Charlie Pippin

by Candy Dawson Boyd

Spunky eleven-year old Charlie hopes to understand her rigid father by finding out everything she can about the Vietnam War, the war that let him survive but killed his dreams

Genres: Historical Fiction, Childrens, Young Adult

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

Reviews

[Sue.the.very.busy.reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charlie Pippin was my fifth children’s book and WOW was it ever thought provoking and realistic. The story follows Charlie a little girl in sixth grade struggling to get along with her father. All of Charlie’s good intentions don’t seem to work out and she gets in more trouble at home and at school. When Charlie does her report on the Vietnam War, a war her father fought in, somehow she gets in more trouble. She doesn't know what else to do.

[Hannah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another book for my YA Lit class. An interesting idea guiding the book - an African-American (Charlie) girl decides to do a project on the Vietnam War to learn more about it since both her father and uncle are veterans. Her father's very closed about the war and is very strict, and always avoids talking about it as much as he can. I don't know that much about the Vietnam War myself, so the little bits of new information that the book contained made me wonder more about it, and I liked that the book focused on an African-American perspective about the war, with different people in Charlie's family still either supporting or opposing the war.

Unfortunately, this book had too many problems for me to really enjoy it--I almost stopped reading it within the first chapter (which is really a rarity for me) because the dialogue is just so incredibly stilted and unrealistic. ELEMENTARY SCHOOLERS DO NOT TALK THIS WAY; I don't care if it was the 70s. I liked the characters in the book, and the idea about how love is complicated and how that was developed, but the action of the story itself was all over the place. I felt like I came to at least two points where the story probably could have concluded even though it didn't "feel" completely finished, so as you might expect, that made things drag on. The language was also not that interesting and at times was repetitive or flat-out boring. An okay read with some preachy sections.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author does a great job of balancing a fictional story with facts. As a fifth grade teacher, I am always looking for stories that inspire students to find out more information about history. Students will relate to Charlie, this novel's main character, because she is spunky and flawed and hard-headed and above all else, really just wants her dad's love and approval.

I look forward to using this novel with my students as a companion to our study of the Vietnam War. While it does not delve deeply into issues of the war itself, it touches on many. The story will humanize this difficult period in history and will lead students to further questions, research, and learning.

[MJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

good book.

[Catherine Mustread · Rating 3 out of 5]

School report on the Vietnam War, black family

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was interesting... never read a book quite like it. I struggled to stay real interested but the characters were likable and it was an easy read.

[Kathy]

Three copies