Con-nerd by Oliver Phommavanh- Review by Caryln

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Con-nerd is about a twelve year old Chinese Australian boy called Conner who dreams of being an artist. His mother thinks drawing is a waste of time and wants him to study to become a doctor. Connor thinks all he does is study and wants to be regular kid.

Connor is concerned about being a nerd and wants to be accepted by his peers.  His mother has a lot of control of his life, from the friends he has, to the music he listens to and what he does in his free time. I felt bad for him to have that helicopter mother. I could understand from the mother’s perspective too. She wanted what was best for her son after sacrificing to come to Australia.

I used to work in a tutoring company and Connor reminded me of those kids.  Most of my students were Chinese and their parents worked very hard to give them a good start to life. A lot of them wanted to go on to selective private schools. One of my students had an extracurricular activities almost every day. She went to tutoring two times a week, piano lessons, tennis lessons and Chinese lesson. The only day off she had was Sunday. She had moved from China with her mother to continue her education here.

Connor faces typical preteen issues, such as wanting to fit in with peers, burgeoning romantic feelings and fears about the future. I work as a teacher and this book reminded me of being a preteen. There have been times that I have been dismissive about things children face. However, I know that while something may seem small to me, it may be a big concern for a child.

I also loved the descriptions about Connor’s drawings. There are little sketches so that you can flick through the pages like a flip book. I would have liked to see more pictures but Phommavanh did a great job describing his character’s passion and talent for drawing.

I am excited that there are books that have character’s from different backgrounds. I wish that there had more books like this when I was a child. I thought this book was cute and entertaining read. I look forward to reading more of Phommavanh’s work.