Newbery Notes

I just read two terrific Newbery Medal winners, both of which I had been meaning to read for quite some time.

The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron (Simon &Schuster, 2006) won the award in 2007. It only makes sense that Ms. Patron should have written an award-winning book; she is Senior Librarian and Juvenile Materials Collection Development Manager at the Los Angeles Public Library, so she has a pretty good idea of what appeals to young readers. Her book, however wonderful the story, has been surrounded by a cloud of controversy, and I'll admit that was the main reason I was in such a hurry to read it!
Lucky Trimble, age ten, lives in a tiny town in the desert under the guardianship of her father's first ex-wife, who is French. In the third chapter, the reader finds out how this strange situation came about; Lucky's father had been married to Brigitte but they divorced because he didn't want children. Then he married Lucky's mother, and had Lucky, but he still didn't want children, so they divorced when she was small. When Lucky was eight, her mother was electrocuted by a downed power line, but her father didn't want to raise her, so he asked his first wife to come take charge until a foster family could be found. Naturally, Lucky struggles with insecurity throughout the book. She enjoys eavesdropping on a variety of twelve-step meetings in her town, where she hears people who have transformed their lives talking about their Higher Power, hence the title. She is convinced that her guardian is going to abandon her and return to France, so she decides to run away. Her escape is botched by a sandstorm, but she discovers that she is actually going to be adopted by Brigitte.
Of course, I love the happy ending, but there are other things to love about this book, too. Artist Matt Phalen has enriched the text with winsome illustrations that convey Lucky's vulnerability. Patron has a knack for capturing the musings of the juvenile mind, much in the same way that Judy Blume did back when I was a child. Like Judy Blume, Susan Patron has had to deal with criticism. Her so-called offense is using the word "scrotum". The word is used in the second paragraph of the book in a tale told by a participant in a twelve-step meeting, but he is referring to the location of a dog's rattlesnake bite, not his own body. She revisits the idea on page 7, where she speculates that the word sounds like something hacked up with a cough and decides that she neither wants to have one or see one.

A New York Times article (Bosman, J., Feb. 16, 2007) quotes Dana Nilsson, a librarian who has opposed the book, as saying, "This book included what I call a Howard Stern-type shock treatment just to see how far they could push the envelope, but they didn't have the children in mind." I do not believe that Ms. Patron set out to "push the envelope" but rather to lend authenticity to her story. Children are fascinated by unfamiliar words, especially words that sound like coughed-up phlegm! I am not offended by this passage. I think it honestly portrays the thought processes of a ten year-old. This is a scientific term we are talking about, not the vilest of profanity, and yet there are media specialists in my county who will not put this book on the shelves of their elementary schools. Perhaps it wouldn't be the best choice for a read-aloud at the elementary level, but it certainly deserves to be on the shelf.

The second book I read, Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis (Delacorte, 1999), was similar to The Higher Power of Lucky in that it also dealt with a ten year-old orphan in transition. The story takes place in Flint, Michigan during the Great Depression. Bud Caldwell has spent the four years since his mother died being shuffled back and forth between foster homes and an orphanage. After a fight with his new foster parents' son, he is forced to go "on the lam." He decides to locate the man he believes is his father, Herman Calloway,based on clues from some old concert fliers of his mother's. Bud is courageous and savvy. What I like most about the book is the little survival tips scattered throughout, called "Bud Caldwell's Rules and Things for Having a Funner Life and Making a Better Liar Out of Yourself." These observations on life are funny and honest and a little sad all at the same time. For example, Rules and Things #83 says, "If a Adult Tells You Not to Worry, and You Weren't Before, You Better Hurry Up and Start 'Cause You're Already Running Late." (p.42). Also endearing are Bud's memories of his mother reading him to sleep every night.
Bud's quest for Herman Calloway and his band of musicians leads him to Grand Rapids. As it turns out, the bass player in the flier is not his father, but his grandfather! I read this book in one sitting because I was so anxious to find out if he had indeed found his father and whether or not he would be accepted.
Both Bud, Not Buddy and The Higher Power of Lucky beautifully handled the theme of a child wanting stability and acceptance. This need is foundational for every child, and therefore it will remain a timeless theme in children's books.