The Mighty Miss Malone

by Christopher Paul Curtis

Libby audiobook 8 hours

Read by Bahni Turpin

Published: 2012

Genre: YA historical fiction

I love this author! This is another book by him that both entertained and educated me. Deza is a very bright twelve-year-old at the center of this story set in the Great Depression. Her older brother Jimmy and her parents all have their own challenges, but young Deza has dreams of higher education and writing. After a horrible boating accident on Lake Michigan, all their lives are changed dramatically. 

I don't want to include any spoilers, but I loved how the story unfolded and how it turned out. As I listened, I thought about writing a letter to Christopher Paul Curtis. He is an amazing author. This is a powerful book. (Yes, I cried.)

The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963

by Christopher Paul Curtis
Scott County Library audiobook 4 CDs
read by Levar Burton
genre: YA historical fiction

I'm kind of shocked that I don't have an entry for this book already in my blog. I just checked and I started blogging about books in 2007. That means I read this well over a decade ago!

I didn't realize until I started typing this entry that the vocal work was by Levar Burton. I love him! He did an excellent job, of course.

I was struck by the first part of the story not being quite as funny as I had remembered it. (Kenny's brother Byron scraping the ice off the car was as I remembered, though.) I felt much more sadness this time around, especially the last part in Birmingham.

The TruTone record player in the car - this blows me away! What a weird concept - to have a record player in a car!

*** SPOILERS AHEAD! STOP READING HERE IF YOU'VE NOT READ THE BOOK.

The humor mixed with the seriousness really shifted for me when Kenny went into the pond and the "Wool Pooh" (whirlpool) got him. I wasn't surprised that Byron came to the rescue, but I had forgotten many of the details of the scene (and the fact that they didn't tell anyone what happened).

The bombing scene and Kenny's subsequent withdrawl were so sad! Hiding behind the couch, not interacting with anyone, . . . made the scene when Byron got him into the bathroom to look in the mirror all the more poignant. "How's it fair?" Indeed, there was nothing fair for the children who died in Sunday school that morning.

Christopher Paul Curtis is an amazing author and this is one of my favorite middle school historical fiction books. It is funny, sad, and realistic.

Elijah of Buxton

by Christopher Paul Curtis
PRMS paperback 341 pages
genre: YA historical fiction

I started this as an audiobook while I used the elliptical at school. This is not one of my favorite CPC books, but it has a wealth of topics for discussion. My least favorite part of the story was the "preacher" and his selfish, immoral choices. My next least favorite part was Elijah's own gullibility. Grr! And I really, really disliked a dear character's death . . . however, there was so much here of beauty, truth, and pain. I know how carefully the author researches his topics and I found the story of Buxton to be encouraging and hopeful. Our sixth grade LAX classes read this book. It would be fun to get in on the discussions this coming school year.