Hank Zipzer
Hank Zipzer: The World's Greatest Underachiever (formerly Hank Zipzer: The Mostly True Confessions of the World's Best Underachiever in books 1-3 and Hank Zipzer: The World's Best Underachiever in book four) is a series of children's books by actor Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver, published by Grosset & Dunlap. The first book, Niagara Falls, or Does It?, was published in 2003. In 2013 there was meant to be a Hank Zipzer musical. Hank Zipzer was made into a TV series in 2014 on CBBC and CBBC HD.
Overview
Hank Zipzer is a young boy who is dyslexic. Winkler based the character on himself as a child and his own experiences with dyslexia and ADHD.[1][2] He attends P.S. 87 at Amsterdam Avenue and W 78th Street. His friends are Frankie Townsend and Ashley Wong.
Books
- Instead of writing an assigned essay on his summer vacation, Hank tries building a model of Niagara Falls, his family's summer vacation spot. This was aired in the TV series as the first episode.
- Hank tosses his report card in his mother's meat grinder to get out of his parents seeing his three D's on his report card. The chase is on when he finds out his report-card-salami is going to one of his mom's most important sponsor choices! This aired as the eighth episode in the TV series.
- Hank tries to disassemble and reassemble the cable box for his science project. But how is he supposed to put it back together when Katherine the iguana has laid her eggs in it? This was aired as the fourth episode in the TV.
- Hank's friends choose Hank to be the pitcher for their school, PS 87's Olympiad baseball team. Since Hank can't pitch for his life, he thinks his sister's lucky red monkey socks may be the answer. Only one problem - Emily needs them on the same day for her part of the Olympiad! This was on the TV series as the second episode.
5. The Night I Flunked My Field Trip
- Hank has an overnight field trip to a docked boat in New York Harbor. But when Hank accidentally undocks the boat, the trouble begins...He makes friends with Colin Sebastion Rich IV.
- Hank needs to prepare some enchiladas for his school multi-cultural day. But, he may have added too much hot sauce...
7. Help! Somebody Get me out of Fourth Grade!
- When his parents get called for a parent-teacher conference, Hank just knows his teacher is going to tell them he's being held back. There's just one way to make sure they don't show up - sabotage!
8. Summer School? What Genius thought That Up?
- Hank gets sent to summer school without his friends, Frankie Townsend and Ashley Wong.
9. My Secret Life as a Ping-Pong Wizard
- Hank's finally in the fifth grade, except he is still stuck with Ms.Adolf and he's also found a sport he's good at - ping-pong! But when his friends tease the sport, Hank decides to keep it a secret.
10. My Dog's a Scaredy-Cat: A Halloween Tail
- Hank tries to scare Nick in a haunted house he makes with his friends. This was the fifth episode in the TV series.
11. The Curtain Went Up, My Pants Fell Down
- Hank gets a lead part in a school play (The King and I) but he can only do the play if he gets a B plus on his next math test. He has a math tutor called Heather Payne. This was the third episode in the TV series.
12. Barfing in the Backseat: How I Survived My Family Road Trip
- The Zipzers take a road trip to a crossword puzzle tournament and a roller coaster park in North Carolina. But when he mistakenly leaves Mrs. Adolf's vacation homework packet at a motel, he and Frankie set out to have it delivered - without Mr. Zipzer finding out.
13. Who Ordered This Baby? Definitely Not Me!
- Hank hears his mom talking to Frankie's mom over the phone about a baby. Frankie will be shocked! Or at least until Hank realizes she was talking about herself! This was the 9th episode of the tv series.
14. Life of Me
- Mr. Rock takes over as Hank's teacher. Hank is psyched....until Mr.Rock suggests that Hank takes an after school reading program, which means he will have to miss tae kwon do. But when Hank gets a crush on a girl in the reading program, and when Mr. Rock says, instead of doing an autobiography (a class assignment), Hank may do a scrapbook of his life. Everything is going right. Then Hank finds out that the girl he likes is Nick McKelty's cousin.
15. A Tail of Two Tails
- Hank's school holds a pet contest and the winner becomes the school mascot. How is Hank supposed to train his Dachshund, Cheerio, if he (Cheerio) keeps messing around?
