  | Full Text Reviews: Bulletin for the Center... - 01/01/2017 Calvin, classmate of Richard (from Skateboard Party, BCCB 2/15) and Nikki and Deja (from Election Madness, BCCB 10/11, etc.), has two problems: he’s got to figure out what project to do for the science fair, and he’s just discovered that the big bully he fears, Harper Hall, has moved in next door. Calvin plans to simply avoid Harper, but his dad feels for the lonely kid living only with a short-tempered foster mother and wants to include him, and soon Calvin finds himself seeing Harper from a different, friendlier angle. The bully with a sad heart isn’t a new character, but English’s dead-on accurate take of kid viewpoints is right up there with Ann Cameron’s for realism and accessibility; the book is particularly deft at depicting conflicting impulses or levels, as when Calvin squirms believably at his father’s intervention though it’s clearly the right action to take. Freeman’s black and white spot art is cute without being cartoony, catching reality in the slouch of a kid over a gaming console or the glare of a girl about to get reported to the teacher. Readers following the Carver School students will appreciate another warm and approachable outing with the gang. DS - Copyright 2017 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. Booklist - 11/15/2016 Calvin’s been hoping that a boy will move in next door, but he wouldn’t have chosen Harper, the school bully. In time, though, this big, tough kid shows other sides of himself: a foster child who loves gardening and has the potential to change his ways. English turns the conventional bully story on its head in the fourth volume of the Carver Chronicles early chapter-book series, one of the few with mainly African American characters. While Harper’s gradually revealed background informs the narrative, it’s the realistic portrayal of Calvin’s emotions and his struggles to understand Harper that make this early chapter book so very readable. - Copyright 2016 Booklist. Loading...
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