Let me tell you that Oggie Cooder is one quirky fourth-grader. He wears unusual clothes that he gets from his parents’ second-hand store, he crochets the shoelaces that he uses in his shoes, he makes a “prrrrr-ip” sound when he is excited and he charves cheese.
Charving is a word that Oggie has made up by combining the words chewing and carving. With practice, he has perfected charving cheese slices into the shapes of each of the fifty states. He not only enjoys charving, but he finds it very relaxing.
Oggie is not very popular. In fact, many of his classmates make fun of him. But Oggie doesn’t seem to mind, because, as his third grade teacher put it, “he marches to the beat of a different drummer.”
Everything changes drastically for Oggie when the TV show “Hidden Talents” comes to town looking for people who have unusual talents. Not only does Oggie fit the bill, but he is chosen to go to Hollywood to be a contestant on the show. The winner will take home a large cash prize.
Suddenly Oggie has become quite popular. Donnica, the “cool” girl in his class, appoints herself as Oggie’s manager. The “cool” boys invite him to play basketball. But, as stardom looms near for Oggie, he isn’t sure that he wants all that comes along with it.
Is Oggie’s hidden talent weird enough to win the big prize? This book is certainly a prize and, who knows, charving might just be worth trying sometime.
Posted by: Wendy
