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mhugs414's review against another edition
very cute story about trials and tribulations and suprises.
lottpoet's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
snowdrowsey's review against another edition
2.0
This is a book I got long ago at French School during a RIF (Reading Is Fundamental) event. I'd always loved the story and had found it so uplifting even into adulthood. When I re-read the book this time around, I actually found it depressing, because I noticed things in the story that the author doesn't elaborate on but which are happening with the family in the story. There is the unspoken mention that the family is black which I was always aware of and appreciated that the author didn't feel the need to explain. The items the author mentioned but didn't elaborate on was that someone from the health department or some other agency visited the family in recent past and told the mother that they should go on welfare. Then there was the absent father that you don't learn until towards the end of the book that he has abandoned them so they could go on welfare. It's said in the story that he left to look for work in another city. For awhile he had been writing to them, but his letters had stopped. They children speculate that their father has died. The other things in the story the author doesn't mention, but you can sense it, Becky and Abe's interactions with the cop in the park in their neighborhood. The shop clerk asking Becky to tell him what she's looking for on the pretext that he will find the item for her. Becky's interpretation is that the clerk believes she's in the store to steal something and is offended. I believe Becky's interpretation is correct and when I read the story in the past it made me feel good to read about that incident because I used to experience stuff like that from store clerks and was always angry by their actions. I think what bothered me about noticing the author's examples of systemic racism bothered me because I hadn't picked up on that stuff in the past and only now noticed it and saw it finally for what it was.
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