Module 7 - Alvin Ho: Allergic to Girls, School, and Other Scary Things by Lenore Look

 Bibliography:

Look, Lenore. (2008). Alvin Ho: Allergic to Girls, School, and Other Scary Things. New York: Schwartz & Wade. ISBN: 9780375839143

Summary:

Alvin Ho is going into the second grade and he is afraid of everything except, oddly enough, things that explode. He can't speak to girls, and he can't speak in school, although he can speak on the bus. At home, he has an older brother and younger sister, and he pretends to be a superhero, Firecracker Man, routinely. But for disasters, Alvin has a Personal Disaster Kit, which he fills with things that might come in handy in case of emergencies, like band aids. His dad is teaching him how to be a gentleman, giving Alvin rules, such as never hit a girl. Alvin is determined to make a friend this year and so he asks his brother and father how to make friends and they both suggest trading baseball cards. But at school, the only person who talks to him is Flea, a girl with an eye patch and an uneven leg, like a real pirate. But he hates girls and doesn't talk to her, until she follows him home one day, sharing with Alvin's mom the book she made about Alvin's looks and how he communicates. Alvin gets mad and insults her and she leaves. Afterwards, Alvin intentionally catches chicken pox, and doesn't have to go to school for awhile, and upon returning decides to bring his dad's cool toy to show and tell, thinking the other kids will want to play with him. But, this backfires when the toy breaks on the bus. When his dad finds out, he is furious but only makes Alvin take piano lessons. But Alvin is so scared of his teacher that he runs out of the class. Alvin then decides to take some of his brother's baseball cards and try to be friends with the leader in his class, Pinky. Pinky takes the cards and makes Alvin do scary things, like watch a scary movie, in order to have the privilege of hanging out with them. Alvin watches the movie, and after, his sister comes out in her Halloween costume and scares Pinky so bad he pees his pants and leaves. Alvin realizes that he doesn't want to be friends with someone who doesn't like him for himself, and he realizes he already has a friend. He went back to Pinky, took back his brother's cards, and went to Flea's house. He apologizes to her for the mean things he did and she forgives him. They become fast mutual friends and spend the day watching action movies and playing in the backyard. Alvin thinks he is clearly becoming more of a gentleman.

Impressions:

Alvin Ho does an amazing job of capturing the thought processes of a shy and insecure second grade boy.  Despite being written as the stream-of-consciousness of a young boy, this book is appreciable by either boys or girls as Alvin's internal and external dialogue resonate with an innocence that he himself is not aware of.  The disjointed stories create a story that weaves across space and subjects, portraying a realistic sense of day-to-day life for a young child just trying to survive another day of school.  The book comes across as being lovable across generations and ages, relating to the trials of socialization for young readers, while reminding older readers of what it was like to be in a fluctuating state of security from one life event to the next.  This is a thoroughly enjoyable book, and I absolutely loved it start to finish.

Reviews:
"Whether they are fearful or brave, kids will smile at Alvin's scrapes and empathize with his concerns. Aspects of his Chinese-American background are seamlessly integrated into the story and add richness. The book is chock-full of well-placed illustrations."

Bridge, Martin. (August 1, 2008). Library Journals LLC [Review of the book Alvin Ho: Allergic to Girls, School, and Other Scary Things.]. School Library Journal. Available from booksinprint.com

"In this book, Look, who has made a career of portraying Chinese American family life in picture books and chapter books, focuses less on cultural commonalities than on the idiosyncracies of Alvin's family (a dad fond of Shakespearean insults, a grandfather who sews), filling in the Chinese American backdrop exclusively through a small amount of Cantonese vocabulary and some food references."

Mattson, Jennifer. (July 1, 2008). American Library Association [Review of the book Alvin Ho: Allergic to Girls, School, and Other Scary Things.]. Booklist. Available from booksinprint.com

Suggestions For Use:

This book reads aloud really well, so I think this book would work well reading out loud for story time for an elementary-middle school age group. After reading the books, conversations and discussions could follow about topics and themes in the books, especially those about friendship. Discussions about real and fake friends and even about past experiences with these kind of situations. Also, talking about any problems like those that Alvin experiences, like being unable to talk in school, could be beneficial. Knowing that there are others who are struggling could be a boost for those with similar problems.