Double-Click for Trouble [Hardcover]

Chris Woodworth (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 27, 2008

Eddie McCall is a good kid. He does his homework, picks up around the house, and cooks dinner for his single mom when she has to work late at a Chicago hotel. Then Eddie’s best friend, Whip, shows him a printout from the Internet— a picture of an honest-to-gosh naked woman—and suddenly Eddie can’t seem to think about anything else. He knows his mom will be upset if she sees the sites he’s visiting. Still, he doesn’t expect her to ship him off to her hometown of Sheldon, Indiana, to live with his great-uncle Peavey for an entire month. Peavey isn’t exactly the father figure thirteen-year-old Eddie’s been looking for. He spits tobacco juice into a can, calls a toilet a “commode,” and certainly doesn’t own a computer.

As it turns out, however, both Peavey McCall and Sheldon, Indiana, hold some very surprising secrets . . .

The author captures two worlds in this tender and funny look at a boy learning what it really means to be a man.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 6–8—Eddie McCall is a great kid. He cooks dinner for his single mom, does his homework, and gets placed in advanced classes at school. When his friend, Whip, shows him a printout from the Internet of a naked woman, Eddie realizes why his mother won't let him on the computer. His mind is consumed with the picture; his curiosity and hormones are stirred. He worries that he is a 13-year-old pervert. His vigilant mother finds out what he and Whip are up to and sends Eddie to spend school break with his great-uncle in rural Indiana. Eccentric, tobacco-spitting Peavey is hardly what Eddie had in mind in his wish for a father figure. Yet, he gives the boy grandfatherly advice, especially when Eddie realizes who his father actually is and why his mother left Indiana and has never returned. As he wrestles with his newfound gene pool, Eddie begins to understand what being a father really means. He also meets a real girl, Ronnie, whom he realizes is much nicer than those cyber babes. In a sweet touch at the end, he repays Peavey's kindnesses by reconnecting the elderly man with the woman he loved as a youth. Woodworth perfectly captures an eighth-grade boy on the cusp of adolescence, struggling with his identity as he learns about himself, his family, and what is really important in relationships.—Connie Tyrrell Burns, Mahoney Middle School, South Portland, ME
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Review

“Woodworth perfectly captures an eighth-grade boy on the cusp of adolescence, struggling with his identity as he learns about himself, his family, and what is really important in relationships.” —School Library Journal

"Woodworth leavens her simply written story with well-drawn characters and quiet wisdom, making this a good choice for discussion groups. Parents, too, might learn from Eddie's single mother and her determination to assert parental control over her son's use of the Internet." —Kirkus Reviews

“Solid storytelling and well-developed characters round out this familiar tale of new insights gained through clean country living and intergenerational relationships.” —Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

"Readers will find themselves unable to put Double-Click for Trouble down. . . . Very highly recommended." —Young Adult Books Central

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 162 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR); First Edition edition (May 27, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374309876
• ISBN-13: 978-0374309879
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 0.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,598,569 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Life Lessons Off and Online, May 3, 2009

By 

alldayReader "readallday" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Double-Click for Trouble (Hardcover)

This is a great book for middle-school aged kids. Eddie and his friend Whip are starting to feel curious about girls -- those creatures they swore just last year to stay away from forever -- and the internet supplies some quick satisfaction to their curiosity. But when Eddie's Mom uncovers the sites they've been searching, Eddie is sent off to an uncle he barely knows to spend his school break in a one-horse town.

What Eddie learns about himself, about girls, about appearances and attraction and romance, and about why his mother protects him so fiercely, will change him forever. Not only does Eddie change but everyone else around him does too; they've all started to see events -- and people -- in a new light, and in the end, lessons about the grass being greener, appearances being deceiving, and second chances meaning everything are wonderfully brought home.

For more reviews, go to www.readallday.org.

5.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining & Eductional!, July 11, 2008

By 

Bradford Lee - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Double-Click for Trouble (Hardcover)

Wow, I cannot believe I'm the first to review this book, somebody needs to get the word out about what a great writer Chris Woodworth is. I cannot wait to see her next work. Double Click is both entertaining and educational. I chose the book because I have a 13-year-old son who is kind of going through some of the same issues her main character is facing. It was not only a good tool to help teach him through this phase, but turned out to be something that he, I, and my 15-year-old daughter all really enjoyed. We're hoping these characters are going to come back in a future book facing some new challenges!