Tween") appeals to upper elementary and middle school. I tend to prefer the tween (must be my mafioso blood), but there are some wonderful tales for the younger part of the age range too.
Amazon gives Calvin Coconut: Hero of Hawaii a reading level of age 9-12, but I think it would appeal to a younger age group too.
The Story:Calvin's younger sister, Darci, is just about to turn seven, and the Coconuts (the name comes from Calvin's lounge singer father, Little Johnny Coconut, who lives on the mainland with his new wife) are planning a party. But a hurricane intervenes.
Why I liked it: Graham Salisbury does an excellent job of portraying Calvin's emotions about the storm. While the adults are fretting, Calvin is thinking "Yee-haw!" Pounding rain, lightning, and a rising river are all "awesome!" Calvin and his friends sneak into the storm, but disaster strikes and Willy is swept out to sea. There is a truly awesome, heart-pounding scene with Calvin trying to rescue his friend. (If you writers want to learn how to write a fast, action-packed scene, study this one!)
It won't give anything away (after all, the title is "Hero of Hawai'i) to reveal that Calvin is indeed heroic. And the book ends in a heartwearming way, with Darci's postponed party taking place and Calvin giving his little sister the best birthday present ever.
More about the Author: There are several other Calvin Coconut books, which I intend to read when I've done my Cybils reading. For now, you might want to get to know the author, Graham Salisbury, who lives in OREGON!
Sounds fab! You know what I love most about MG books like this? The MC's name--always catchy and memorable.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a fun story. I'm trying to pick up some MG titles for my daughter's teacher, so I'll be noting your blog. Thanks, Mike.
ReplyDeleteWe carry these books but I've never read them. Good to know they're worth it! And as for the age level, we started out shelving them in the 2nd/3rd grade section because they look young, then later moved them into the traditional middle grade section.
ReplyDeleteCan't believe you even have time to blog while you're plowing through all those Cybils books!
Your reviews run the gamut of MG too--love that! Enjoy all that reading for the Cybils.
ReplyDeleteMiddle grade is really diverse. Never heard of this. I'll have to check it out.
ReplyDeleteOo, thanks for this. My six year old grandson, loves loves having novels read to him. This sounds like it would be a gooder.
ReplyDeleteSounds like the reading is going well, thanks for taking the time to share with us!
Funny how a kid would view a hurricane. I tend to like upper middle grade better too!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great title! And I remember thinking that flash floods were exciting when I was a kid. I'd say he nailed that. This looks like something my nine-year-old would love. Thanks, Michael.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a fun read. I love the title!
ReplyDeleteOoh, I like the title of this one. I'm going to look for it! Thanks for letting me know about it.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you, and discovering more and more, that I prefer upper middle grade.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't heard of this one. I like that it's set in Hawaii, b/c we don't get many stories set there.
This sounds fantastic. I'll have to buy it. Thanks for filling me in about this awesome sounding book. :-)
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