Happy Thursday! #tbt celebrates the 20th anniversary of one of my favorite books! It was twenty years ago this past Tuesday that Kate DiCamillo's debut, Because of Winn-Dixie was published!
Motherless Opal Buloni moves to a trailer park in Naomi, Florida with her father, The Preacher. Opal spies a dog tearing up and down the aisles of the Winn-Dixie supermarket wrecking things and causing mayhem. On impulse, she claims the dog is hers and takes him home. She names him Winn-Dixie; the two form a strong bond and Winn-Dixie helps Opal to settle in to her new home and meet new friends, many of whom are older members of the community.
Because of Winn-Dixie was named a Newbery Honor (not bad for a debut), and received the Josette Frank Award as well as the Twain Award. The NEA put it on its list of 100 Top Books for Children and it won numerous State Reading Awards. It certainly is a favorite at TMS. It was adapted for film in 2007.
If you love character-driven stories that have a leisurely pace and tug at the heartstrings, Because of Winn-Dixie is the book for you. I am so happy this book is in the world. I think I saw that there is an anniversary edition available, but haven't been able to find it yet.
Honey by Sarah Weeks. 152 p. Scholastic Press/ Scholastic Inc., January 27, 2015. 9780545465571. (Review from arc provided by publisher)
For all of Melody's ten years, it has been just her and her dad. She doesn't ask much about her mother because it seems to cause her father too much pain. She tells herself that she's fine with that. What she's not fine with is the fact that she overhears her father call someone, "Honey" on the phone. What does this mean? Who can it be? Why hasn't her father said anything to her? With the help of her best friend, Nick and her annoying, little neighbor, Teeny, Melody investigates. The investigation centers around The Bee Hive, a new salon that recently opened and all clues seem to point to her teacher - the teacher she hates and seems to hate her in return.
Meanwhile, in a parallel story, a dog named Mo misses his original owner even while his present owner takes fine care of him. He just knows that something is missing in his life.
I finished it with tears brimming. What a treasure! What a perfect middle grade book! Perfect length, gorgeous cover, not one wasted word, a beautiful father/daughter relationship, a hysterical grandfather, a great boy/girl best friendship, an adorably annoying, pesky younger neighbor, a hoot of a misunderstanding and the longing of a dog.
This is one I've been picking up and opening to random sections to reread. It's one I will reread many times. I see an audiobook is releasing at the same time, so I'll be reading it with my ears as well.
ETA: In case my short review didn't make this clear: Honey is a must purchase addition for middle grade collections. Sarah Weeks has quite few fans among my fifth and sixth graders. Before I began booktalking the heck out of Pie, I was booktalking the heck out of So B. It and students who love gentle reads on the sad side just adore them all.
Additionally, I mentioned that the cover is perfect but I want to elaborate a bit. I love how it is similar to the cover of Pie in its colorful simplicity. While the stories are not related they both share main characters with yearning hearts.
