Genre: MG
Rating: A-
For: Fun
From: The Library
I decided to pick this one up solely on the recommendation of Becca Wilhite in her Authors Pick Five post from awhile back. In that she said, "she (Sharon Creech) has created my other tied-for-favorite boy character in this book. He's Guthrie, and I'm half in love with him, even if he is twelve." So, of course I needed to find out what was so cool about Guthrie.
First of all, this book is about a girl whose family is sort of falling apart at the seams. Her dad can't keep a job, her brother keeps getting in trouble and eventually jail, her sister gets pregnant, etc etc. So, they decide to send her (Dinnie is her name) to be with her aunt and uncle who just happen to run a boarding school in Switzerland, while the rest of them try to work things out.
Well, as you may imagine, she is not happy with this decision at all. She misses her family, she wants to be with them to help with things, and she feels very abandoned. And then, she begins to feel like she has actually been kidnapped. But of course, as the days go by and she begins to make friends and learn new things and have her world broaden in a big way, she realizes that this experience may not be so bad after all.
Guthrie is one of the friends she makes during her adventure. And the thing about him that makes him so cool is his complete and total joi de vivre. He has a personality that is extraordinarily positive. He enjoys everything and everybody. He's the kind of person we all love to have around us. Simply, a happy person.
So yes, I enjoyed this book. At times it got a little preachy and covered many issues. (I meant to make a list but didn't and now it's been too long since I actually finished the book that I can't really remember them!) For the most part, it wasn't too distracting and was done in such a way that kids would understand and hopefully "get it."
Bottom line: I liked it quite a lot.
Other Reviews:
Teen Book Review
Author Sharon Creech's official website.
I keep meaning to read another Sharon Creech novel after reading Heartbeat earlier in the year. I'm not sure I could handle preachy though :( Still, liked it quite a lot .. Will see if the library has it! Thanks for lettingme know!
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