He loves sneakers as much as Henri, who reads all about them and would like to design them.Ĭollege acceptance to one’s dream school is the theme of the novel which continues with Corrine Troy. Ming is very much an American teen in his obsession of video games, and sneakers. As such, his dream school is halfway across the globe in the “motherland” where he plans to immerse himself in Chinese culture. Though they provide limitless credit cards in lieu of a weekly allowance, they can’t provide firsthand knowledge of his roots and culture he desperately craves. He’s a Chinese adoptee of rich, white parents. Ming himself is an interesting character. The lackluster apartment is a source of shame for Henri who doesn’t even allow his best friend Ming to come over. He works as a janitor/maintenance man in a swanky building in New York City in exchange for room and board in a small, cramped apartment. Or is it really the borrowed dream of his Haitian immigrant father Jean? Like most parents, especially immigrant parents, Jean makes the sacrifice of pausing his own dreams to provide a better life for his family. In the case of protagonist, Henri Haltiwanger aka “Halti” that joy will come in the form of acceptance to Columbia University, his dream school. That’s not the only experience of Black teens.” Once again, Philippe writes about a high school teen boy on a quest to attain #BlackBoyJoy.

As I said in my review for The Field Guide to the North American Teenager, “we’re not dealing with gang/street violence, teen pregnancy, drugs. This is the second YA novel written by Haitian writer Ben Philippe that I’ve read. Charming As a Verb was such a cute little gem.

Charming as a Verb by Ben Philippe