Lindsay Eagar

I listened to the audiobook. Great narrator! I liked the main story of Duck, the Crowns, and Griselda Baker. I loved the bread stuff (because I love bread). But I had issues with the gargoyle.

At first, I really enjoyed the gargoyle sections, but as the book went on, they started to seem tedious (which makes me wonder if children will also find it difficult to get through). Do the gargoyle chapters move the story along? Do they contribute to the big themes of loyalty and survival? Does the gargoyle provide a necessary perspective? I'm not sure he does. By the end of the book, I was not a fan of the grumpy gargoyle. I think young readers will like how the gargoyle plays a part in the end, but I'm not sure they'll make it through all his complaining.

I've read and enjoyed many middle-grade historical novels about children surviving on the margins. Some of my favorites are [b:The Thief Lord|113304|The Thief Lord|Cornelia Funke|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327960342l/113304._SY75_.jpg|3313414], [b:Sweep: The Story of a Girl and Her Monster|37811512|Sweep The Story of a Girl and Her Monster|Jonathan Auxier|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1536675436l/37811512._SX50_.jpg|59489664], [b:Splendors and Glooms|13531021|Splendors and Glooms|Laura Amy Schlitz|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1360096699l/13531021._SX50_.jpg|19092689], [b:City of Orphans|10059059|City of Orphans|Avi|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1350862321l/10059059._SY75_.jpg|14955231], [b:The Bridge Home|40206380|The Bridge Home|Padma Venkatraman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1531855208l/40206380._SY75_.jpg|62415765], and [b:Bloody Jack|295649|Bloody Jack (Bloody Jack, #1)|L.A. Meyer|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1392868382l/295649._SX50_.jpg|286886]. You know, books that make you think about Aladdin singing, "Gotta eat to live, gotta steal to eat." The Patrons Thief of Bread has a lot of similarities with these books, so could be a good read-alike. But it didn't quite measure up for me.

What time period is this supposed to be? Novelist says Medieval period (476-1492). But I was thrown off by a thing that happens near the end when Griselda says insurance will cover her losses. Fire insurance doesn't seem like something that existed during medieval times to me (not that I'm an expert). Also the idea of being an "inside cat" doesn't seem medieval to me either. Did people have litter boxes in medieval times? I'm nitpicking, but details like these can take a reader out of the world the author is trying to build.

Finally, a few questions about the Red Swords. In what world would pickpockets and thieves wear something as recognizable as a red glove on one hand? Are they trying to get caught?… (mais)

One thing I love about not being on the Newbery committee anymore is that I can just quit a book if I'm not feeling it. Such is the case with this one. There is a version of me who might love this book. It has lots of stuff going on that I generally love. Magical realism. Grandparents. Summer. Diversity. A great cover.

But I can't get over how Carol doesn't sound at all like a 12-year-old. Voice in first-person narration is very important to me. If a writer wants to craft their prose in a sophisticated way, it's just not going to work for me as first-person narration by a child. It sounds too much like the adult writer. For example:

"The desert seems alive and breathing, a huge, sandy monster that sucks moisture from bones and blows the dry, dry air up, where it rolls and churns and boils. Another bee buzzes around my shoulder and lands on my earlobe. 'Go away!' I wiggle my body and swat at the bee. The dog lifts her head and sniffs in my direction. Finally the bee carries itself away, until its lace-thin wings are camouflaged against the beginnings of a sunset." (page 11)

That is beautiful writing. But does it sounds like the voice of a 12-year-old? No.

That's a deal breaker, ladies.… (mais)

Representation: N/A
Trigger warnings: Dementia, near-death experience, car crash
Score: Seven points out of ten.

I saw this book in the library but when I look back at this, it wasn't one of the most spectacular books I've ever read anymore since I've read better ones since then, and I don't think this holds up anymore seven years after it was published, and now that I said that I enjoyed this. However, I now keep seeing flaws within this, but maybe it's just my nitpicking, I don't know, so where do I begin? It starts with the main character Carolina, or Carol for short, and predictably, her life is different from others since instead of having an enjoyable summer, her parents send her away to a house in New Mexico where her dementia-affected grandfather resides. Carol spends most of the book there, and this is a magical realism book, but I don't see it! That's why the library put this book into the realistic book section. Carol's grandfather keeps telling her stories of how, after 100 years of drought, the rain will come back, a lake will form, and a sign of this prophecy is bees returning, which is hard to believe. Since the grandfather has dementia, he is a strange character who makes even stranger decisions, like burning the barn to kill off some imaginary disease that never existed. In the meantime, Carol now goes to middle school as something happens to the grandfather, but I don't know what, but it's unquestionably terrible, ending this book bittersweetly.… (mais)