Children's Books discussion

Come join us to discuss the Medal Winner,
A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park

and/or the Honor books:
Everything on a Waffle by Polly Horvath
Carver: A Life in Poems by Marilyn Nelson

I'll probably be starting with Horvath's book. It looks light, and I could use that right now.

Well, Everything on a Waffle is light, in some ways. But full of bad things, too. I gave it three stars, but I'm hoping someone here can illuminate for me what is so special about it.

My review: Not sure what to think. Not sure what makes it Newbery worthy. I guess the theme is about staying resilient & optimistic despite enough assorted minor trauma for a soap opera?

I did give A Single Shard four stars, but barely.

I hate to say it, but it was kinda boring, or too long for the material it covered. It took me, a rabid adult reader, three nights to read it, as I kept falling asleep. And yet there was a lot that was lovely about it, too. And interesting. And yet, I only marked one passage:

"Why was it that pride and foolishness were so often close companions?"

The edition that I read has an author's note, samples of two other works by Park, and then more valuable back matter, so keep paging through to not miss anything.

I can't rate Carver: A Life in Poems. I'd have to spend a lot more time with it.

My review:
I've got to admit, I struggled. I'm sure I don't understand half of what Nelson was sharing. I don't know how most teens would do any better. The photos do help.

But! It's absolutely worth trying to read. So much can be learned just from the lines in which even a naive reader can see grace and power. I think it's better if read along with a traditional biography. I looked at Nelson's acknowledgements page and figured out that I probably should try to find Carver: A Great Soul by Peter D. Burchard.

The book makes it plain just how much we lost by not recognizing and supporting his genius. For example, how much better a world would we live in if we used peanuts for plastics, instead of petroleum?!

#OwnVoices

I gave A Single Shard 3 stars, but did not write a review. I found it pretty boring as well.

I read Everything on a Waffle in 2017, and I gave it 4 stars and wrote a very brief review:
In turns humorous and bittersweet; a lovely story with quirky characters.

Oh, I like what you say about Everything on a Waffle; I wish I'd read it through that lens!