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3.24 AVERAGE
3.24 AVERAGE
Words cannot convey how much I loathe Onion John's story.
Great theme: Freedom of Choice
But I found the development of the title character to be offensive.
An Eastern European immigrant (possibly Russian) who is simple-minded, not through mental issues, but simply by his heritage. For example, when the town tries to modernize him by building him a 'suitable house' he promptly burns it down by starting his electric stove with newspapers.
I pushed through it since it's a Newbery, but it wasn't easy.
But I found the development of the title character to be offensive.
An Eastern European immigrant (possibly Russian) who is simple-minded, not through mental issues, but simply by his heritage. For example, when the town tries to modernize him by building him a 'suitable house' he promptly burns it down by starting his electric stove with newspapers.
I pushed through it since it's a Newbery, but it wasn't easy.
The first scene in this book describes in detail a long and boring little league game and, for this reason, it took me a week to get past the first couple of chapters. It wasn't nearly so bad once I got into the book, though, and even had some valuable bits. In general, this book is the first attempt at postcolonial ideas in a children's book that I've seen, albeit in a highly simplified and suburbanized way. The main theme is "We tried convince this poor, weird, non-English-speaking guy to live like us against his will because we find him uncivilized, but we should not have imposed." There's also a lot of witchy superstition, which I love, even if the whole book tries to discredit it.
However, there's a lot I don't like about this book, also. There is literally one female character in the cast of a whole town (the protagonist's mother) and she literally doesn't even have a name. This is also the second book by Krumgold that I've read and I can now say that I hate the way he writes kids' voices. While I can generally get behind a more conversational tone, his characters always seem downright stupid. For the second time, I have had doubts about the protagonist's age and mental capacities because of Krumgold's voice. I feel that this is disrespectful and condescending toward his kid readers, and probably has a lot to do with why his books aren't more widely remembered today.
Overall, while Krumgold does try to tackle some big ideas here, the attempt is overly domesticated and his voice is strained and condescending.
However, there's a lot I don't like about this book, also. There is literally one female character in the cast of a whole town (the protagonist's mother) and she literally doesn't even have a name. This is also the second book by Krumgold that I've read and I can now say that I hate the way he writes kids' voices. While I can generally get behind a more conversational tone, his characters always seem downright stupid. For the second time, I have had doubts about the protagonist's age and mental capacities because of Krumgold's voice. I feel that this is disrespectful and condescending toward his kid readers, and probably has a lot to do with why his books aren't more widely remembered today.
Overall, while Krumgold does try to tackle some big ideas here, the attempt is overly domesticated and his voice is strained and condescending.
27 August 2020:
I tried reading this as a kid & only got part-way through. (I think to the part where Onion John mentions leaving a can of oil in the back of church so he could have some holy oil, or something like that?)
At any rate, I'd owned a copy for years & thought that I should give it another go. But alas, I couldn't get into it. The voice of the novel was intriguing -- the narrator was obviously a 12 yr old boy, but it felt like a much older voice than that. So that was somewhat compelling?
But as a whole, I didn't see the point. I couldn't get very far this 2nd time, and ultimately I decided to dnf after a few chapters. Maybe it was Very Good when it was published in 1959, but I don't particularly see any reason to continue.
I tried reading this as a kid & only got part-way through. (I think to the part where Onion John mentions leaving a can of oil in the back of church so he could have some holy oil, or something like that?)
At any rate, I'd owned a copy for years & thought that I should give it another go. But alas, I couldn't get into it. The voice of the novel was intriguing -- the narrator was obviously a 12 yr old boy, but it felt like a much older voice than that. So that was somewhat compelling?
But as a whole, I didn't see the point. I couldn't get very far this 2nd time, and ultimately I decided to dnf after a few chapters. Maybe it was Very Good when it was published in 1959, but I don't particularly see any reason to continue.
I need to come back and review after time. I really don’t know what I thought of this book ...
Reading this book through the lens of someone Onion John would consider to have grown up, it’s a little weird. A young boy makes friends with an adult man and no one seems to mind? They do weird superstitions rituals and no one seems to mind? But the message of this book: that you can’t force assimilation, that you can’t force someone to change, is important. It wasn’t until I finished this book that it became clear to me why Onion John won the Newbery: it is a great story to subtly teach young children (and almost adults) about differences in cultures and understanding that you can’t just make people be like you.
Only five authors in the 90+ year history of the Newbery Medal have won that honor twice. But while E. L. Konigsburg, Lois Lowry, Katherine Paterson, and Elizabeth George Speare are all widely acknowledged as some of the most important authors in the history of American children's literature, Joseph Krumgold is more of a footnote.
Partly, that's because his writing for children was only a very small part of Krumgold's career. He was primarily a screenwriter, director, and documentary filmmaker; somehow, Krumgold won the Newbery twice while only writing five children's books total (one of which, Sweeny's Adventure, was a film adaptation). The three titles that didn't win the Newbery (the other two are Henry 3, and The Most Terrible Turk) are all long out of print and essentially forgotten, meaning that contemporary readers are unlikely to come across anything by Krumgold except ...And Now Miguel and Onion John.
