Holy Enchilada!

Hank Zipzer #6

by Henry Winkler, Lin Oliver

PS 87 is having multicultural week, and Ms. Adolf's class is putting on a "Foods from Around the World" luncheon. Hank is thrilled&150no reading, no outlining, and no review questions, just cooking! Hank makes enchiladas, and at the luncheon, Ms. Adolf piles her plate with lots of food. But after a few bites, her face turns bright red&150one of the dishes is super-spicy! Ms. Adolf accuses someone of playing a mean practical joke, and punishes the entire class with no recess until the guilty party comes forward. Hank realizes his trouble with numbers might have caused the problem&150what if he accidentally used three cups of peppers instead of 1/3 cup? Will Hank be able to get recess back for everyone without getting detention for the rest of his life?

Genres: Realistic Fiction, Childrens, Middle Grade, Fiction, Humor, Cultural, Chapter Books

160 pages, Paperback

First published August 19, 2004

About the author

Henry Winkler is instantly recognizable and admired by audiences of all ages for his role as the Fonz on the long-running series, Happy Days. In addition, he is an award-winning producer and director of family and children's programming. He is also the author of the critically-acclaimed Hank Zipzer series, which follows the everyday adventures of a bright boy with learning challenges.

Mr. Winkler has also continued his acting career on the big screen, including a Golden Globe nomination for his performance in Nightshift, a starring role in the box-office hit Scream, and co-starring roles in The Water Boy, and Holes. On television, he has guest-starred on ABC's The Practice and NBC's Law & Order: SVU. He recently starred on Broadway for nine months in Neil Simon's play The Dinner Party.

Mr. Winkler is deeply committed to children's welfare and works with numerous children's groups. He is involved with The MacLaren Children's Center (a facility for abused children), The National Committee for Arts for the Handicapped, The Special Olympics, and The Los Angeles Music Center's Very Special Arts Festival, as well as numerous teenage alcohol and drug abuse programs. He is a founding member of the Children's Action Network, a non-profit organization that sponsors informational briefings for writers, producers and directors on children's issues and serves as a clearing-house for the entertainment industry on children's issues.

Reviews

[Jerry (Rebel With a Massive Media Library) · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Holy enchilada, Batman!"

(Sorry, but, as a longtime superhero fan, I had to!)

Seriously, though: Like a Disney Channel or Nickelodeon series, the Hank Zipzer books regularly deliver great stories with fun plots. I'm glad I discovered these thanks to a local garage sale in my area...except for the fact that one of these books I purchased there was defective.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just when you think, Hank can't get in anymore disasters, in book 6, Hank sure does get into a major one. Its multicultural week at Hank's school, and during the week, a principal and his young son, Yoshi from a sister school from Japan, is stopping by. Hank gets permission to have Yoshi, stay with him and his family for a night. During their night together, Hank and his friends, have to make an international meal for the school's "Foods from Around the World lunch." They decide to make enchiladas, because they are Yoshi and his dad's favorite Mexican food. Hank is put in charge of reading the recipe for Frankie, which leads Hank to a problem, he doesn't know how to read fractions. Which leads to how much is too much, chili powder for the enchiladas?

This was another, really fun read in this little series. Looking forward, to book 7.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've only read book One before, but slipped into this easily. Hank and friends are so much fun, and the authors have so much heart, the books are a joy to read. However, the humor is juvenile, and the classroom teacher and principal are parodies of awfulness. I'll read the others as I come across them.

[Janis · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

Just finished reading this with my nine-year-old grandson. It made me laugh out loud numerous times. A really enjoyable book for kids, but also grandparents. :-)

[laur]

Read with Megan for nostalgia purposes & this book is still as awesome as it was when we were 10

[Sue Leatherman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes we make judgments about a person based upon their looks, actions, speech and even their nationality. When we hear the word, disability, we might assume the person with a disability is weird or dumb. People from other countries are often considered peculiar and even unpleasant.

The Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary defines the word, stereotype, as, “[an] idea or image that many people have of a particular type of person or thing, but which is often not true in reality.” (1).

The sixth book in the Hank Zipzer series, Holy Enchilada!, tackles this subject of stereotypes with an amusing and eventful story.

The first chapter opens with Hank Zipzer reeling from a math test on fractions. He has some difficulties in general with math but when it comes to fractions, Hank feels that he is worse than worse.
Distracted by his frustrations, Hank misses part of Ms. Adolf's introduction to a special school event.

