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luann's review
3.0
I thought this would be another of those nice-enough Newbery Honor books that I read and enjoy at the time but then later can only vaguely remember the characters and the storyline. I really enjoyed the two other Mary Stolz books I've read: [b:A Dog on Barkham Street|1549103|A Dog on Barkham Street|Mary Stolz|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1185060706s/1549103.jpg|2280863] and [b:The Bully of Barkham Street|998976|The Bully of Barkham Street|Mary Stolz|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1180107581s/998976.jpg|598313], so I guess I should have expected more. This did start out as a nice-enough story sort of reminiscent of [b:A Tree Grows in Brooklyn|14891|A Tree Grows in Brooklyn |Betty Smith|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166668598s/14891.jpg|833257] with its New York City setting and just-surviving poor family, only for a younger reader. But somewhere in the middle of the book, I really started to like the characters and care about what happened to them. I especially liked Franny's four-year-old brother, Marshall, with his wish to stay up all night.
In the beginning, I didn't feel much sympathy with Franny's dad and his inability to keep a job. It seemed like he was the cause of all the family's problems. But I came to really sympathize with him as well: an artist who could never seem to find a job that would suit him while also allow him to support his family.
Although this is called "The Noonday Friends," I found that I wasn't much interested in Franny's petty squabbles with her friend Simone and the possibly-rich Lila Wembleton. I think a different title would have suited this book better in highlighting the more interesting storylines of Franny's and Simone's families.
This did feel a little dated if read as contemporary fiction. If I look at it as historical fiction set in Greenwich Village in the 1960s, it doesn't feel dated at all. :) 3.5 stars.
Note: My copy matches the ISBN number, but has a completely different cover than is shown here on GR. Scholastic must have changed the cover but not the ISBN at some point.
In the beginning, I didn't feel much sympathy with Franny's dad and his inability to keep a job. It seemed like he was the cause of all the family's problems. But I came to really sympathize with him as well: an artist who could never seem to find a job that would suit him while also allow him to support his family.
Although this is called "The Noonday Friends," I found that I wasn't much interested in Franny's petty squabbles with her friend Simone and the possibly-rich Lila Wembleton. I think a different title would have suited this book better in highlighting the more interesting storylines of Franny's and Simone's families.
This did feel a little dated if read as contemporary fiction. If I look at it as historical fiction set in Greenwich Village in the 1960s, it doesn't feel dated at all. :) 3.5 stars.
Note: My copy matches the ISBN number, but has a completely different cover than is shown here on GR. Scholastic must have changed the cover but not the ISBN at some point.
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