Look, Lenore. Alvin Ho: Allergic to Girls, School, and Other Scary Things. Illustrated by LeUyen Pham. Random House, 2008. 172 pages. ISBN $15.99. 9780375839146.
Summary:
Alvin is a normal, Chinese-American kid who likes baseball with his gung-gung (grandfather on his mother’s side), dressing up as Firecracker Man, and his dad’s Johnny Astro (http://www.johnnyastro.com/johnnymain.htm) toy from the 1960s. However, Alvin becomes mute during school hours, effectively invisible from the gang of popular boys. Because of this, he sees a psychotherapist (“a psychotherapist is a very smart crazy person that you should stay away from for your own good”), and he doesn’t speak much to her either, except to thrown some Shakespearean insults her way. Alvin is navigating the tricky social landscape of 2nd grade: how to get “in” with the popular gang but also how to do what’s right by the friend you do have (even if she is a peg-legged, one-eyed girl). Alvin must make some difficult decisions, often with hilarious results.
Curriculum Connections:
This is an excellent text to share with guidance counselors, who often have social skills classes or small groups of students who discuss social topics like friendship and choices. The tone is so engaging, light, and funny, that readers will enjoy the experience of knowing Alvin, with his flaws and fears and challenges.
Personal Reflections:
Though Peck (2010) places this text as a transitional fiction book, I found the language and sentence structure to be a bit high, with some nuances that would be difficult for transitional readers to grasp.
Awards:
Age/Interest Range:
7-12
Genre/Themes:
Realistic Fiction, Friendship, Family, Social Skills
Read-Alikes:
The Hank Zipper series (Winkler) features a male protagonist who has learning disabilities, as well as strong themes of humor and friendship.
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