Rec: Alvin Ho books by Lenore Look

[sasha_feather]

I am reading a series of books about Alvin Ho by Lenore Look. These are kids' chapter books for young grade school kids and they are GREAT. Delightfully illustrated by Leuyen Pham, they are funny, charming books about Alvin, his family, friends and adventures. There are 4 books so far, called things like "Alivn Ho: Allergic to Girls, School, and other Scary Things."

I picked them up from the library because I saw them on a list of books about disability. Alvin is "scared of everything" and he can't talk in school (he has selective mutism). The books take this problem seriously without heaping pity on him, indeed they find the humor in the situation. They are from Alvin's perspective, and he talks about his everyday challenges trying to make friends at school, getting into trouble with his siblings, etc. He has a PDK (personal disaster kit) made from an old tackle box and filled with band-aid, a compass, and hand-written instructions for surviving difficult situations. He has a good family including his dog and grandparents. (See the glossary in the back for definitions of gunggung, etc.) Alvin is American-born Chinese and his culture is also part of the story.

I have been recommending these books to everyone! They are super great! So far these are the first books I've read with a character who has selective mutism and they exceed my expectations.

Comments

[kalmn]

oh, you rock. i must now go buy these all for the aglet. thank you!

[sasha_feather]

\o/ I hope you love them as much as I do! I just finished the 3rd one, and the only thing that bothered me is that there is a bit with a native American costume, that wasn't problematized. But the rest was lovely.

[ninamazing]

Yes yay! I only just discovered these last year in my children's lit class and I LOVE THEM TOO! I actually want to write a paper about disability representation in Alvin Ho and I was searching to see who else had already done that, and turned up this post! We have already talked on Twitter but LJ/DW is my favorite medium, so I thought why not leave a comment. :P

[sasha_feather]

Hello hello! Have added you here. I have selective mutism and have written about it some (check the tag if you are interested). I'm glad to answer any questions via textual format. These books are definitely the best representation I've found... but I did not love all of them. The 3rd book has some Native American appropriation (of a costume, which is a plot point).

When I tried to read #5 this last winter, I just couldn't get into it. Maybe I was not in the right mood.

[ninamazing]

Thanks for adding me and thanks for the tip about your tag—I will definitely check it out. I also appreciate your offer to answer questions! So far I'm still just thinking about this project, but when I actually start, I might take you up on that.

So far I have only read #1 and #6, and I really liked #6 especially. But there are definitely things that trouble me about it even as I am thrilled at its representation of disability. Thanks for the warning about #3 'cause I recently got that one and was going to start it soon.