Onion John, Krumgold's second Newbery winner, tells the story of twelve-year-old Andy Rusch, Jr., and his friendship with the highly eccentric immigrant man that everyone calls Onion John. John's firm belief in folk magic is at odds with the standards and mores of the community -- and especially with those of Andy's father. The town's efforts to bring John into the 20th century, whether he wants it or not, mirror Andy's father's attempts to plan the course of Andy's life, and these parallel plot strands converge at the end of the book.
The world of Onion John is that small-town America that's increasingly unfamiliar today, where the most influential organization in town is the Rotary Club, and the most important social event of the year involves beating on the ice of the frozen river in order to drive the fish into a downstream net. The speeches that Andy's father gives about how John ought to be "civilized" are based in a worldview that seems horribly out of date today -- though it's to Krumgold's credit that he doesn't seem sympathetic to that set of ideas. Indeed, there aren't really any villains in Onion John; everyone in the book is sincerely trying to do the right thing, which is the source of its pathos, its tragedy, and even its cautious optimism.
If we were to give out the 1960 Newbery again, it's unlikely that Onion John would win. My Side of the Mountain, by Jean Craighead George, was one of the three Honor books (The Gammage Cup, by Carol Kendall, and America is Born: A History for Peter, by Gerald W. Johnson, were the others), and George's survival novel has probably aged better than the others. However, Onion John is still a well-written, surprisingly tender book, one that deserves to be better-remembered than it is.
This review also appeared on abouttomock.blogspot.com
Partly, that's because his writing for children was only a very small part of Krumgold's career. He was primarily a screenwriter, director, and documentary filmmaker; somehow, Krumgold won the Newbery twice while only writing five children's books total (one of which, Sweeny's Adventure, was a film adaptation). The three titles that didn't win the Newbery (the other two are Henry 3, and The Most Terrible Turk) are all long out of print and essentially forgotten, meaning that contemporary readers are unlikely to come across anything by Krumgold except ...And Now Miguel and Onion John.
Onion John, Krumgold's second Newbery winner, tells the story of twelve-year-old Andy Rusch, Jr., and his friendship with the highly eccentric immigrant man that everyone calls Onion John. John's firm belief in folk magic is at odds with the standards and mores of the community -- and especially with those of Andy's father. The town's efforts to bring John into the 20th century, whether he wants it or not, mirror Andy's father's attempts to plan the course of Andy's life, and these parallel plot strands converge at the end of the book.
The world of Onion John is that small-town America that's increasingly unfamiliar today, where the most influential organization in town is the Rotary Club, and the most important social event of the year involves beating on the ice of the frozen river in order to drive the fish into a downstream net. The speeches that Andy's father gives about how John ought to be "civilized" are based in a worldview that seems horribly out of date today -- though it's to Krumgold's credit that he doesn't seem sympathetic to that set of ideas. Indeed, there aren't really any villains in Onion John; everyone in the book is sincerely trying to do the right thing, which is the source of its pathos, its tragedy, and even its cautious optimism.
If we were to give out the 1960 Newbery again, it's unlikely that Onion John would win. My Side of the Mountain, by Jean Craighead George, was one of the three Honor books (The Gammage Cup, by Carol Kendall, and America is Born: A History for Peter, by Gerald W. Johnson, were the others), and George's survival novel has probably aged better than the others. However, Onion John is still a well-written, surprisingly tender book, one that deserves to be better-remembered than it is.
This review also appeared on abouttomock.blogspot.com
3 stars. This book totally frustrated me. The crux of the plot is the town eccentric, an immigrant (called Onion John because of the onions that form much of his diet) who lives in a shack and gets much of what he needs from the town dump and the rest from handouts. OJ speaks some language that isn't English, but he does understand English to a degree. He and Andy become friends somewhat by accident. Andy realizes he does understand OJ and he has a wonderful time learning the man's ways man of which are based in folklore (or superstitious nonsense according to Andy's father). Andy and his father find themselves at contretemps and it all comes to a head when the father's Rotary adopts OJ as a project and decide to make him "proper". In the end it doesn't go well. It's supposed to be about a boy, Andy Rusch, Jr., growing up - this is why the book won the Newbery. But for me, it was more Andy setting aside boyhood things (a la Puff the Magic Dragon) with all the inherent sadness that entail. Also how OJ is treated and what happens to him is truly tragic. I read this for my Reading Challenge (52 wks "character frustrates you" and Popsugar "immigrant character") and my Newbery Challenge (Medal 1960).
Onion John is Andy’s best friend, but Onion John is not an ordinary kid….Onion John is a man who does things his own way. John has lived in Serenity for many years, scavenging to furnish his home, working a little to buy food and supplies. Then he needs a new hinge for his door and suddenly everyone wants to change Onion John, from his home to his ways of making a living to his ways of thinking. The town gets together and decides to build a brand new house for John; it is not really what John wants and before the second day has passed, the house has burned to the ground.
Should we change people? Should we try and make everyone fit in? Can it be done? Or does a world need people who don’t quite fit, people like Onion John?
Should we change people? Should we try and make everyone fit in? Can it be done? Or does a world need people who don’t quite fit, people like Onion John?