06/01/2014
Gr 2–4—Charlie Bumpers is a typical fourth grade boy trying out for the school play. He's picked out his part—the evil sorcerer—and even has the laugh down: muwa-ha-ha-ha! But his dreams of playing the villain are squashed when Mrs. Burke tells Charlie he's landed the least cool role in the play: the Nice Gnome. Charlie attempts to rewrite his lines and add some humor to the Nice Gnome while keeping up with his responsibilities at home. One of his chores is walking Ginger, the family dog, so he enlists the help of his little sister, which leads to disaster, and his brother won't leave him alone about being the G-nice G-nome. How will Charlie survive this dreadful school play? Harley narrates, delivering an entertaining performance. Although the story is a little slow to start, it evolves into a heartwarming and sometimes laugh-out-loud tale about giving 100 percent even when you're less than thrilled to do so. Charlie Bumpers is a very relatable boy, and listeners will be eager to find out how his adventure unfolds.—Jessica Gilcreast, Bedford High School, NH

2014-02-19
Charlie Bumpers knows the role he wants in the fourth-grade class play: Evil Sorcerer Kragon. What does he get? The Nice Gnome. Boogers. Disappointed and angry, the endearing Charlie goes to battle. Three times, he tries to rid himself of the horrible part with its ridiculous costume. He even rewrites all of his lines to make them funny and cool, like the hero of his favorite TV show, Buck Meson—Detective from Andromeda. But Mrs. Burke is unyielding. This role is worse than having to clean up after his dog, Ginger. As the big night approaches, though, a special touch is added to his costume that makes a difference: Big brother Matt has taken a pair of white sneakers and spray painted them gold. "Awesome shoes," Matt says. "Awesome gnome." The last 20 pages quickly give Charlie a golden touch, as he saves the performance in multiple ways. Charlie even gets to ad-lib the Buck Meson quote he worked so hard to include. A storyteller with an uncanny sense of elementary school humor, Harley has penned a worthy sequel to Charlie Bumpers vs. The Teacher of the Year (2013). With illustrator Gustavson, he captures the frustration that comes with just having to make the best of a bad situation. Charlie's fans will be psyched to see that Charlie Bumpers vs. the Squeaking Skull is scheduled for fall 2014. (Fiction. 7-10)