Charming as a Verb
Written by Ben Philippe
Narrated by James Fouhey
4/5
()
About this audiobook
From the award-winning author of The Field Guide to the North American Teenager comes a whip-smart and layered romantic comedy. Perfect for fans of Nicola Yoon and Jenny Han.
Henri “Halti” Haltiwanger can charm just about anyone. He is a star debater and popular student at the prestigious FATE academy, the dutiful first-generation Haitian son, and the trusted dog walker for his wealthy New York City neighbors. But his easy smiles mask a burning ambition to attend his dream college, Columbia University.
There is only one person who seems immune to Henri’s charms: his “intense” classmate and neighbor Corinne Troy. When she uncovers Henri’s less-than-honest dog-walking scheme, she blackmails him into helping her change her image at school. Henri agrees, seeing a potential upside for himself.
Soon what started as a mutual hustle turns into something more surprising than either of them ever bargained for. . . .
This is a sharply funny and insightful novel about the countless hustles we have to keep from doing the hardest thing: being ourselves.
Ben Philippe
Ben Philippe is a New York–based writer and screenwriter, born in Haiti and raised in Montreal, Canada. He has a Bachelor of Arts from Columbia University and an MFA in fiction and screenwriting from the Michener Center for Writers in Austin, Texas. He also teaches film studies and screenwriting at Barnard College. He is the author of the William C. Morris Award–winning novel The Field Guide to the North American Teenager. Find him online at www.benphilippe.com.
More audiobooks from Ben Philippe
Sure, I'll Be Your Black Friend: Notes From the Other Side of the Fist Bump Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Field Guide to the North American Teenager Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related to Charming as a Verb
Related audiobooks
How Maya Got Fierce Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Blackout: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Yes No Maybe So Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5If You, Then Me Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Happily Ever Afters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Love Hate Thing Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5For All Time Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Excuse Me While I Ugly Cry Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Where the Rhythm Takes You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Now That I've Found You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Once Upon a Quinceanera Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Early Departures Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Simone Breaks All the Rules Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I Wanna Be Where You Are Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Confessions of an Alleged Good Girl Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5One True Loves Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Let Me Hear a Rhyme Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All the Things We Never Knew Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Opposite of Always Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Voice in My Head Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Field Guide to the North American Teenager Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Don't Read the Comments Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Love Radio Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Reggie and Delilah's Year of Falling Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Black Kids Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This Time Will Be Different Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Jasmine Project Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Counting Down with You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5You Can Go Your Own Way Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Roman and Jewel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
YA Humor For You
Funny, You Don't Look Autistic: A Comedian's Guide to Life on the Spectrum Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Opposite of Always Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Humorous Short Stories of Mark Twain Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Flash Fire: The Extraordinaries, Book Two Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5It's Kind of a Funny Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nimona: A Netflix Film Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5So This Is Ever After Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Poison for Breakfast Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Reason I Married Him Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ginger Kid: Mostly True Tales from a Former Nerd Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dodger: A Printz Honor Winner Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Little Thieves Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Spell Bound Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This Will Be Funny Someday Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wintersmith Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I Shall Wear Midnight Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Money Out Loud: All the Financial Stuff No One Taught Us Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Shepherd's Crown Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Field Guide to the North American Teenager Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ugly Stepsister Strikes Back Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Damned If You Do Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Perfect Escape Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lost Girls: A Vampire Revenge Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Molly Moon's Incredible Book of Hypnotism Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Heat Wave Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Anna and the Apocalypse Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Charming as a Verb
188 ratings13 reviews
What our readers think
