Heavy Medal Mock Newbery Finalist: VIOLET AND JOBIE IN THE WILD by Lynn Rae Perkins
Introduction by Heavy Medal Award Committee Member Maura Bayliss
Siblings Violet and Jobie are experienced house mice who know so much about human behaviors that they use a “snapping pole” in a “cheese game” to retrieve their delicious treat. But all that changes when they’re trapped and then released into the wild. Part animal story, part adventure story, Lynne Rae Perkins weaves a tale about the pair making their way in a strange new world.
Left on their own, they experience nature’s perils and wonders for the first time. Shelter and food are their first priorities and the reader squirms as they spend their first night with a fox. They survive and move on to a better home which leads them to a new friend, who figures prominently in the narrative. Old and wise Zolian recognizes that they need help and becomes a kind and important mentor. A mutually beneficial relationship is born: Violet and Jobie learn life skills while Zolian (and perhaps the reader) sees some of nature’s everyday occurrences with the renewed wonder of the inexperienced mice. Changing perspective is an important theme throughout: indoors to outdoors, experienced to rookie, human to mouse, immature to mature.
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Jobie surprises Violet one day by announcing his intention to move out and “start a family” with his newly found “someone special”. Devastated Violet seeks comfort and wisdom from grandfather figure Zolian, but has to muster courage and self-reliance to find him, since Zolian is off on an adventure of his own. Violet finds Zolian, but their time together is brief, and Violet needs to be brave once more. This time it’s clearly her own brave inner voice that leads her on, eventually to a new friend whose story mirrors her own in the form of an outdoor mouse who climbed inside a camper and now travels the world. The camper moves and Violet’s perspective changes yet again as her new world is left behind. It’s okay this time, since Violet has matured and the reader has seen her develop, and she has found a kindred spirit. The story ends where it began, as Jobie tells his grandkids the story of the “cheese game” and daredevil Aunt Violet.
To be sure, a great story here, from a previous Newbery winner who knows her audience.The leaf surfing episode, the corny jokes that Jobie hears from his friends, or trying out the beaver noises as described by the narrator on page 120 will be highlights. Young readers/listeners will gloat when they recognize things before the innocent siblings do: it’s a fox looking at them, they’re maple seeds twirling down from the sky, it’s thunder and lightning that they’re so fearful of. The Zolian character allows Perkins to impart timely maxims to this age group: there’s a difference between being afraid vs. being aware, one must always be brave, it’s okay to be sad sometimes. There’s also lyrical prose, for example when Perkins describes a frog on page 92:
“What had seemed squat and lumpen was suddenly strong and graceful. It could practically fly.”
pg. 92
For all these reasons, this book has the hallmarks of a wonderful read aloud or a page turner early chapter book for the independent reader, with pertinent messages, inspiring characters and a lot of fun.
Heavy Medal Award Committee members and others are now invited to discuss this book further in the Comments section below. Please start with positive observations first; stick to positives until at least three comments have been posted or we reach 1:00 pm EST. Let the Mock Newbery discussion begin!
Filed under: Book Discussion, Heavy Medal Mock
About Emily Mroczek-Bayci
Emily Mroczek (Bayci) is a freelance children’s librarian in the Chicago suburbs. She served on the 2019 Newbery committee. You can reach her at emilyrmroczek@gmail.com.
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This was a sweet story–it reminded me a lot of Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. I thought the characterization, especially of the mentor, was exceptionally done.
Thank you for the introduction Maura. In VIOLET & JOBIE IN THE WILD, I was impressed with how Perkins immerses the reader into the miniature world of mice: hiding from predators scurrying to find food, riding leaves in the rain and seeing fireflies, dragonflies, herons and turtles for the first time.
Besides a well described setting, the characters are well delineated. They are lovable, kind, brave, full of wonder and wise: Violet who loved watching ‘Nature Magnificent’ on TV and getting to experience the ‘real life’ of frogs with Zolian. (p.91), and how she is amazed with seeing maple seeds flutter for the first time (p. 52-53); Jobie who cares for his sister and falls in love with Iris; and Zolian the wise elderly mouse full of advice such as: “There’s always an owl,…but there are ways to live that you’re not always afraid of the owl. Just aware of the owl.” (p. 62).
Perkins narrative voice is filled with humor: the invented alphabet game (p. 87, 179) the cheese game (Chapter 1) and mouse lips (p. 55). It’s filled with philosophy: “The New Life just becomes: Life” (p. 62). And I loved how Perkins addresses the reader directly as Maura stated above, teaching the reader to make the beaver noise (p. 119-120).
This novel addresses the themes of how life is ever-changing and what is the meaning of home. It is a bit bittersweet, sad but also hopeful. I would love to see an early chapter book win the Newbery.
I think this was the book I needed after reading The Door of No Return. Although Violet & Jobie also dealt with the theme of survival as they adapted to “the wild” in their new habitat, it was not as harrowing an adventure! The characterizations were wonderful and we saw Violet’s cleverness come into play as she managed to carry a leaf to disguise herself from the owl. I loved how they questioned every creature, “Do they eat mice?” Perkins also created a setting that one could visualize as she poetically paints images-”hundreds of stars but the clouds were silently swallowing those up”-p93 This book has Newbery strengths in its characters, setting and theme.
