Children’s Lit: Review of MISSING MAY by Cynthia Ryland, Newberry Medal winner

MISSING MAY

By Cyntha Ryland

1993 Newberry Medal winner

Scholastic, 1992

4 out of 5 stars

Cynthia Ryland writes a touching but quiet novel tracing loss, grief, and the coming-to-life that occurs when grief transcends to acceptance. Seventh-grader Summer has experienced the passing of her aunt and mother-figure, May, but holds herself together, “swallowing back the tears that had been building inside me for two seasons,” and watches her uncle Ob lose the will to live after the loss of his beloved wife and partner in life. Summer had come late into May and Ob’s life, an orphan handed around from family member to family member after her mother dies. May and Ob need Summer, and she needs them. Ryland brilliantly portrays the loneliness and distrust of an abandoned child, providing the innocent and beguiling character of Cletus Underwood, with his quirky interests but adoring family, as a foil to self-conscious Summer.

Together, Summer, Ob, and Cletus embark on a journey to connect with May’s spirit only to find that what they need isn’t May, but what she’s left behind: love and appreciation for one another, and ultimately acceptance of her passing. Ryland’s first person account by Summer gives the reader a sense they’re tiptoeing through the story, being held back at a distance by distrusting Summer until she opens up in the final act and allows herself to fully grieve. Only then is the reader drawn into Summer’s emotional world.

Poignant, lulling, emotially evocative and even sometimes painful, MISSING MAY is an intelligent and heartfelt read. 4 out of 5 stars

Children’s Lit: Review of Mr. Popper’s Penguins

MR. POPPER’S PENGIUNS

Richard and Florence Atwater

Illustrated by Robert Lawson

pub. 1938

4 out of 5 stars

Many years ago, Mr. Popper’s Penguins came to me in a bundle along with other Scholastic books, handed to me by my third grade teacher. This book was among the treasure trove of middle-school books I’d once poured over, only to be put away in my parent’s attic, waiting to be loved by the next generation of children. One of my twins’ favorite things to do when they visit Grandma and Papa is to explore Mom’s old books. The bent spine and the dog-eared pages of Mr. Popper’s Penguins speak of a book well-read and much beloved by me in my youth.

Written in 1938 by Richard and Florence Atwater and illustrated by Robert Lawson, Mr. Popper’s Penguins, a Newberry Honor Book, remains today a delightful tale, one filled with amazing feats, adventure, and the lesson that one’s dreams, no matter how impractical, can come true.

Messy housepainter Mr. Popper is faced with another long, boring winter at home with his wife and children. His painting and wallpapering jobs that fill the spring and summer have come to an end and he’s at loose ends, much to the consternation of Mrs. Popper, who finds her neat and tidy home disrupted by the constant presence of Mr. Popper during the winter.

Mr. Popper dreams of adventure—especially of exploring the South Pole with Admiral Drake—a place abound with delightful penguins. So when a package arrives unexpectedly from the South Pole, one containing an unusual gift for Mr. Popper, his dreams seem to come true. The gift of a penguin sets in motion a series of events that lead to a very unusual use of a refrigerator (as a nesting ground for penguins), a redefinition of the Popper’s basement (as a frozen Arctic landscape) and a distinct change to the Popper family, as eventually twelve penguins come to dwell in 432 Proudfoot Avenue in Stillwater.

Although today’s children may automatically question the decision to populate the North Pole with penguins (mine did), and modern families may question the Popper family’s decision of what to do with the penguins and Mr. Popper at the end, the book remains an easy and familiar read. My twins, who read the book at age eight, enjoyed the story so much I had to hear the question “But why can’t we have a penguin, too?” repeated for several weeks. This story sticks to your ribs: no wonder Mr. Popper’s Penguins is a Newberry Honor Book.

RED WOLF RESCUE

RED WOLF RESCUE

The summer Max turns fourteen he steals a truck, almost gets his first kiss from girl he’d been in love with since forever, and ends up thrown in jail after a painful attempt at rescuing a red wolf from an illegal hunt. This won’t be a summer he’s likely to forget.

Struggling against small-town mentalities and excluded to the fringes of society, Max finds refuge with the Alastair twins, Daniel and Magenna, who live with their wonderfully normal and mentally healthy parents in a warm, cookie-scent infused home next door.  Daniel and Magenna have everything Max could ever want, and when Max’s mother backslides again, slipping into a deep and unforgiving depression, Max makes a plan: convince the Alastairs to adopt him.

But when Max comes across two abandoned red wolf pups, he’s faced with choices he never saw coming. Faced with a struggle for power and the resultant heartbreak, Max ultimately learns the meaning of love and sacrifice. And the power of forgiveness.

RED WOLF RESCUE is a young adult novel currently in progress.

Thank you for visiting!