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3.24 AVERAGE
3.24 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
hopeful
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
At first I didn't like the book but by the last third I liked it. The first 2/3 of the book moved way to slow and then it picked up and became interesting and had a cool ending.
God, this book is so weird!
I loved it.
It's about a boy who befriends an adult Eastern European immigrant in small town New Jersey in the 60s.
I loved that I went into this book cold. It unfolded in a way I really didn't expect and I feel like childrens' lit is so homogenized now that there just aren't many books like this.
I loved it.
It's about a boy who befriends an adult Eastern European immigrant in small town New Jersey in the 60s.
I loved that I went into this book cold. It unfolded in a way I really didn't expect and I feel like childrens' lit is so homogenized now that there just aren't many books like this.
I really enjoyed the relationship of Andy and his father. Fathers never get the time of day in most kids books I read, so the fact that he was so much a part of the story was refreshing.
Boy becomes friends with the town handyman. He and his father's attempts to help Onion John never seem to work out. Along the way both the boy and his dad grow up a bit.
I thought this was a fantastic book! It certainly deserved winning the Newbery Award as it is such an interesting story. On the surface it is a touching story of a friendship between the main character and the town's basically homeless person. But alongside that incredibly generous friendship is a coming of age story involving his father's different perspective. I'd recommend this book to older (10+) readers because of the complicated relationships that are the heart of this wonderful story.
I was more interested in the relationship between Andy and his father than in the relationship between Andy and Onion John. If the book had been focused on that I would have liked it more. There was so much to explore there.