She’s found out that he is secretly posing as an employee of Uptown Dogs, a commercial dog walking service, and is redirecting assignments from them via a fake website he’s created, and if he doesn’t help her, she’ll make that fact known. She says she’ll assist Henri with his application if he’ll do her a favor in return – help her change her image from intense and studious to wild and party-hearty, and leaves Henri with no choice but to agree. Then Corrine Troy, a classmate whose mother is the dean at Columbia (with whom Henri bombed his interview) – approaches him. Unfortunately, Henri’s interview is disastrous, and he starts to fear he’ll never make it to the big dance. Henri’s father’s biggest dream for Henri has him attending Columbia University and joining the Ivy League – and Henri is doing everything he can to make that hope a reality. His classmates at the prestigious FATE Academy love him he’s the king of the debate team, and the rich uptown folks who employ his dog walking service – Uptown Dogs – can’t stop raving about his hard work.

Henri is – well, the personification of the word charming. Ben Philippe’s Henri Haltiwanger is one such creation – memorable in a totally fresh way – and it’s worth reading Charming as a Verb to watch him move through life in his corner of the world.

Some books jump out of the deep, fathomless ocean of creativity and arc through the imagination of their readers, with characters that stick in the back of your mind for months after you’ve closed the back cover.

Charming as a verb