Calvin and his family live on the beach in Hawaii. In this book, Calvin has some trouble with his new teacher who runs the class like the Army. Calvin also has to give up his room and move into a storage room so that some girl from California can move in with his family. Life is not easy for Calvin.Graham Salisbury writes realistic and historical fiction set in Hawaii.This book is a 2012-2013 nominee for Minnesota's Maud Hart Lovelace Division 1 Award. A solid start to the series, but it does like Salisbury is working too hard as he juggles the introduction of characters, setting, and multiple plotlines. The troubles with which fourth grader Calvin must deal range from the comic (a kiteboarding incident, a centipede on the loose, a food fight) to the serious (his absent father, encounters with the sixth grade bully Tito, and the arrival of Stella, his mother's best friend's daughter, who comes to stay for a while and takes over Calvin's room). Calvin's heart is in the right place as he tries his best to be "the man of the house" and he does learn valuable lessons about the importance of admitting mistakes and apologizing to those affected by his actions. However, I was dissatisfied with the resolution of the bullying issues: I hope that the character of Tito is explored more fully in future additions to the series. In general, I found Calvin to be the only well-rounded character, and was surprised by some of his mom's choices, which seemed to serve plot convenience rather than character development : her sudden announcement of Stella's arrival and her decision to spend the entire day after Stella's arrival shopping at CostCo stuck out as particularly strange. Looking forward to see how the series develops and hoping that some of these issues will be resolved.
What do You think about Trouble Magnet (2009)?
Fun book, talking about life on the Hawaiian Islands. Possible read aloud...
—clic818
Very enjoyable. I will definitely be reading the sequels.
—roma
