Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

Really, I just couldn’t resist that title, but I suppose I can’t promise that this review will be illuminating.  Part of the problem is that I still can’t decide whether I feel this deserved to win this year’s Newbery Medal.  It has many good points, you understand.  It was thoroughly enjoyable to read; it had profound things to say about love and finding your way, in Kate DiCamillo’s VERY distinctive style; it was immediately fascinating (while, it must be said, also being quite bizarre); and it used illustrations in an interesting sort of way.  Although I will say that I’m not sure that that last point makes it any more Newbery-worthy to me (I suspect the book’s occasional forays into a bit of a graphic novel helped it win, though).  As for not-so-good points…hmm.  I did really enjoy reading the book.  I didn’t end it and marvel at the beauty of it, like I did Okay For Now and True (…Sort of), but that has more to do with the book’s intent.  And I did choke up a bit once or twice.  This was definitely more of a Tale of Despereaux than an Edward Tulane, and I’m glad of that.  I suppose my hang-up over whether it really deserved to win comes more from an ambivalence about DiCamillo’s trick of melding important truths about ourselves and life with exceedingly bizarre plot twists and turns.  I got a big kick out of the ‘squirrel gets vacuumed and becomes flying, poetry-typing superhero’ idea–it’s certainly entertaining–but it’s a, well, weird marriage with the ‘let’s express our love for the people who matter’ and the ‘finding our way home’ themes.  Her tendency to dot her books with characters who make profound observations on life on a regular basis is also a little on the edge.  It works okay for me in general, but it could just as easily not.  I can’t help agreeing with my friend Abbie, who was surprised that Flora & Ulysses won while Navigating Early got nothing from the Newbery powers that be; then again, at least it’s not 2005 over again.  I’m STILL furious that Kira-Kira beat out Al Capone Does My Shirts and Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy to win the medal.  It was a travesty that a book that WANTED to be really good–but  didn’t quite make it all the way–got the gold (so to speak), while two amazing, beautiful, and heartwrenching masterpieces ended up with silver.  Really, while we’re on the subject, the other Honor book that year was The Voice that Challenged a Nation:  Marian Anderson and the Struggle for Equal Rights, and it was ALSO better than Kira-Kira.  (Yes, I know, I’m not holding back here, but come ON.)  I digress, however.  Suffice it to say that it was good, and I enjoyed it, but I’m on the fence about its medal status.  Feel free to comment and tell me what YOU think!