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3.99 AVERAGE
3.99 AVERAGE
Gary Schmidt is one of the few authors I will blindly preorder anything they release. “Pay Attention” doesn’t match my two favorite Schmidt books (“Wednesday Wars” and “Okay for Now”) and I felt a bit disappointed, though on its own merit it tackles tough subjects with beauty and grace. Schmidt takes broken people and gives them a path to healing while maintaining their realness; it is only when measured against his own works that I feel this one is a bit lacking. Still, this is well worth the read for any Schmidt fan, and well worth encouraging your middle-grade child to read (I think this would be fine for a younger crowd than some of his others; I would have no qualms with my 10-year-old reading it).
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
emotional
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
If it hadn't been the first day of school, and if my mother hadn't been crying her eyes out the night before, and if the fuel pump on the Jeep had been doing what a fuel pump on a Jeep is supposed to be doing, and if it hadn't been raining like an Australian tropical thunderstorm -- and I've been been in one, so I know what it's like -- and if the very last quart of one percent milk hadn't gone sour and clumped up, then our mother would never have let the Butler into our house.
This is such a great opening line.
This is such a great opening line.
Gary Schmidt is one of my very favorite authors. This is a brand new one from him and I finished it in two days, and as with all of Schmidt’s books I loved the memorable characters and poignant moments throughout.
•
In the absence of his father, Carter Jones is taken care of by a Butler. The Butler teaches him how to be a gentleman, how to play Cricket, and most importantly how to love people. The characters are all so relatable and sweet, but they are struggling through painful situations. Schmidt is so great at writing humor in the midst of pain.
•
There is only one problem with this book. There is entirely too much Cricket. If you know Cricket, how to play, the rules, terms, and scoring, then maybe those scenes are so exciting! But even though some of it was explained of course, I still skimmed pages of the novel that described happenings in a game. And I have to think kids reading this book wouldn’t grasp what happens in a Cricket game either, unless they had played it before. It brought the book down a bit for me.
•
BUT Schmidt is brilliant so you should read all his books including this one. Carter Jones and his Butler were very endearing and one character is a sweet nod to the book Okay for Now. Here is how I rank Schmidt’s books, in order of how much I love them: The Wednesday Wars, Okay for Now (I think I like Okay for Now better, but really you should read The Wednesday Wars before you read it.) Orbiting Jupiter, Pay Attention, Carter Jones, and Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy
•
Every day the Butler tells Carter, “Make good decisions and remember who you are.” Another good quote: “There are times when we find ourselves in a position of great purpose. It may be that the apt word, spoken at the apt moment, leads to great good in the world— and most often, that is a word of kindness and encouragement.”
•
In the absence of his father, Carter Jones is taken care of by a Butler. The Butler teaches him how to be a gentleman, how to play Cricket, and most importantly how to love people. The characters are all so relatable and sweet, but they are struggling through painful situations. Schmidt is so great at writing humor in the midst of pain.
•
There is only one problem with this book. There is entirely too much Cricket. If you know Cricket, how to play, the rules, terms, and scoring, then maybe those scenes are so exciting! But even though some of it was explained of course, I still skimmed pages of the novel that described happenings in a game. And I have to think kids reading this book wouldn’t grasp what happens in a Cricket game either, unless they had played it before. It brought the book down a bit for me.
•
BUT Schmidt is brilliant so you should read all his books including this one. Carter Jones and his Butler were very endearing and one character is a sweet nod to the book Okay for Now. Here is how I rank Schmidt’s books, in order of how much I love them: The Wednesday Wars, Okay for Now (I think I like Okay for Now better, but really you should read The Wednesday Wars before you read it.) Orbiting Jupiter, Pay Attention, Carter Jones, and Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy
•
Every day the Butler tells Carter, “Make good decisions and remember who you are.” Another good quote: “There are times when we find ourselves in a position of great purpose. It may be that the apt word, spoken at the apt moment, leads to great good in the world— and most often, that is a word of kindness and encouragement.”
I enjoyed this story so much. It was a joy to inhabit Carter's life while he navigated life with a very proper British butler who shows up on the family doorstep one morning.
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Under normal circumstances, you might not let a man claiming to be a butler into your house, but when it’s raining like an Australian tropical thunderstorm and one sister is crying because the dog threw up on her only yellow sock, and your other sister is calling her a bully, and your other sister has no milk for her Ace Robotroid Sugar Stars—a butler turns out to be pretty handy. Carter Jones is about to discover how handy—and sometimes annoying—a butler can be. When his grandfather passed away, he left an endowment to continue the services of said butler to the family. Carter’s dad is deployed in Germany, so this cricket-loving butler is sent to help out Carter’s mom in upstate New York.
Like a fine pastry chef, Schmidt layers humor, despair, betrayal, and hope in this delicious story of growing up. Though the plot occasionally strains at believability—how does an American soldier end up with a British butler, for example, or even more questionable, how does a junior high cricket team gain more attention than the football team—but readers will be having so much fun, they won’t spend too much time wondering about such things.
Thanks to Netgalley for a digital review copy of this book.
Like a fine pastry chef, Schmidt layers humor, despair, betrayal, and hope in this delicious story of growing up. Though the plot occasionally strains at believability—how does an American soldier end up with a British butler, for example, or even more questionable, how does a junior high cricket team gain more attention than the football team—but readers will be having so much fun, they won’t spend too much time wondering about such things.
Thanks to Netgalley for a digital review copy of this book.
I really love Schmidt's writing. He is able to write about serious subjects with a lot of compassion and humor. In this book, Carter is able to come to terms with some pretty difficult events in his life, both past and present, through learning the game of Cricket.
Gary Schmidt does it again! I think Wednesday Wars and Okay for Now will always be my favorites, but this was excellent. I loved Carter's growth over the course of the story and the way all the details came together. I also appreciated the subtle nods to Okay for Now.