The Rebecca Caudill Nominees for 2012, 25th anniversary edition, were announced last month and they’re MINE! ALL MINE! Yes, I have a problem and I am completely aware of it. The only cure is leaving or losing my current job – a blessing and a curse.
I’m thrilled to announce that I only have to read sixteen of the twenty nominees this year. Among the nominees are The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin, and The True Adventures of Homer P. Figg by Rodman Philbrick, all of which were Newbery Honor books last year. Included was also one work of non-fiction, Knucklehead: Tall Tales & Mostly True Stories about Growing Up Scieszka by Jon Scieszka. And you know where I stand on reading that.
I was at home on my six days off and had just finished my last Coretta Scott King when it dawned upon me that I didn’t have any of the Caudills at home to begin. They were all sitting patiently at my desk. Sixteen books is a lot to carry after all, especially all the way across the parking lot. So I snuck into work proclaiming, “I’m not really here!” to grab the first three. That’s another problem; I tend to read them in alphabetical order by author’s last name – not always – but usually. Freak! I know.
Oh the disappointment when I saw the cover and the spine of the first book. Sports – UGH! There appear to be three covers featuring baseballs on this Caudill list. Double, no, make that triple UGH! I was lamenting my bad luck to a friend from the library who happens to be both a male and a sport’s buff. His wise response was to give it a chance. Don’t I always? Doesn’t mean I have to be happy about it though.
Am I ever glad I gave it a chance! I highly recommend this book to 5th and 6th grade boys, 3rd and 4th grade boys who love to read and 7th and 8th grade boys who are reluctant to read. It doesn’t even necessarily matter if you like sports, although it could help.
The setting is a small town outside of New York City, the kind of place that families vacation to during the summer. The time is right after the Second World War and America is just getting back on her feet. I find it interesting that the majority of the characters are of German heritage, but it isn’t really necessary to the story. And the date is the 4th of July.
Norman Schmidt is working in his family’s butcher shop, when his best friend Leon arrives with a special surprise. Leon has fireworks and wants Norm to join him later to set them off. Norm knows that his mother will never give him permission. Norm has already heard the lecture about the danger of playing with fireworks and the possibility of blowing off a hand. Unfortunately, Norm never gets the chance to beg his mother. Instead, Norm loses his hand in the shop’s meat grinder and winds up in the hospital rather than at the festivities.
The book follows Norm through his first year learning how to be one-handed. His father barely talks or looks at him because of guilt. Norm’s mother turns into a drill sergeant at home and even talks to all of Norm’s teachers before Norm meets them to guarantee that they won’t go easy on him out of sympathy. It is Leon and his sister, Ellie, who come closest to treating him the same as they treated him before the accident.
Norm’s dreams had included a shiny new bike with brakes on the handlebars and a chance to play baseball in the summer league. Now, he simply hopes to learn how to tie his shoes by himself and spread jam on his toast without help. By the next 4th of July, Norm realizes that he never would have worked so hard and gained so much if he had kept his left hand. Who would have thought being one-handed could be a blessing.
The book is loosely based on events that happened to the author’s husband when he lost his hand in a meat grinder in his family’s butcher shop. Word of caution – Santa is debunked.
No comments:
Post a Comment