Trouble Next Door by Karen English is an installment in a great little series called The Carver Chronicles. The characters are for the most part people of color but the setting isn't necessarily urban. The series is set in Carver Elementary school inIn this book,we meet an ordinary kid who sometimes has trouble doing his homework and who is having even more trouble thinking of a great idea for the science fair (something he desperately wants to win). At school he sometimes has to evade a big, gruff kid everyone calls Monster Boy. Then one day Calvin gets a new neighbor-Monster Boy!
Calvin must decide whether or not to accept Monster Boy as his friend as his dad wants him to or to completely ignore him despite the fact that they're neighbors. His friends would recommend the latter option. Doing so would go against everything his parents taught him and besides...it's hard to avoid him when their bedroom windows face each other!
This book covers a lot of subjects (such as different families, bullies, science among others) but in a nice understated manner that is just right for kids in grades 3 and up. I reckon it has some hi-lo potential as well. Highly recommended and I am going to check out the rest of the series as soon as I get a chance. Some read alikes are The Buried Bones Mystery by Sharon M. Draper, Nikki & Deja by Karen English and Sally Warner's EllRay Jakes series.
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