Young Calvin Vickers must come to terms with an all-too-familiar new neighbor, the biggest bully at Carver Elementary.Could Harper Hall just be a good kid with a troubled past? Calvin doesnt want to be anywhere close to find out. Big for his age Harper Hall is someone you dont cross, someone you dont say no [to] if he asks for one of your three Oreos, someone who looks like he just might pound someone into the ground. How can Calvin focus on the school science fair when his world has just been rendered a shambles? What seems to be an impossible relationship is given hope when Calvin is offered an entry into Harpers inner life; he learns that Harpers mother struggles with housing insecurity and finding steady income, forcing Harper into foster care. The irony is that the cigarette-smoking, coldhearted foster grandmother who cares for Harper is not as well-equipped for the job as his troubled but loving mother. The reductive, negative-tropesupporting foster mother makes for a slight disappointment in an early chapter book that otherwise handles complexity with warmth. Harper, Calvin, and Calvins pals are depicted as black in Freemans soft, black-and-white illustrations, and Carver is a welcoming, multicultural place. Chronicling the importance of empathy and openness, this fourth in the Carver Chronicles is a pleasing addition to a series in which diverse readers can recognize themselves in starring roles. (Fiction. 6-10) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Calvin's been hoping that a boy will move in next door, but he wouldn't have chosen Harper, the school bully. In time, though, this big, tough kid shows other sides of himself: a foster child who loves gardening and has the potential to change his ways. English turns the conventional bully story on its head in the fourth volume of the Carver Chronicles early chapter-book series, one of the few with mainly African American characters. While Harper's gradually revealed background informs the narrative, it's the realistic portrayal of Calvin's emotions and his struggles to understand Harper that make this early chapter book so very readable.--Phelan, Carolyn Copyright 2016 Booklist

Calvin is convinced he'll win the science fair with his project hypothesizing that boys are faster than girls. But his new next-door neighbor, bully Harper, has a vested interest in the science fair himself. As Calvin's theories on family, friendship, and gender are challenged, he grows as a person and a scientist. Black-and-white illustrations accompany the warm fourth story about the diverse boys at Carver Elementary. (c) Copyright 2017. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.