Scan barcode
A review by lmckensie
The Facts and Fictions of Minna Pratt by Patricia MacLachlan
5.0
I first read this book in perhaps the third or fourth grade, and have read it possibly 10+ times since. From the very first time that I picked up The Facts and Fictions of Minna Pratt, I fell in love with it. The entire book just has a melodic quality that sucks you in. I cannot begin to understand what it is in particular that makes me love this book; it is just of such a quality that it stays with you for long after you've put it down.
The characters in it are all unique, each with their own quirks that make them thoroughly likeable: McGrew, who sings the headlines on the bus. Lucas, who keeps frogs. Emily Parmalee, who always wears pink feather earrings. Minna's mother, who writes and watches soap operas and, try though she might, isn't always helpful in Minna's search for truth. Minna's father, who sings opera. And of course, there is Minna herself, who is looking for truth and wants a vibrato. Each of them is richly painted, leaving you with the impression of knowing these people, being a part of their lives, yet somehow knowing that there may be depths to them yet to be seen, hiding beneath the surface.
If you are searching for something profound in this book, you may not find it. If you are searching for truth, as Minna is, you may not find that either. If you are someone like me, you may just find that profundity and truth. Still, any way you look at it, what you will find is a wonderful story that gets under your skin and lives with you for a little while, the kind that makes a smile tug at the corners of your mouth with a recollection.
You may just learn something as well. Did you know? Shiny teeth are highly valued in the beaver community.
The characters in it are all unique, each with their own quirks that make them thoroughly likeable: McGrew, who sings the headlines on the bus. Lucas, who keeps frogs. Emily Parmalee, who always wears pink feather earrings. Minna's mother, who writes and watches soap operas and, try though she might, isn't always helpful in Minna's search for truth. Minna's father, who sings opera. And of course, there is Minna herself, who is looking for truth and wants a vibrato. Each of them is richly painted, leaving you with the impression of knowing these people, being a part of their lives, yet somehow knowing that there may be depths to them yet to be seen, hiding beneath the surface.
If you are searching for something profound in this book, you may not find it. If you are searching for truth, as Minna is, you may not find that either. If you are someone like me, you may just find that profundity and truth. Still, any way you look at it, what you will find is a wonderful story that gets under your skin and lives with you for a little while, the kind that makes a smile tug at the corners of your mouth with a recollection.
You may just learn something as well. Did you know? Shiny teeth are highly valued in the beaver community.