Module 7:  Realistic Fiction

Ten Things Bobby Ellis-Chan Didn't Mean to Do:

Adopt a goldfish. 

Be embarrassed by a football player called "The Freezer."

Wear curlers 

Admit "The Freezer" is his father 

Train his goldfish to do tricks 

Spill paint all over his best friend 

Hug a tree 

Get stuck to the tree 

Run for office 

Start a boys vs. girls WAR! 

Who knows what will happen next?

Bobby Vs. Girls (Accidentally) Lisa Yee

Book Summary: All of the problems in Bobby's life can be summed up in one word, "girls". Bobby tries so hard to be a normal fourth grader, but with a famous father and a girl for a best friend, being a regular kid is just not in his future. He has a big sister who plays football with the boys and an annoying little sister.  His greatest wish in life is to have a dog, but being allergic to fur, his only option is a goldfish. This goldfish becomes one of his very best friends, and he spends lots of time with his fish every single day. Bobby does his best to forge his path and learns some interesting and hard life lessons along the way and inadvertently makes enemies with all the girls in his fourth-grade class. 

Reference: Yee, L. (2009). Bobby Vs. Girls (Accidentally). New York, N.Y. Arthur A. Levine Books.

Impressions:  A nice little book about real life problems that all kids face in elementary school. It made me reminiscent of my third and fourth-grade years when girls and boys each still have cooties. This would touch a nerve with every young boy and girl and maybe bring back some memories for those of us who are a tad bit older. 
The biggest impression I got from this book was the relationships he had with his family, mostly his dad. This parallels what Bucher says about realistic fiction. "A number of young adult realistic fiction novels examine father-son or father-daughter relationships. Although they all differ in several ways, the circumstances are usually the same- differences exist between parent and the young adult and each has to gain an understanding of both himself or herself and others". (Bucher, 2014, Young Adult Literature pg. 131)

Professional Review:

Kitchen Table Reviews: Bobby vs. Girls (Accidentally)

Bobby's former best friend turns all the girls against him in this story guaranteed to appeal to tweens of both genders.

By Mir Kamin | September 4, 2009 

When I saw Bobby vs. Girls (Accidentally), I knew I had to pick it up for my son. Back when we’d reviewed another of Lisa Yee’s books, So Totally Emily Ebers, we’d done it as a “girls only” review because the subject matter seemed both a bit too mature and decidedly “girly.” This book, though, centers on a male protagonist in 4^th grade, so I expected my male 4^th-grader to love it. What I didn’t expect was how much my female middle-schooler and I would enjoy it, too!

Me: What did you think of this one?

Son: I thought it was great—Bobby just wants to be a regular kid, and there’s lots of reasons he finds that hard. Like, his dad is famous. And he wants a dog but he’s allergic to them. And his best friend isn’t his best friend anymore and she’s making all the girls hate him!

Daughter: I love everything Lisa Yee writes. I don’t know what it is, but the way she tells stories you really feel like you’re right inside the main character’s head.

Me: Did you feel like this was too young for you?

Daughter: No, I really didn’t, even though they’re all in fourth grade. I did kind of want to know what Holly [the female main character] thought about some of this, too, but it’s all from Bobby’s point of view.

Me: But this is Lisa Yee, who wrote the same story from three different points of view in three different books… so maybe there’ll be a book from Holly’s point of view, sometime.

Daughter: That’s true! That’d be cool. I would read that. Also, Holly totally reminded me of girls I know.

Me:  You mean the whole frenemy thing?

Daughter: Totally.

Me: What was your favorite part?

Son: I liked the way Bobby was with his little sister. They were funny together.

Me: I liked that, too. You don’t often see a kid in a book being nice to his little sister like that!Daughter: I liked how it ended up being this whole girls vs. boys thing and Bobby seemed really confused about how that even happened. The whole classroom election thing was really realistic, I thought.

Me: I liked how Bobby’s dad is such a terrible cook. I thought that was sort of a cute sidebar, a running gag through the whole story about his burnt cookies and stuff. It wasn’t central to the story but it was an added touch.

Son: Oh! And I really liked the pictures. It made it sort of comic book-y here and there.

All in all, this one is a great read for ages 8-12.

Pros: Manages to be universal enough to appeal to nearly everyone. Dan Santat’s excellent illustrations add another dimension to the story. Positive sibling relationships.

Cons: Many cringe-worthy moments. Friends being mean to each other. Allergies.

Bobby vs. Girls (Accidentally) gets three thumbs from two girls and one boy at our kitchen table.

Kamin, M. (2009), [Review for Bobby vs. Girls (Accidentally) By Lisa Yee] Kitchen Table Reviews, Scholastic.com, Retrieved from: www.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3752556

Library Uses: This would make a good conversation book. Have a bulletin board set up in the foyer of the library with sticky notes and pens. The sign could say, "Ever had a bad day, an embarrassing situation accidentally? Write it down and place it on the board, anonymous. You'll see you are not the only one who has bad days".