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4.0 AVERAGE
4.0 AVERAGE
I loved this book. I loved the characters, the town, the secrets. Highly recommend.
Wow. Just, wow. The best book in a long time. Tears pricked my eyes at the end and I think I audibly gasped at the crucial part. Highly recommend.
The latest Newbery Award winner, and one that almost no one predicted or even heard of, I went into this one mostly blind. And for the first 50 pages, I had no clue where it was going. It is a one of those "get to know all the crazy characters in a small town" books. I was actually hoping that there was more to it than that. Kind of like Holes. It had the same idea of two time periods like Holes only this time The Depression and WWI. WWI gets very little play in literature--it competes against the more-compelling WWII. And there is such great stuff--the war, Prohibition, labor disputes, and the flu epidemic. So after it finally caught my attention, it was a good run to the end. Mostly predictable but with a twist or two at the end. The main character, however, was only half as interesting as other recent heroines like Flavia de Luce or Calpurnia Tate.
Not my favorite Newbery by far, but I am not outraged it won the prize. It fits right in with the rest of them and is a solid contribution to the list.
Not my favorite Newbery by far, but I am not outraged it won the prize. It fits right in with the rest of them and is a solid contribution to the list.
Charming story about Abilene - sent away for the summer from her drifter dad - in 1936 and a young drifter in 1918. The parallel stories unfold step by step, revealing to us a cast of characters that frame the melting pot that the US was in the early 20th century. Abilene wants to find her dad and ends up working to solve a mystery about Manifest, KS in the process.
Abilene is sent to the town her father grew up in and while attempting to discover something of her father is swept up by its history that becomes hers through the telling of stories. Loved this book! The writing is lovely and the story is wonderful--I laughed and cried and was completely smitten.
I really enjoyed this one. Good story line. I liked how it went back and forth between the two time periods. Moving characters. Highly recommend this one. Way to go on a first book!
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Now THIS is what I think of when I think of a Newbery! And even though I saw the ending before it happened (well ... most of it! Kudos to the author for an ending that was surprising yet completely believable), I cried. This is one that I’ll be recommending for years to come. So, so, so, SO good!