Book Review: Don't Feed the Geckos!

Book: Don't Feed The Geckos! (The Carver Chronicles book #3) by Karen English with illustrations by Laura Freeman

Source: Borrowed from Publisher/NetGalley for an honest review

Publication Date: December 1, 2015

Description:

Carlos isn't sure how he feels about the news that his cousin Bernardo will be joining his class at Carver Elementary. But when Bernardo comes to live with him temporarily, taking over Carlos's top bunk, his spot on the school soccer team, and even his Papi's attention, Carlos knows he isn't happy. Worse, Bernardo starts messing with Carlos's pet geckos! Carlos tries to see past his cousin's annoying ways, but Bernardo sure doesn't make it easy. Will Carlos—and his geckos—survive Bernardo's visit? Can he keep the peace for his family's sake? Emerging and newly independent readers are sure to recognize themselves in this humorous school and family story.


Rating: 4 stars

Review:

Don't Feed the Geckos! is a cute and funny story that follows third grader Carlos who is not too happy about his cousin Bernardo who will be staying with Carlos' family temporarily until his mother arrives from Texas.

Carlos also wasn't too thrilled about Bernardo staying in his room not only because his mother gave his cousin the top bunk (which was Carlos' favorite) but mainly because he didn't want Bernardo to touch his geckos or ant farm. He also doesn't want his little sister Issy touching them either (she's not quite old enough to care for them properly).

Sharing a room with Bernardo was terrible because his cousin was messy and he snores very loudly. Being at school with him wasn't any better because most of the time he doesn't pay attention in class or he showboats during recess showing off how great he is at sports. To make matters worse, Bernardo is also on his soccer team. He just can't escape from him.

Frustration was building for Carlos because Bernardo was getting on his nerves, he couldn't wait until his cousin would leave. But after a misunderstanding about the geckos feeding caused Carlos to say a few things he wished he could take back it made it possible for the cousins to start to become friends.

Carlos' experience with his cousin allowed him to see that family can be annoying at times but he learns the importance of family.

Although this was a cute story, the ending felt rushed to me. I couldn't help feeling a little sorry for Carlos because I feel like his parents put a lot of pressure on him.

His mother had him reading one of her favorite books from when she was a kid and although he doesn't really like the book he still keeps reads it. What I don't like is that he just can't read a book to read it, his mother had him summarizing chapters of it. I also didn't like that she called him a doofus when he asked a question about why his cousin didn't take a plane since his cousin traveled by bus with a family friend from Texas. Maybe it was supposed to be a joke but it certainly didn't read like one.

Meanwhile, his father only seems to care about sports and I got the sense that is the only reason Carlos is playing soccer because he wants his father's attention. Despite Carlos making really good grades, it's his poor soccer skills that only seem to matter in his father's eyes. I really wish the author had wrote something in that showed that Carlos' dad cared about him no matter what instead of as I read it only being about sports. And once Bernardo showed up and excelled at sports Carlos' father only seem to be offering his attention and support for him.

Parents aren't perfect and I guess the author showed that because although his parents do love Carlos they sometimes make parenting mistakes. I don't know maybe my adult brain just picked up on those things but kids reading this will probably just gloss over it.

What I like is that Carlos is smart and a self-starter. After Carlos over heard his teacher Ms. Shelby-Ortiz talk about having a few knuckleheads in her class he decided for himself that he no longer wanted to be one. He worked really hard in class and his grades started to improve. Carlos has an interest in animals and insects and would one day like to pursue a career as a Zoologist or an Entomologist.

This was a fun book, the author did a great job with creating all the characters they seem like real people. I just wish the ending wasn't so rushed and the story had time to fix those two issues I had with it.