Full of Beans
Look here, Mac. I’m gonna give it to you straight: grown-ups lie.
Sure, they like to say that kids make things up and that we don’t tell the truth. But they’re the lying liars.
Take President Roosevelt. He’s been saying on the radio that the economy was improving, when anyone with two eyes could see the only thing getter better was my mother’s ability to patch holes in pants. Not that she had a choice. There was no money for new threads with Poppy out of work. It was either that or let us go naked.
The opening illustrates so much of what I love about this book. First, the voice of this young main character is not only distinct, but it feels authentic to the period, and the developmental age of the child narrator (unlike perhaps *ahem* WOLF HOLLOW). And second, this is the kind of historical fiction where you actually learn quite a bit about the time and place, but it’s seamlessly woven into the book. There’s no info dumping here. That third paragraph is as long of an expository paragraph as you are likely to find in this book as most of the book is comprised of dialogue. President Roosevelt on the radio gives us an indication of the setting, and then Beans elaborates how it specifically has impacted his family. Nice segue, that, and it communicates so much about the setting without a history lesson.
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This is a prequel to TURTLE IN PARADISE, but it goes without saying that you do not need to have read the former in order to enjoy this episodic story of the origins of the Diaper Gang, boys making mischief left and right. I know that many of us are besotted with books like GHOST and WOLF HOLLOW that sit at the upper end of the middle grade range, but this is an excellent one for the bottom end of that range, a perfect book for third and fourth graders, and one that could read aloud to even younger children.
For this specific audience of younger readers, say grades 3-6, is there a more distinguished book in terms of plot, character, setting, theme, style, and presentation of information? I don’t think so, and therefore, to my mind, this one has to be taken very seriously as a Newbery Medal contender.
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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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Agree with you wholeheartedly. I read it aloud to my 4th graders this fall and appreciated it even more. (Reading aloud is one of the best ways I know to really learn a book — not just kid response, but how the words fit on the tongue.) The period stuff is outstanding (had to go show my students some Shirley Temple), and the voice superb. Holm is able to create a hilarious or more serious scene in just a page or two — love her tight, effective writing. Every word and sentence works just right. Little touches are just wonderful, say the way the big shot guy whose name I have forgotten keeps calling Beans, Peas.
I really loved this book. Such great characters. I’ve had a few of my 5th graders read it and really enjoy it. I will say though that I liked Turtle more. I also just finished The Girl Who Drank the Moon and think it is a very serious contender. I am curious about what kids think of it though. I will attempt to sell it to my class in Monday hopefully i will get someone to read it and discuss it with me.
I know we are not supposed to compare this book to TURTLE IN PARADISE, but those of us who have read it will make that comparison anyway in our minds, even if we are not allowed to discuss it at the table. Personally, I like the shorter book here, the boy characters, the reach to the younger audience.
It’s a strong year for historical fiction–WOLF HOLLOW and THE INQUISITOR’S TALE–are also heavyweight contenders. I presented a best books workshop a month ago, and somebody was disappointed that there was lots of historical fiction featured; she had gentrified her library and found that historical fiction wasn’t popular. Of course! Because historical fiction is really only a genre for adults. It doesn’t exist to children. What draws them to historical fiction isn’t the setting, it’s the plot and characters.
“… she had gentrified her library…”
What’s “gentrified” mean?
Ha, ha. I think I’m a victim of spellcheck! 😉
It should read genre-fied. It’s the practice of arranging books not by traditional library science principles (Dewey Decimal, alpha by author) but rather by genre, like they do in a bookstore. This librarian had put all of the historical fiction books together, and they didn’t circulate. Big surprise.
I really enjoyed this book.
What struck me the most about FULL OF BEANS is Holm’s economy with words. She is a master at establishing character and setting with just a couple brushstrokes. Her language, simple but evocative, lingers in the memory long after the book is finished. TURTLE made me want to move to Key West; FULL OF BEANS made me want to move to Key West while deepening my appreciation for its place in American history and the people who turned it into a paradise.
This wasn’t really at the top of my slop, but a librarian friend and I talked about over dinner a couple nights ago, and the more we discussed it, the more I found myself remembering truly remarkable passages and plot points. There’s much to admire here, but mostly Holm’s capturing of time and place is stellar. Beans’ character is so beautiful fleshed out and his relationships feel authentic and realistic.
If I were on the Real Committee, I would very much enjoy discussing this book. Heck, it might even get a vote from me. FULL OF BEANS could very well be the dark horse in the race this year.
I’m excited to see this discussed. My initial response to it was that I was underwhelmed. I liked TURTLE IN PARADISE so much that I wanted to LOVE this one, but hyped it too much in my own head.
But, in reading some reviews online of people who loved it and just seeing the initial responses here, I’m changing my tune a bit. I’m recognizing Holm’s craft more.
Character voice and setting are the standouts here. I love Beans’ character. I agree wholeheartedly with Joe about how Holm gets so much mileage out of her words. I also agree with Monica about the rich setting.