Calvin Coconut: Trouble Magnet

by Graham Salisbury

Random House, 2009. 152pgs. Juvenile Fiction

Calvin's dad, Little Johnny Coconut (stage name), left his family for a Las Vegas singing career, but left behind Calvin's unusual last name for bully fodder (Coco-Dork!). Still, Calvin manages to have fun in the Hawaiian sun with his best friends Julio and Maya. Paradise is not without its troubles, though, as Calvin learns when he decides to try out a kiteboarder's chute which he is supposed to be watching, and gets dragged all over the beach before crash landing in the surf. Things get even worse when Tito Sinbad Andrade sees Calvin and his pals laughing at him after a shoplifting incident and Calvin spends much of the rest of this charming story trying to avoid and evade Tito and his goons. Calvin is a great kid--young readers will surely identify with this fourth grader's mishaps and adventures, with the bonus of learning a lot about Hawaiian culture and island life along the way.

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