Nuts to You
Of course I’m biased, but I happen to think that CRISS CROSS is one of the best Medal winners in the canon. To be sure, it’s a polarizing kind of winner, but there’s no question that–like THE WESTING GAME–it’s individually distinct. One was made and then the mold was broken.
If AS EASY AS FALLING OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH is still very good, we never really gave it its proper due here on the blog. That’s because it, too, straddles that upper end of the range that CRISS CROSS occupies, and in the year of its publication there were lots of good books up there, namely one that you may recall: A CONSPIRACY OF KINGS by Megan Whalen Turner.
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Nobody’s going to accuse NUTS TO YOU of being too old for the Newbery. It’s even younger than her first novel, ALL ALONE IN THE UNIVERSE–and, like the Gantos and the Holm, it’s short! Naturally, I was keen to get my hands on this one, which now has four starred reviews, and I have to tell you that . . . I’m not the reader for this book.
The omniscient narrators of her previous books were pithy and wise and all kinds of wonderful, observing the world in a wholly unique way. While the other literary elements were strong, the voice was one of the primary draws for me. Here it seemed like much of that was reserved for the footnotes, but I missed it terribly in the main narrative. This one is probably a victim to my unfair expectations.
Or maybe I just have a natural aversion to squirrel-themed middle grade fiction. I didn’t care for last year’s squirrel book either, and that won the Medal. Maybe my critical faculties are clouded when it comes to squirrels? Am I missing something? Am I being entirely unfair? What do you say?
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About Jonathan Hunt
Jonathan Hunt is the Coordinator of Library Media Services at the San Diego County Office of Education. He served on the 2006 Newbery committee, and has also judged the Caldecott Medal, the Printz Award, the Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards, and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. You can reach him at hunt_yellow@yahoo.com
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I’m with you Jonathan. I wanted to love this book and I tried but it just didn’t work for me. I’m still not sure why -too much going on? were the squirrels too self aware? Plot wise I gave up about halfway through-I just lost interest. And I, needless to say, liked last year’s squirrel book.
Okay, I may love Lynne Rae Perkins more than any other living author, so perhaps I too am biased. But I loved this. It’s been quite a while since I read it, though, so I’m just going to have to leave it at the surface level. But seriously, Jonathan, do you think you’re squirrel-averse? Would you have liked the voice if it was a human character? A hard question to answer, maybe, but perhaps there’s something to it…
Could very well be squirrel-averse! Like Amy, I just lost interest about half way through. Could be several factors, but I think the voice is probably the biggest, not that it’s a squirrel voice, just that it’s missing something magical. It’s not a bad narrative voice; it’s just not as wonderful as her others. You can’t love Lynne Rae more than I do. I was hoping for a picture book from her this year instead of a novel. 🙂
Does this have illustrations? If so, I need to get it as a real book not for my nook or Kindle. I love Lynne’s previous books, so I, too, am expecting a lot and now wonder if I’ll be disappointed.
Our taste in books, Jonathan, seems quite different, but I totally agree with you about CRISS CROSS. It’s one of my all time favorites. Just recently, I reread the whole book (rather than just skimming and rereading bits — usually the basin wrench chapter), and I agree, nothing quite like it exists. I am very glad that it won the Newbery!
This one is heavily illustrated so probably best to have the physical book in hand. I read the ARC which didn’t have all of them, so I think that too may have colored my perception of the book.
Me too on the ARC; I need to get the finished copy. My favorite CRISS CROSS scene is definitely Hector and the overflowing garbage. Slays me every time!
I too struggled with this and need to give it another try with the finished fully illustrated book this time. My favorite Perkins is definitely AS EASY AS FALLING OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH. I still crack-up thinking of the scene of him looking at shoes at the Salvation Army. She’s the master of the small moment.
I agree with almost everybody that this book doesn’t quite work. I did think the moments of quirky squirrel-ness (e.g., the poetry, the footnotes, etc.) were the most enjoyable bits. They got smiles and laughs out of me.
Maybe I feel that, taking the squirrels out, this smells very much like a fantasy genre novel: the world-building (including different races, cultures, locations, etc.), the multiple characters and their personality types, the plotting, etc. And as such, it doesn’t really set fire to the imagination; it’s not as absorbing and exciting as outstanding examples of that genre can be. Maybe squirrels don’t lend themselves to such treatment?
I usually like Perkins’ stuff too, but I didn’t even make it halfway through this one. It may be my animal story aversion kicking in, or a specific squirrel aversion as I also didn’t like last year’s squirrel book, but I was rolling my eyes during the first paragraph. It’s possible I’m just getting too cynical for this…but I have a kid who doesn’t like books like this either. Did I make her too cynical too young?
I haven’t read this book, but I agree concerning last year’s Newbery-winning squirrel book. That it had a squirrel didn’t bother me, but that it was considered the best book over all the competition did. For me it was a well-written experiment that covered the same ground DiCamillo has thoroughly covered before: Lonely child meets magical animal that brings the adults together. I would have picked any of the Newbery Honors over it.
I liked the humor and gentle quality of the relationships between the characters. My husband is always making peanut butter sandwiches for the squirrels in our yard, so that made me giggle to get their perspective on that! I will be recommending it to patrons who are looking for a family read-aloud.
Sadly, I don’t think it is Newbery either…. but that’s what I thought about “Last Year’s Squirrel Book” too… so what do I know?