This is the 7th installment in the Charlie Bumpers series. Charlie is a 5th grader and his mission this year is to come up with a plan to prevent his friend Hector’s family from moving back to Chile. Charlie and his best friend Tommy have become good friends with Hector, who is kind but shy and rarely speaks up for himself. Charlie also becomes privately concerned that Hector could be a target of a group of bullies. Charlie tried to take on both issues by himself and occasionally with Tommy’s help.

I liked this book and found the characters to be likeable and relatable. I thought the message of standing up to bullying was good and accurate. As a mother of young children I feel that anti-bullying messages are sometimes too sweeping and over-exaggerated, and this book discussed this a bit and showed an accurate example of real bullying. I also liked the supportive and sometimes annoying family as well as the emphasis on friendship, tolerance, and the importance of helping others. I think that children grades 3 and up would enjoy this book, and it does well as a stand-alone story.

Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in exchange for my honest review.