Common Sense Note
Parents need to know there is not much in this book to be concerned about. Hal and Olivia do play a trick on his mother's live-in boyfriend -- and they worry about what has happened to him, and later what has happened to Hal's mother. But beyond the emotional duress, there is no real fallout from their scheme. Also, in a touching moment, Hal recalls when he, as a small child, found his father dead.
Families can talk about synesthesia, which Hal has in the book. This means that when a certain sense is activated, another is activated at the same time. Hal, for example, associates days of the week and times of day with colors and tastes. Would you like to have this gift? If you had it, would you tell people about it or keep it to yourself? Check out the Wikipedia entry to learn more.
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Kate Pavao
This book manages to be both funny and heartwarming, without ever being cloying. This is mainly due to the sweet friendship between offbeat Olivia and even more eccentric Hal. ("Hal is like a little white mouse with a twitchy nose. You can't help liking him, even if the twitch drives you mad.") Readers may have a hard time believing how worked up Hal and Olivia get over his missing stepfather. It's also sort of surprising that Olivia waits several days before telling her mother that Hal's mother has disappeared, especially since Hal is so distraught over it. Readers may find the answers to both missing-person crises a bit anticlimactic, though the easy answers -- and Hal and Olivia's inability to sort them out -- do say something about their childlike thinking.
It might have been worthwhile if Hal's synesthesia had worked more into the plot. As it is, his condition is more of a marker of just how unusual he is. But, these are just small criticisms. Readers will be touched by how vulnerable Hal and Olivia can be with each other. In one scene, he bursts into tears in front of her because he is so relieved his mother is OK; in another, she tells him she loves him, knowing he wasn't going to worry that she was "proposing to him or anything." In the end, it's impossible not to like Hal and Olivia, and to be moved by their sweet, small story.
From The Book
"Larry won't mind helping out," Hal said. "And it's nothing to worry about, it's just a little practical joke, really."
"We don't do practical jokes, Hal," I said. "That's not our style."
That's not exactly what I meant. What I meant was that anything Hal was going to come up with was probably going to be seriously kooky. I mean, think of the kookiest idea you can imagine and then double its kooky value, and that's the kind of kooky idea Hal has.
"Olivia, I need to get this man out of my life," he said. "Are you going to help me or not?"
Plot Summary:
Olivia and her friend Hal -- a quirky boy who has synesthesia, which makes him say things like Friday is "a light, pretty blue. With frills" -- decide to play a prank on Hal's mother's boyfriend, hoping to break them up. But there are complications -- and they begin to worry about what happened to him. Life becomes more stressful when Hal's mother doesn't return from her outing -- for several days.
Related Books:
Other Quirky Friends:
Donutheart by Sue Stauffacher
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
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