Readers find this title to be captivating, intelligent, and excellently crafted. The narrator is amazing and brings the story to life. The book offers a deep dive into ethics and morality, while still being entertaining. It is a beautiful story that takes readers on an emotional journey.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Very captivating… the narrator really has a way of keeping you enthralled… brings every moment to life.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5One of those books that will have you smiling at the end.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The narrator is AMAZING! It felt like Henry Haltiwanger was telling me his life story. It was, as the title suggests, very charming and funny. At the inevitable tension point between the two main characters, my heart actually hurt for them both.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Intelligent, funny, clever, and written in exciting prose. Charm, money, and connections seem to be the key ingredients to getting what you want in life. “Charming As A Verb” offers a deep dive into ethics, morality and their role in climbing your way to the top. Excellently crafted. This is a smart YA novel where you don’t sacrifice wit and good prose for entertainment. This achieved it all.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5What a beautiful story. It took me on an absolute journey. All the highs and lows. I felt like I was living Haltie’s life and emotions with him!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This book is such a great listen. I thoroughly enjoyed the narrator and how the story held my interest throughout. I definitely look forward to more books by this author.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Halti (Henri Haltiwanger) is a senior at an exclusive New York prep school. He works hard to financially help his family with his dog walking business, full school schedule. He sees the advantages that privilege gives many of his classmates, especially when looking at his quest to gain entry into Columbia. After being blackmailed by intense classmate Corrine Troy, the two form a friendship and eventual romance. An entertaining read with a sense of humor that grapples with first love, ethical questions, following passions, managing expectations of parents and finding ones way into adulthood.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I very much wish I had not discovered Mr. Philippe until later in his career so there were a bunch of his books I hadn't read yet. *sigh*
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5teen fiction (teen from Haitian immigrant family meets "intense" Black teen during their senior year)
Clever characters and engaging story - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Charming Henri Haltiwanger, son of Haitian immigrants, is a scholarship student at a posh private arts high school in Manhattan. He's very good at keeping it superficial and hiding his status from his rich classmates. To earn money, he creates a dog-walking website to make it look like a business, and not just a high school kid earning a few extra bucks. He's on the debate team, because he's a good talker, and popular with his classmates. Enter Corinne Troy, a student at FATE Academy and one of his neighbors in the apartment building where his Dad is the super. When he gets the gig as her Mom's dog-walker, Corinne, a super student whose social skills are low, does a little research and figures out that Henri's website is a sham. She blackmails him by trading social skills lessons for her silence about his "company."These are nice kids with loving parents. They're also kids who are on the Ivy League track and anxious about getting accepted to their dream schools. What starts as blackmail ends up as something else, and along the way, Henri makes a big mistake. I liked this story, though it could have been shorter, but I liked the resolution as well. I think it would appeal to teens who are like Henri, somewhere on the road to Ivy League admissions.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I was hoping to end my reading year with a fun and quick binge read and Charming as a Verb by Ben Philippe definitely fit the bill.This meet-cute YA romance set in NYC has Henri, a charismatic senior at an elite high school in NYC juggling high school, debate team, college admissions and his successful dog walking business. His world intersects in said meet-cute with Corinne, an intense/socially inept and quirky fellow senior at the same high school who also lives in Henri's building. I loved the character of Corinne!Friends and family member side characters are engaging and entertained me.I enjoyed this read which gave me unexpected Naruto references and some Haitian Creole as well!
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I very much liked this, there were just certain things I wanted more of and others that didn’t feel quite as essential to the story.Henri made for a solid lead character, he makes some mistakes yet you like him anyway, he has a great friendship with Ming and he’s conflicted since what he really wants differs from what he believes his father wants him to do with his life. As much as I adore dogs, I don’t know that Henri being a dog walker really added much, I kind of wish that instead Henri had worked as an assistant to his building superintendent dad, that job still would have led him to Corinne while also offering more interactions with his dad which with their generational and cultural differences tended to be among the most compelling scenes in the book. Although this starts out giving off the impression that Henri might be a player, his romance with Corinne had a nice sweet feel to it throughout. As for Corinne herself, I loved her, I loved her bluntness and the way her mind works. With adult romance books I’m accustomed to hearing from both partners so I did crave some scenes from Corinne’s point of view. I would have happily traded the debate team scenes (fun but maybe not so necessary) for getting to know Corinne even better and witnessing some of the moments between just Corinne and her mom (also a fantastic character). I get that some authors and definitely some readers aren’t comfortable with alternating the point of view, still, I feel like this author would have handled the challenge of a second POV really well, given that he clearly he had such a strong sense of who Corinne is, crafting her into one my favorite characters of this year.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I liked Ben Philippe’s first book (Field Guide to the North American Teenager) and he continues that streak with Charming as a Verb. Henri Haltiwanger is busy--managing senior year at a prestigious New York City prep school, running his dog walking business, starring on the debate team, and charming his way through life with his trademark Smile. As with Field Guide, Philippe mixes just the right amount of teenage angst, romance, social justice issues, humor, and plot points that will resonate with a lot of YA readers. He shies away from making a real statement about students of color at elite schools, but captures some of the dual consciousness they experience, and he hits the college anxiety notes dead on. Charming as a Verb will be a great recommendation for readers of Ned Vizzini, Adam Silvera, and John Green.