![]() ![]() At the very least, they are sure to want to learn to swear Shakespeare-style. These and many other diverse cultural references may send readers in search of more information about them. Alvin, a Chinese-American whose father delights in Shakespearean insults and old baseball cards, lives in Concord, Mass., home of the Minutemen, near the homes of Thoreau, Emerson, Alcott, and Hawthorne. The other is the mishmash cultural background. The first is Alvin's loving and supportive, but also quirky, family, including an older brother who's reading his way through the encyclopedia, a younger sister who likes to dig holes, and especially his father, who is kind and understanding, and resorts to playing the piano when he's angry. In addition to Alvin's quirky personality, the book will delight readers in two other ways. In life, Alvin would be very hard to get to know, but here, where we can hear both his inner and outer voice, he is a charmer. ![]() By the end of the book, while he has made (or accepted) a friend, he is still filled with fear. ![]() Alvin has a real problem - performance anxiety disorder - which is mostly it's treated lightly and with humor, but also realistically, as Alvin doesn't suddenly get cured. ![]()
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