Charlie Pippin [Hardcover]

Candy Dawson Boyd (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 30, 1987 | Age Level: 10 and up

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.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Chartreuse (Charlie) is convinced that her authoritarian father hates her because he always yells at her. So, she is shocked to learn from her grandmother, Mama Bliss, that Mr. Pippin was a "rebel" too at her age. For a class project, Charlie elects to study the Vietnam War, which her father always refuses to discuss with her. More surprises come when Charlie finds out that Mr. Pippin was a war hero. Despite her father's antagonism, Charlie researches the Vietnam War and nuclear weapons. Along the way, she learns that individualsincluding childrencan make a difference if they speak out. At the story's emotional ending, Charlie makes peace with her father, and he makes peace with his ghosts from the war. A strong black protagonist makes this a rare YA book; the finesse with which Boyd ties its many themes into a very moving, unified whole turns this into a stellar offering. Ages 8-12.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-8 On one front, this is a novel about a sixth-grade girl's social studies project and her inability to get along with her father, but on another level it is about the much larger issue of dreams shattered and lost. In it, Boyd examines the perceptions that young people may have of the Vietnam War, as well as the impact that the war and the homefront divisiveness of the war era continue to have on families, especially those in which there are veterans. Chartreuse ``Charlie'' Pippin is an 11-year-old black girl living in Berkeley, California. Not much seems to go right for her. She is a hardworking, successful businesswoman cut from the same delightful, rebellious cloth as her grandmother, but her entrepreneurial skills cause her problems with both her father and school authorities. Her decision to learn about the Vietnam War as a school report only leads to further conflict with her father, who refuses to discuss the war. The domestic resolution is in keeping with the larger issue of the war: it is not so much a peace settlement as a cease fire. Charlie and her friends are finely drawn. Some of the adult characters, however, are perilously close to becoming stereotypes, especially the father and school principal, both of whom seem unusually stern and inflexible. On the whole, Charlie Pippin is a good novel about vital people and important issues. Jerry Flack, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 182 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing; 1st edition (April 30, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0027263509
• ISBN-13: 978-0027263503
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,627,412 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Good Book!, March 17, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Charlie Pippin (Turtleback)

Nice reviews, September 6th person. Hello, We'd like to hear a little bit about the plot here. When books were passed out in our school, I chose this one. I like historical fiction and the Vietnam War was something I didn't know that much about. I ended up reading in about a day and a half. It was not only really good as far as the war went it really had a believable story line. If and when you are studying Vietnam this book is NOT to be missed. Charlie is a great heroine as she struggles to find out secrets about her uptight and extremely strict father. Neither her Grandparents or family will tell her anything. Her father and uncle both fought and won't talk about it. Her report for school helps her understand what happened but not how it killed her father's dreams. Now my other friends are asking to have this book next. Way to go Candy Dawson Boyd!!!!

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars What Culture Researchers are all About!, March 10, 2004

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Charlie Pippin (Paperback)

Who Culture Researchers are all About!

The original name of my book is Charlie Pippin. It is about a studious, young business woman who likes to set up shops at school. She also has an urge to learn about culture. See this story takes place in the time of Vietnam, and the communism that was going on in that time of war and suffering. Some of the main characters in the story are Charlie, some of her classmates in the peace committee which I will tell you about in the summary in the story.
In the beginning of the story Charlie is talking about the war and what is going on at her school. She said, "That they had pins and apparel about the war such as pins that said "Welcome home Vietnam Vets", and No more Vietnams." The thing is Charlie wanted to understand was more about the war and the definition and different types of communism. She wanted to know all about it. Early in the book Charlie learns that she will be doing a cultural report since the times were so fitting with the war and everything. She thinks, "This is the perfect time to see what war, and communism was all about. Charlie thought that the person to interview was her father. Now her father was a very reserved and quiet type of guy. Charlie knows that her father is angry about someone or something. So bewildered by her fathers anger Charlie tries to figure out more about him but it is difficult.
In the middle of the book Charlie is very interested and fascinated about this new report that she learned she had to do. So she had started researching and figured out that 200,000 Vietnamese soldiers had died in the war, and over half of a million had died. This was a shock to her, but it made her even more eager to learn about the war and communism. So she asked her Grandma to take her to the University of California in Berkeley. Charlie had arranged for her Grandma to talk about what had been going on in the war and how it affected her and her family's lives. So when they get there Charlie's Grandmother is able to talk about the war and Charlie is getting very interested, but Charlie's Grandmother has to stop because her daughter is getting squirmy. So Charlie is mad at the fact that her Grandmother was getting to the good part about the report and then she has to stop. Then Charlie decides to walk around on campus and she meets this guy. Now this guy had overheard the conversation between Charlie and her Grandmother and was very interested to tell her more about the topic of the war. So from then on this man out of the random crowd starts to talk about the war. He talks about how It is a difficult time, and how it affects the world and the people around it.
In the end Charlie gets so interested in the war and what it did to the world. That she decides to start a peace committee. Now this Peace Committee is made up of various classmates from Charlie's classroom. This peace committee was for everything. It would support the war and the soldiers, and it also would take a stand and create ways to keep the peace. Now it turns out that Charlie has to do a written report on what she has started and what type of research she has done on her project. This Charlie is nervous about. She is afraid because people might have different opinions on how the war is. It has come to the day and Charlie is nervous. But she will do it for the committee and her beliefs. Her speech goes well and she is surprised at the response that she gets from the class and her friends and family. In conclusion, Charlie understands her Father and becomes fonder of him. Also Charlie understands the point of war and a lot about communism. She also understood what people go through in a time of war. And in all of this she learned about everything she wanted to know, also she grew closer to her family and siblings especially her father.
I liked this book it was very interesting with very interesting people. I liked this book because it showed really what people go through in a time of war. Charlie learned many principles about the war and the government of communism. She learned what people went through and so did I. Charlie also grew closer to her siblings in this time of war and suffering, and in this difficult and excruciating time she began to understand her Father and what he has been through. It was hard for Charlie to understand her Father because he had so much going on is his life and Charlie had not realized that until she had learned about the war. I got a lot out of this book it helped me understand war just that much more.
Another book that is similar is Number the Stars. It is about a young girl fighting the Holocaust. This book is similar because it has the same principals in war and getting closer to your family.

0 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Charlie Pippin, October 17, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Charlie Pippin (Paperback)

I thought the book had a good storyline but the book did not build a good suspence.it was well written in detail but it didnt capture the reader.