Hank's school, PS87, is hosting a celebration of Multi-Cultural Day and Ms. Adolf's class has been chosen to cook foods from other countries for lunch on that particular day. Ms. Adolf also informs her class that Yoshi Morimoto, son of the principal from a “sister school” in Japan will be their special guest. Yoshi and his father are touring schools around the United States and have chosen to visit PS87 for two days. To make the event extra special, Yoshi will be allowed to stay overnight with one of the students in Ms. Adolf's class. Names are put in a hat and Hanks name is chosen.

The book continues on with Hank and his friends discussing Japan and what Japanese kids must be like. Yoshi will probably have short hair, wear short pants and even have thick glasses. Ms. Adolf shares her concern with Hank about the fact that his family isn't really a “typical American family” and she wants to make a good impression on the visitors, but Hank's name was chosen so Ms. Adolf agrees to let their Japanese visitor stay overnight with Hank.

Yoshi and his father finally arrive at the school and the class discovers that some of their assumptions about Japanese kids isn't actually true. Hank and Yoshi get better acquainted and we find out that Yoshi loves to eat enchiladas. Later that day, Hank and his friends get together and decide to make enchiladas for the international lunch celebration. Hank finds a recipe and the ingredients are purchased. Each member of the group has an assignment for helping with the cooking. Hank's job is to read the recipe. Oh no! Hank has dyslexia and he gets a bit confused when he reads the fraction measurements in the recipe, especially the amount of chili powder that is needed. Hank is embarrassed about his dyslexia and doesn't tell anyone. He just guesses.

The enchiladas are finished and the next day the food is taken to the school. Hank is concerned that he may have read the recipe wrong and added too much chili powder. He frets all morning long.

The luncheon begins. Ms Adolf gets sick. The problem turns extreme and finally, the truth reveals lots of interesting facts about Ms. Adolf, about Hank, and about their Japanese visitors. Hank learns some valuable things about himself and his new friend, Yoshi.

Mr. Winkler and Ms. Oliver tell a delightful story which succeeds in presenting some important issues about learning disabilities, people of other countries, and stereotypes.



(1) Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, “stereotype,” 2015, Online posting, Oxford University Press.

[Courtney Umlauf · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's plenty to recommend this series: humor, positive (but still realistic) friendships and family relationships, and a main character with learning differences who isn't defined by them.

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[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was suggested to me by a friend and I can't believe I have never read any of this series! It is about a boy named Hank Zipzer who has learning disabilities. Hank is chosen to have a Japanese student named Yoshi stay at his apartment. People thought that Hank wouldn't be able to provide Yoshi with a good time, but in the end it turned out that boys are boys and enjoy the same things, regardless of culture. When the boys decide to make enchiladas for "international night", Hank misreads the recipe and uses 3 cups of chili powder instead of 1/3 cup. This is a great book for boys, especially those who struggle in school. It is a great example of friendship and accepting people as they are and not trying to change or make them conform to a certain standard. A funny thing is that I took something so completely different that the way goodreads describes this book. The cooking part was a very funny, yet really small part of the story.

[Autumn Cook · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a really good book its about a 4th grade boy who has a kid named yoshi stay at his house for a school project.In the middle they have to bake enchiladas for the school.And hank doesnt really know how to read so instead of putting a 1/2 cup of chilie powder in he put as much as he think it needs.But the next day is when he brings in the enchiladas and he thinks there really spicey.Then he asks his teacher if she thought the enchiladas looked good and she said yes but she also says she doesnt like to much chilie powder in hers because it makes her sick. So hank thinks he put to much chilie powder in.So then its time for her to try a little bit of each meal that was brought in. Buts she gets sick in the middle of eating one.Was it hank?Is he introuble?

[Eric]

Hank has learning disabilities and he faces a challenge, because a friend named Yoshi came from Japan. He is coming to America for two days and Hank`s family is the family to host Yoshi. Hank is suprised to hear that Yoshi`s favorite food are enchiladas for multi-cultural day. He tries to read the recipe. However, he thinks the fraction 1/3 spoon is actually 3spoons. Hank thinks that his enchiladas are too spicy. But at that time, the teacher near their enchiladas starts to burp and starts to cry...

What i liked about this book is that it is comedy and it is a very fun book. I recommend this to people who wants to read a very funny book. It made feel happy, because it is a very fun book. I think it has more comedy in it than sad books like"Out of my mind".

