"Alvin Ho" by Lenore Look

I chose to review this book because it is a nominee for the 2011 Oregon Readers' Choice Award.

Alvin Ho: Allergic to Girls, School, and Other Scary Things
Author: Lenore Look
Illustrator: LeUyen Pham
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Age Level: 8-12 years

SUMMARY
Despite the fact that he comes from “a long line of farmer warriors who haven’t had a scaredy bone in their bodies since 714 AD,” Alvin Ho is afraid of practically everything: elevators, thunder, wasabi, heights, shots…but especially school. He is so afraid of school that he has never spoken a word there. His family is doing their best to try to help him learn to manage his fears. Along with his therapist, his parents believe that what he really needs is a good friend. There is a girl in his class who is nice to him, but Alvin is afraid of girls. By the end of the book, Alvin still struggles with many fears, and still gets into trouble, but he does make progress towards finding a friend.

The story is followed by Alvin's glossary of unfamiliar words as well as historical people and events. 

CRITIQUE

To be honest, when I began reading this book, I was pretty skeptical that it would be worthwhile, but I was pleasantly surprised. While there is some material that parents may find objectionable (see below for a thorough preview of the content), this book was pretty humorous. What I appreciated most about this story was the author’s depiction of Alvin's family. Alvin has an older brother and a younger sister and, while they have their normal sibling squabbles, they generally support one another and enjoy each other’s company. Alvin’s father is portrayed favorably as a man who loves his children and who is trying to teach his son to be a gentleman. Alvin also has grandparents who are a loving and supportive presence in his life.

The main character has fairly extreme fears. In fact, according to his therapist, he has performance anxiety disorder. While this is treated with humor, it may still raise some questions for your child that you may want to discuss. With this in mind, even though the intended audience is 7 to 10 year-olds, I would suggest that this book is more appropriate for 10 to 12 year-olds. The bottom line is that I probably wouldn't purposely choose this book for my child to read, but would not object to her doing so if she were to discover it on her own.

RATINGS
Disrespectful/Bad Attitude: Mild
Frightening/Suspenseful: Mild
Profanity: Mild
Sex: None
Substance Use: None
Mature Themes: None
Violence: Mild

SPECIFIC CONTENT

Disrespectful/Bad Attitude:
-Brothers call each other “weird” and glare at each other.

-Alvin says his dad is “old and beastly and has sausages for fingers.”

-Alvin curses Shakespeare-style at his psychotherapist. For example: “Sit thee on a spit, then eat my sneakers, thou droning beef-witted nut hook.”

-Pinky says to Flea, “Cyclops are losers.”

-Pinky orders Alvin to stick his tongue out at the bus driver, which he does. Then he dares Alvin to yell a bad word at the bus, jump off the roof of his house, and then watch a scary movie.

Frightening/Suspenseful:

-When Alvin is hanging upside down in the tree, he describes himself almost blacking out.

-Alvin gets scared touring the houses of famous people in his town because he thinks that, although they are dead, they still live there.

-Jules scares Alvin by telling him that his piano teacher is like the witch in Hansel and Gretel.

-Alvin and gang are in the back yard when a Horrific Thing comes charging toward them. It scares the boys so badly that Pinky pees his pants.

Profanity:
-Calvin calls his brother's emergency plans “stupid” and dumb.”

-Alvin calls Flea “stupid.”

Violence:
-Alvin talks about wanting to give his sister a thumping.

-Children in second grade class are shoving and tripping over each.other.

-Mrs. Ho gave Alvin looks that said “she would make dragon’s beard out of me” and that “she would have broken my legs”.

-Flea punches Alvin after he calls her “weird”. Alvin describes it as an uppercut which is “when you curl your arm like you’re picking up a pail of rocks and you send your fist into your opponent’s jaw from the bottom up.” Alvin feels certain that they would have “battled to the death” if a police car hadn’t rolled by right at that moment.

-Children at recess play Redcoats and Minutemen and pretend to shoot each other dead.

-Alvin briefly remembers one of his dad’s stories about when his yehyeh died and then everyone was so sad that they forgot to feed his bird, which also died.

-Sam kicks Pinky after Pinky grabs his library book.