I loved Violet and Jobie in the Wild. I thought it was a sweet refreshing story. I feel like many awards contenders deal with tough topics or are message heavy so it was nice to read a book that was simply a fun animal story. I think the setting is done very well in this book as she describes the things the mice see. Violet and Jobie also learn and grow throughout the story. This story does take place in modern times but for some reason it kinda felt old school to me not sure why. It might just be that I haven’t read too many newer animal story books like this. I was not expecting the emotional punch at the end it is very bittersweet. Defiantly a top contender for me and a book I would have loved as a kid.
Beautiful intro, Maura. I absolutely loved this book, and I would have missed it if not for Heavy Medal! Aryssa, it reminded me of Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH too, and also a little bit of Kate DiCamillo – the vocabulary, the arch sense of humor. It was really strong in terms of character, setting, and theme; experiencing the world through Violet and Jobie’s perspective, with our own human perspective layered on top, was like a type of dual vision, where the reader sometimes knows things that the characters don’t. We see the forest setting in detail through their eyes as well, with all its dangers and wonders and small pleasures.
Rox Anne, I picked out that quote as well (“There’s always an owl…but there are ways to live so that you’re not always afraid of the owl. Just aware of the owl”), and Kate, the “What Is It? and Does It Eat Mice?” question/game that comes up repeatedly shows how Violet and Jobie are learning how to live with risk and even have a sense of humor about it. Speaking of which, this book had a tremendous sense of humor; I laughed out loud at the joke “Where do chipmunks go in a tornado?” (“All over the place.”)
I think that, as a kid, I would have hated this ending; as a young reader I wanted everything to be resolved, with proper denouement, and in this case I would have wanted Violet to find her way back to Jobie somehow. But the reader I am now loved it beginning to end; it’s stuck with me more than some of the others and I think it would make a wonderful read-aloud. Animal stories can have a sort of timeless quality to them, too; I can see this one aging well.
Kate mentions reading VIOLET & JOBIE right after THE DOOR OF NO RETURN…a great example of how challenging this whole “most distinguished book” process can be. Survival stories that are about as different as two book can be…but do have some common elements. We had several strong animal fiction books this year, including CRESS WATERCRESS and ODDER, and even those three are very different from each other. Roxanne mentions how “Perkins immerses the reader into the miniature world of mice,” and I agree that this is where this book shines. And it’s two particular mice, with unique backgrounds and experiences. I especially liked the ending, which I know not every reader does, because it fit so well with Violet: as a mouse, and a fairly adventurous one, she doesn’t always control what happens to her, but she’s shown she’s willing to take on whatever happens: “‘I’m pretty sure I wasn’t going to find my way back anyhow,’ she said. ‘But I think the world happens in mysterious ways.'” (223) So sending her off in a camper to who knows where seems just fine.
Feel that this book is a good reminder that there are no bad books on this list. Everything on here deserves to be on here for some reason. I think our job and the real committee’s job is to parse out which books are exceptional.
So in my opinion this book is good, the ending is definitely exceptional. That bittersweet ending reminded me of something like “Graveyard Book,” it’s a bit of risk to end a children’s book like this. I found the rest of the book pleasant and well-crafted, but I personally am not sure if the rest of it rises to the level of Newbery. And…that’s okay. That doesn’t mean this book is bad at all. Glad I read it.
I do hope that an early chapter book gets a Newbery again since it’s such and in-demand format now– the only one that I can think of off the top of my head is “My Father’s Dragon” from the 1940’s.
I actually was very surprised by this book! With a younger audience in mind than most of the other books on our list, this title succeeds in creating a whole other world for the reader, while at the same time never forgetting who the audience is. Perkins also manages to consistently build a perspective (a house mouse) that seems completely plausible, helping the reader to suspend any disbelief and dive into the story completely. Thematically, although not as robust of some of our titles, the themes of loss and change are woven expertly throughout the title and are done so in a way that is respectful of our younger readers. My favorite little moment is when Violet is looking for Zolian after she realizes her brother wants to start a family. The question she asks encapsulates one of the major themes of the story: “Which is harder…To lose someone when they die, or to lose someone while they’re still alive?” (p. 192 eBook) She realizes, through a a conversation with her inner voice, that some times you just have to “put one foot in front of the other”. This is what Violet and Jobie have shown us through their whole story. When life changes, some times all you can do is just keep moving forward. I do think, considering the audience, this could garner some pretty serious consideration for the Newbery.
I think this is a great point worth considering. Hmm. Feel the author undercuts her theme a little bit in the beginning, when the mice get trapped. It seems a lot more silly when it’s happening. Perhaps it’s the make what could be a scary scene more pleasant and light, but feel the tone then suffers because of it. But yeah…I might rethink this book a bit. Thanks!
I loved this adorable book! I loved Violet’s curiosity and sense of adventure. The other characters she encountered brought so much to the story and I particularly loved Zolian and his pearls of wisdom. I agree with some of the others that this is such a comforting read.
I’m not sure that it stands out to me as a Newbery winner. I thought of Skunk and Badger while I was reading this, and I think that book was a stronger contender.