CRAZY CALVIN COCONUT

Calvin Coconut hears the word "responsibility" a lot.  His mom is always giving him new responsibilities since his dad moved to Las Vegas to become a famous singer and never came back, making Calvin the man of the house.  The problem with all this responsibility is that Calvin gets into trouble - a lot.  The first day of fourth grade arrives and Calvin gets into trouble at every turn.  There's a food fight, an issue with a centipede, and a big bully who won't leave Calvin alone, causing him to forget to pick up his little sister from school.  To top it all off, Calvin's mom tells him that they will have a teenage girl coming to live with them from Texas.  His mom says she'll be nice, but as soon as Calvin meets her, he knows there's going to be more trouble involved.  Especially when she tells him that if he doesn't watch out, she's going to show him what "Texas Nice" really means.

Join Calvin and his friends as they grow up and get into trouble in Hawai'i on the island of O'ahu.  Calvin Coconut: Trouble Magnet by Graham Salisbury is a great fit for voracious 3rd grade readers and all readers in 4th - 5th grade.

A DIFFERENT STORY ABOUT HAWAII

Pia, a fatherless thirteen-year-old, has an older best friend who has helped him learn the lessons that his missing father should have. Kamaka encourages Pia to challenge himself physically, explore his world and to work hard. Aside from his mother he is the most important person in Pia's life and when Kamaka deserts him when it is discovered that he has leprosy, he is devastated.

Hard times lie ahead for Pia when he is torn away from his family and sent to the leper settlement when life is anything but pleasant. Fortunately he has the skills learned from Kamaka and is able to survive. But will he ever be able to forgive his friend's desertion?

Healing Water: A Hawaiian Story by Joyce Moyer Hostetter gives the reader a compelling and interesting perspective on an actual period in the history of the Hawaiian Islands. While this story is a work of fiction, the leper colony on Molokai is not, nor is Father Damien a Catholic priest who chose to live and work on the island. For readers in grades 5 though 8.