[Marblesaurus · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series is always good to read and this specific one is especially so because a Japnese boy was coming to Hank's school and he even stays with his family! I'm not very sure about the word 'Ikeru,' though. Maybe the author tried to translate the word 'cool.' Here again, Hank gets himself into trouble because he cannot say he has a problem reading something honestly. However, he is a lucky boy to have a lot of people to support him. After all he always tells the truth. And I like it very much. I hope people with dyslexia don't have to feel embarrassed with their learning differences so much.

[Debra Dahlgren Rowand · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a Tween Book Club (ages 8-12) choice & is part of the Hank Zipzer series which is written by Henry Winkler (Fonzie). It's a really nice telling of Hank (or Henry as a boy)who navigates life with dyslexia. Hank is always getting into some type of scrape due to what he calls his "learning disability". This book focused on a multicultural theme and Hank's inability to read fractions causing him to add too much hot sauce to his enchilada recipe. Hank has very supportive family, friends & teachers as supporting players in his books. The readers really liked this book and were interested in reading more adventures in the series.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hank Zipzer is a forth grade boy with a lot of personality. He isn’t perfect, has interesting pets and cool friends. Children can relate to a character that can’t always do everything right. In this story, Hank has trouble making enchiladas because he doesn’t understand the fractions in the recipe. It is a cute story about a boy who makes a mistake and has to own up to it. We learn about friendship and responsibility while laughing. I can see how elementary school students could fall in love with this character.

[Tal · Rating 2 out of 5]

my boys would like this book. i thought it was just ok. there was an interesting storyline and i really like that the main character has "learning difficulties" that have to be worked around. there was one character who i thought was over the top and all of the other characters responded to him that way. that part of awful. the way the kids talked to the teacher was unbelievable. all in all, it was a fair read.

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

IT'S MULTICULTURAL WEEK AT SCHOOL.SO ALL HANK HAS TO DO IS COOK SOME FOOD AND BRING IT TO SCHOOL. SOUNDS EASY. BUT WHEN HANK IS COOKING HE DOESN'T QUITE KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN 1/3 CUP AND 3 CUPS. SO HE PUTS IN ANY OLD AMOUNT. BUT WHEN HE TAKES IT TO SCHOOL MS. ADOLF PILES HER PLATE HIGH WITH THEM. AND AS SOON AS SHE TAKES A BITE HER WHOLE MOUTH IS ON FIRE. NOW SHE IS PROPOSING TO TAKE AWAY THE CLASSES RECESS FOR THE E=WHOLE YEAR IF WHOEVER MADE THEM DOESN'T CONFESS.

[Katrina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very funny book, and I enjoyed reading it. I think everyone who likes a good laugh should read this! A kid is making a plate of enchiladas for a school's celebration and he can't read the fraction! He thinks and just may be right he put too much chili powder into the enchiladas, and he doesn't think it'll go very well...

[Mary Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fun book, perfect for the reluctant reader in 3rd or 4th grade. Hank is a kid who struggles at school, but is just a great kid - full of humor and great insights. He has trouble reading, and so when he and his friends are making a recipe for enchiladas, he gets mixed up with how to read the amount of chile powder to put in. Oops, those enchiladas turned out just a little too spicy!

[Ann Jarcho · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great book, My 9 year old son and I read these together, we laugh the whole way through. I have even caught him say things during the rest of the day like "McKelty Factor" when he doesn't believe something he has heard. My son is being diagnosed with learning difficulties and I think these books has made him realize that he is normal too! thank you!!

[Cecilia · Rating 3 out of 5]

really funny! A littlekid's book like 3rd or fourth grader book! I read it in both grades! there's a lot of them and the good thing is you don't have to read them in order! They made me crack up on the floor!

[Taija]

children's/young adults

[Squemmy · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's very funny. It even has a new special foriegn character! Hank Zipzer is one of the weirdest people you'll ever read about.

[Brianna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I giggled countless times while reading this book. However, a lot of the humor would go right over the heads of my students.

[Annisaa S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

holy enchilada! this book was spicy

[Characters With Disabilities]

LD

[Tori · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was funny! This book was very interesting because Yoshie was funny! I would like every kid to read it! It;s hilarious!

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is weird

[Erin Walling · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this book Hank and his two best friends are trying to solve a problem , when suddenly hank is too HOT to handle.I really recomend this book.

[Malik dunmore]

it was a great book so far but im not done yet

[Begoña · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book, it is really funny.
when i read it i couldnt stop reading it.
it is really interesting. I recommend this book
to everone. I enjoy it a lot!!

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

not holy but spicy