Cockroach Cooties

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Yep, Laurence. 2000. Cockroach Cooties. New York: Hyperion Books for Children. ISBN 0613157307

Plot Summary

Two brothers, Teddy and Bobby try to defend themselves because of a school bully named Arnie. After the initial fight seen, Teddy decides to try to hide from Arnie to keep from getting beat up. Hiding does not work. Just when the boys think they are safe, Arnie finds them. Quite by accident, the boys discover that Arnie is afraid of cockroaches. They decide to keep the cockroach in a box with them at all times in order to scare Arnie so he will not beat them up. When they lose Hercules, the roach, Bobby devises a way to keep Arnie away from them. He uses cookies with strange ingredients to trick Arnie into a peace treaty. In the process, the brothers learn the reason for Arnie’s bad behavior and his fear of cockroaches. They form a fragile friendship with Arnie and learn to understand him.

Critical Analysis

Cockroach Cooties is a wonderful story that illustrates how two brothers learn to work together to defeat the school bully. Teddy and Bobby attend a Catholic school in Chinatown. When Bobby, the younger brother upsets the bully, Teddy decides that he has to protect his younger brother. Teddy describes himself as a “normal guy” while his brother is “sweet, weird and smart about a lot of things but doesn’t know the first thing about life.” As the novel progresses, Yep shows how a bond between brothers can grow from an obligatory bond to one that exists because the brothers count and depend on one another.

Cockroach Cooties has several Chinese-American cultural markers. The story is set in Chinatown and although San Francisco is not directly mentioned, the description of the steep hills, tourist, and cable cars seem to indicate that Chinatown is in San Francisco, Ca. Teddy and Bobby search for the perfect birthday gift for their mother among the street stalls near Grant Avenue. Teddy describes candied ginger, sweet preserved plums, papier-mâché snakes, a scarf with a picture of the Golden Gate Bridge and many other things one would see in China town. In addition to the cultural markers in the setting, readers learn in chapter five that the school Teddy, Bobby and Arnie attend has an hour of Chinese during the daytime. Yep's description of Miss Lee is another cultural marker: “ Miss Lee liked to wear Chinese-style dresses that had a slit up one leg. She like the old-fashioned Chinese discipline, too.” One of the funniest scenes in the novel is when Teddy and the extended family meet at a restaurant in Chinatown to celebrate his mother’s birthday. Throughout the chapter, the reader is introduced to Chinese foods such as winter melon soup, Belfast sparkling cider, paper wrapped chicken, steamed fish in black bean sauce (complete with eyeballs), prawns and one not so Chinese cockroach.

Yep has written a great novel that covers themes about brothers, bullying and growing up in Chinatown. One thing that struck me as not being true to life is when Teddy, who is in third grade, describes Arnie. He states that Arnie is doing his second year in 2^nd grade. He has to repeat 2^nd grade not because he is not smart but because “he cuts classes too much.” I am not sure that too many second grade students actually cut class. Teddy also discusses the fact that at 8 years old, his brother does not know much about “life.” This particular discussion seems like it would come from a teenage Teddy rather than a boy who is only one year older than his brother.

I think readers will thoroughly enjoy the antics of the boys and the book's solution to their problem.

Review Excerpts

Horn Book (The Horn Book Guide, Fall 2000)
After Teddy's younger brother Bobby offends the school bully, the Chinese-American brothers must find a way to avoid retribution from their nemesis. With the help of some cookies made by the friendly neighborhood entomologist, the boys face down "Arnie-zilla." Despite a somewhat heavy-handed denouement and the writing's TV-sitcom-like quality, readers will be drawn in by the conflict and the story's humor.

Catherine Andronik (Booklist, May 1, 2000 (Vol. 96, No. 17))
Readers who remember brothers Teddy and Bobby from Later, Gator (1997) will welcome their return here. The brothers are still very different and frequently at odds with each other, but this time they grow closer as they combine forces against a common enemy: Arnie, the school bully. In danger of getting pummeled to a pulp, insect-loving Bobby finds Arnie's weak spot--a fear of cockroaches. Through Bobby, Teddy is introduced to the neighborhood entomologist, as well as to Hercules the pet roach. Bobby ultimately defeats Arnie, not with fists, but with imagination and psychology. But, as in so many of Yep's books, the point is not so much getting even as breaking down barriers: the brothers uncover a grim reason for Arnie's fears and fierceness, and initiate a cautious friendship.

Connections

Prior to reading Cockroach Cooties, read Later, Gator by Laurence Yep. ISBN978-0786811601

Poetry : The Little Buggers: Insect & Spider Poems by J. Patrick Lewis ISBN: 0803717695

Insectlopedia: Poems and Paintings by Douglas Florian ISBN: 9780152013066

Read: Martina, the Beautiful Cockroach by Carmen Agra Deedy ISBN 9781561453993

Learn how to fold origami insects at this website: http://www.paperfolding.com/insects/

Here is a link for a teacher-made unit on Cockroach Cooties: http://www.docstoc.com/docs/4839603/Welcome-to-the-book-Cocharoach-Cooties-or-My-Teacher

Video Interview of Laurence Yep: http://www.readingrockets.org/books/interviews/yep

Bug Bios: All about Insects: http://www.insects.org/