Charlie Bumpers Series

Charlie Bumpers juggles school bullies and a wacky scheme to keep his best friend from moving in this heartfelt conclusion to Bill Harley’s beloved middle grade series.

When Charlie learns that Hector’s family is moving back to Chile at the end of the year, he is crushed. So with Tommy’s help, he immediately starts cooking up schemes to keep Hector here, including a campaign to get him selected as next year’s School Ambassador. (Surely Hector will have to stay, Charlie reasons, if he has such an important job.) As usual, Charlie’s schemes lead to one near-disaster after another.

But moving away from his friends turns out to be the least of Hector’s problems. Three mean boys have targeted him for bullying and are making his life miserable. Hector wants to solve the problem by himself, but Charlie and Tommy see that he needs help. They start a campaign to save Hector and to defeat “The Jerzollies of Darkness.”

Black and white illustrations throughout.

It’s Career Week, and Charlie Bumpers has convinced everyone that his dad would be the greatest speaker ever. But what happens when his dad loses his job?

While his classmates are boasting about their parents’ jobs, fourth grader Charlie Bumpers gets carried away and leaves the impression that his accountant dad is not only the president of his company but also that he will hand out free calculators to everyone. Then, with rumors flying around the school and expectations escalating, Charlie tells his teacher that his dad can speak to their class during Career Week.

But just before the big event, Mr. Bumpers loses his job. How will Charlie explain to his class? Will his dad still come in during Career Week? Fortunately, Mr. Bumpers has some very surprising plans of his own.

Black-and-white illustrations by Adam Gustavson enhance readers’ enjoyment of the story.

Charlie and his best friends are finally on the same soccer team. But is it a winning combination?

Charlie Bumpers and his best friends are finally on the same soccer team and are sure the Pirates will be the best team ever! But their high hopes are crushed on the first day of practice. Not only do they have a bunch of shrimpy and inexperienced teammates, but also their new coach doesn’t believe in star players. And the first few games provide little to be proud of.

If they can’t be on a winning team, Charlie thinks maybe he, Tommy, and Hector can at least win the prize for selling the most candy bars for the team fundraiser. But after a series of near catastrophes, Charlie and his friends learn that hotshot plays and gimmicky sales techniques aren’t as effective as hard work, honesty, and cooperation.

Black and white illustrations throughout.

Can Charlie Bumpers be a polite Thanksgiving host to the most annoying cousin in the universe?

It’s Thanksgiving in the Bumpers’ household, and Charlie has to be the perfect host to his annoying little cousin, Chip. Chip makes everything hard for Charlie―gets him in trouble, ruins his things, and generally makes a nuisance of himself.

On top of that, for homework, his fourth-grade teacher Mrs. Burke has assigned him the task of writing what a family means to him. Will Charlie be able to see past his “turkey” of a cousin to understand the real meaning of family?

Black and white illustrations throughout.

Can Charlie Bumpers face his fear of horror movies, come up with a genius costume, and enjoy Halloween?

Fourth graders Charlie and Tommy have big plans for Halloween. They’re going to trick-or-treat and sleep over at Alex’s house. But when Charlie finds out that the entertainment at the party will be the “Scariest Horror Movies Ever,” he is struck by panic. Charlie loves candy, he loves sleepovers with his friends, but he absolutely hates horror movies.

There is yet another wrinkle in Charlie’s Halloween plans. He is determined to win the big prize (ten movie tickets) that will be awarded for the best costume, but when he finally comes up with a genius prize-winning idea, he runs into an unexpected obstacle. How will Charlie be able to enjoy Halloween this year?

Black and white illustrations throughout.

Charlie Bumpers wants to play the bad guy in the class play, but his teacher Mrs. Burke has other ideas.

Charlie Bumpers has his heart set on playing the role of the evil Sorcerer in the fourth-grade play. But his dreams of villainous stardom go up in smoke when he finds out that Mrs. Burke has cast him as the Nice Gnome! Determined to rectify this terrible injustice, Charlie concocts one plan after another, but nothing seems to work.

To make matters worse, his dad has assigned chores to all the kids in the family, and Charlie’s job is walking Ginger—the diggiest, sniffiest, and poopiest dog in the universe. Can Charlie deal with these challenges without causing havoc all around him?

Black and white illustrations throughout.

Charlie Bumpers’s worst fear is confirmed: he has Mrs. Burke for fourth grade. How will he survive the strictest teacher in school?

Shortly before school starts, Charlie Bumpers learns that he will be in Mrs. Burke’s class. It doesn’t matter that she’s been named Teacher of the Year. He’s still afraid of her. Last year when he was horsing around in the hall, he accidentally hit her in the head with his sneaker (don’t ask). The exasperated teacher declared that if anything like that ever happened again, Charlie would be banned from recess forever. How will he survive a year under a teacher who is just waiting for him to make another stupid mistake?

Black and white illustrations throughout.