16. Dump Trucks and Dogsleds: I'm on My Way, Mom!
- Hank's mom is having a baby, and the baby is going to share a room with Hank. Hank did feel better when his dad took his sister Emily and him on a 'pre-baby' ski trip. But when Hank's mom called to say the baby was coming early, they had to cut their trip short. The only problem was that a freak snowstorm had arrived and they were stuck. Whether they had to ride on horses, dump trucks, dogsleds, or even in a truck with ten Chinese acrobats, they would get home in time to meet Baby Zipzer.
17. A Brand-New Me!
- Hank can't graduate without his community service, so Mr. Rock gives him a job cleaning instruments and, while doing the job, Hank discovers his ability to write short plays on the spot, and auditions for a Performing Arts school, all before finding out that Frankie and Ashley will be going to a different school. This is the final book in the series.
Main characters
| Name | Bio |
|---|---|
| Henry Daniel "Hank" Zipzer | The main character, who has learning challenges (dyslexia). |
| Nick "The Tick" McKelty | The class bully, who is none-too-bright. |
| Ms. Adolf | Hank's teacher who hates fun and funny, always wears gray clothes, possibly to match her face. |
| Frankie Townsend | Hank's best friend, thinks oxygen is power and has a nickname for everyone. |
| Leland Love | Hank's principal who repeats everything twice and likes to answer his own questions, Has a mole shaped like the Statue of Liberty without the torch. |
| Ashley Wong | Hank and Frankie's other best friend who is a great athlete and loves rhinestones. |
| Mr. Gristediano | The friend that give an idea to Hank's parents about changing his type of learning. |
| Robert Upchurch | A 4th (formally 3rd) grade genius who lives in the same building as Hank and blurts out information at random moments. |
| Papa Pete | Hank's grandpa who is always taking the kids somewhere and pinching his grandkids. |
| Carlos | The counter guy at Hank's mom's deli. |
| Emily Grace Zipzer | Hank's little sister, very smart when it comes to reptiles, considerably annoying, likes Robert Upchurch, and has an iguana named Katherine. |
| Randi Zipzer | Hank's mom, runs the Crunchy Pickle Deli, and takes healthy foods to a disgusting new level. Her name is Rosa in the TV series. |
| Stanley Zipzer | Hank's dad, who is obsessed with crossword puzzles. |
| Cheerio Zipzer | Hank's dachshund, who looks like a Cheerio when he runs in circles. |
| Katherine Zipzer | Emily's iguana, who slurps food from the dinner table. |
| Vlady | The other counter guy at Hank's mom's deli, "The Crunchy Pickle." |
| Mr. Rock | Hank's Music Teacher who is Hank's favorite teacher. |
| Mason Harris Jerome Dunn | Hank's friend who is in kindergarten. |
| Heather Payne | A very tall, smart girl who tutored Hank in Math. |
| Sam Chin | Hank's other kindergarten friend who plays ping-pong with him. |
| Luke Whitman | A boy in Hank's class who is very gross, and always has his finger in his nose. |
| Dr. Lynn Berger | Hank's dyslexia teacher, who is very nice and always encourages Hank. |
| Mrs. Fink | Hank's next door neighbor who has a crush on Papa Pete and is always baking something for him. |
| Joelle Adwin | Nick "The Tick"'s girlfriend that is obsessed with her phone. |
| Zoe McKelty | Hank's girlfriend, also Nick McKelty's cousin |
| Collin Sebastian Rich IV | Hank's friend in book 5. He bites his nails, he only knows 3 knock knock jokes and 2 of them aren't funny. |
| Yoshi | A boy from Japan who loves lizards. Hank hosted him in the TV series. |
TV series
Main article: Hank Zipzer (TV series)
In September 2013, CBBC commissioned a television series adaptation of the books. The show began airing in January 2014 and has been recommissioned for a second series.[3][4]
See also
References
'Notes
- ↑ Middleton, Christopher. "Hank Zipzer: Meet the cool underachiever"/ The Telegraph.
- ↑ "Author Winkler turned the tables on dyslexia". Seattle P-I
- ↑ "BBC - CBBC announces second series of Hank Zipzer starring Henry Winkler - Media centre". www.bbc.co.uk. 2013-09-19. Retrieved 2015-04-12.
- ↑ "BBC - CBBC announces new show, Hank Zipzer - Media centre". www.bbc.co.uk. 2014-06-09. Retrieved 2015-04-12.
Sources
- Goodnow, Cecelia. "Author Winkler turned the tables on dyslexia". Seattle Post-Intelligencer, May 17, 2007.