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The Bubble Wrap Boy
Author:
Earle, Phil
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Class:
Fiction
Age: 10-14
Language: English
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LC: PZ7.1.E1
Grade: 5-9
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ISBN-13: 9780553513158
LCCN: 2014025081
Imprint: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Publisher: Delacorte Press
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Pub Date: 10/13/2015
Availability: Out of Print Confirmed
List: $16.99
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Hardcover
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Physical Description:
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278 pages ; 22 cm
H 8.5",
W 5.8",
D 0.8",
0.8625 lbs.
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LC Series:
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Brodart Sources:
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Brodart's Insight Catalog: Teen
Brodart's TOP Young Adult Titles
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Bibliographies:
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Awards:
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Horn Book Guide Titles, Rated 1 - 4
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Starred Reviews:
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TIPS Subjects:
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Family Life
Sports Stories
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BISAC Subjects: |
JUVENILE FICTION / Family / General
JUVENILE FICTION / Social Themes / General
JUVENILE FICTION / Sports & Recreation / General
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LC Subjects:
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Bildungsromans
Chinese, England, Fiction
Coming of age, Fiction
Coming of age, Juvenile fiction
Family life, Fiction
Friendship, Fiction
Secrets, Fiction
Skateboarding, Fiction
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SEARS Subjects: |
Bildungsromans
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Reading Programs: |
Accelerated Reader Level:
5.5
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Points: 9.0
Lexile Level:
790
Reading Counts Level:
5.2
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Points: 14.0
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| Annotations |
| Brodart's TOP Young Adult Titles | 11/01/2015 |
| Charlie Hans is embarrassingly small for his age, and his only friend is a kid who's even more unpopular. An overprotective mom and a dad who would rather work the wok than talk to his son don't help matters, either. But a confrontation over a new passion soon reveals a side of Charlie's real mom that will make him feel taller than ever. 288pp. |
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| Journal Reviews |
| Booklist | 10/01/2015 |
| 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. Dean, Kara. 288p. AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION, c2015. |
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| Horn Book Guide | 05/01/2016 |
| 4. Short, clumsy fourteen-year-old Charlie lives with his family above their Chinese takeout restaurant, and his only friend is bullied oddball Sinus. Charlie discovers his one true talent--skateboarding--at the same time he discovers his overprotective mother's life-size secret. Written in Charlie's humorous, hyperbolic first-person voice, the story is sometimes implausible and its depiction of the Chinese British tends toward stereotypical. asf. 279pg. THE HORN BOOK, c2016. |
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| Kirkus Reviews | 08/01/2015 |
| 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). 288pg. KIRKUS MEDIA LLC, c2015. |
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| Publishers Weekly | 10/05/2015 |
| Ages 10-up. Fourteen-year-old Charlie Han is short, clumsy, and friendless--save 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 corner--until 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. Agent: Jane Willis, United Agents. (Oct.). 288p. PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, c2015. |
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| School Library Journal | 09/01/2015 |
| 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. 288p. SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL, c2015. |
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| ~VOYA (Voice of Youth Advocates Magazine - Retired Journal) | 12/01/2015 |
| 4Q 4P M. Charlie Han is fourteen, short, and lives with his parents above the family's Chinese takeout business. His awkward best friend, Sinus, and general lack of popularity, combined with his mother's suffocating parenting style, make Charlie want to fade into the wallpaper most of the time. When he discovers skateboarding at a local park, everything starts to click into place. Taking up skateboarding is not the easiest task with a mother obsessed with safety; however, Charlie finds time to secretly practice his new hobby while his mom attends night college classes, or so he thinks. When Charlie discovers the real reason behind his mother's overprotective ways and frequent absence from home, everything changes and Charlie's once small world becomes much bigger. The Bubble Wrap Boy is a heartwarming story about family, courage, and unconditional love. At times funny and at times emotional, Earle creates loveable characters that entertain and endear. Middle school readers will easily relate to the situational humor and school life, but everyone should read this book for its message. The Bubble Wrap Boy is perfect for fans of R.J. Palacio's Wonder and will be an excellent addition to any library or classroom.--Erin Segreto. 288p. VOICE OF YOUTH ADVOCATES, c2015. |
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9780553513158,dl.it[0].title
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