The impish Hawaiian hero from Calvin Coconut: Trouble Magnet (2009) returns for another bout of good-intentioned but mischief-centric adventures. Constantly at odds with the Texas teenager, Stella, who came to live with his family (and snatched his room, no less), Calvin takes a revenge plot a little too far and afterward feels just awful. Wanting to make a peace offering in the form of a CD, he flits about town odd-jobbing his way to the $18 purchase price. Salisbury's buoyant look into growing up in Hawaii will be revealing to many stateside readers; for all its differences, there are just as many sames.--Chipman, Ian Copyright 2009 Booklist

This second installment about Oahu-dwelling Calvin builds on the engaging story line first introduced in the chapter-book series's debut title, Calvin Coconut, Trouble Magnet (2008). Annoyed by the teasing doled out by their 16-year-old houseguest Stella, Calvin borrows Zippy, a neighborhood cat, and places it on her pillow, which causes a nasty allergy attack. Afterward, Calvin is unexpectedly consumed by guilt and he soon hatches a scheme to make it up to her with a snazzy but pricey birthday gift. With the help of his friends, Calvin searches the island high and low for ways to make money (while avoiding bully Tito), and the inevitable hijinks ensue. While somewhat formulaic, this slice-of-lifestyled look at Calvin's working-class family includes the experiences of having an absentee father, a busy-but-more-than-capable mom and siblings, complete with realistic strife, all of which add some depth. Rogers's simple black-and-white illustrations are a fine embellishment. Light in tone, rich with cultural details and populated by likable characters, this slim volume will appeal to many a young reader. (Fiction. 7-10) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Gr 3-4-This book is bewildering. It's written to a very narrow audience, one that apparently needs to already know about Hawaiian pidgin. Newly independent readers will be confused as to why some characters speak as such: "Whose birfday you was talking about back at the store? You going to buy um cake and pointy hats, or what?" Also problematic is the use of some odd terms: one character calls another a "strange bazooks." Furthermore, there are times when Calvin's words don't ring true for a boy his age. According to him, Stella's eyes "twinkled like sequins"; and he instructs his pals to "run silent, run fast." What fourth grader speaks like this? There are issues of randomness within the plot, too; for example, Calvin's attempt at mischievous revenge on 16-year-old Stella, who lives with his family, backfires and forces him to make amends, but it is so bogged down in inexplicable plot distractions and exasperating language quirks that any accompanying entertainment value is utterly lost.-Alyson Low, Fayetteville Public Library, AR (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.