March 5, 2024 by Candlewick Press
Copy provided by Young Adult Books Central
Ferris (born Emma Phineas Wilkey) is spending the summer before 5th grade with her quirky family. Her six-year-old sister, Pinky (nee Eleanor Rose), is determined to be an outlaw, and is traveling around town biting people and trying to rob the local bank. Her Uncle Ted, who has a PhD in philosophy and has been working as a sign painter, has left his hair dresser wife Shirley and is living in the Wilkey's basement painting a history of the world. Grandma Charisse isn't in great health (she's 73, after all), and she and her dog Boomer are seeing a ghost. Along with her friend Billy Jackson, Ferris tries to navigate all of these difficult threads, which also include her favorite teacher, Mrs. Mielk, who has just lost her husband. There seem to be racoons in the house attic, but Charisse thinks these noises might just be caused by the ghost. She claims that the ghost is a previous owner whose husband built the house, which includes an elaborate chandelier that was never lit. Together with the children, she plans to get candles and to light them so that the ghost can be at peace. Ferris, who got her name because she was born underneath a ferris wheel at a local carnival, arranges a dinner party to which she invites everyone important to her, and during which the candles will be lit. When they finally are, a flock of moths descend, and the ghost is seen embracing her husband and floating away. Sadly, there are others in the group who also soon float away, but since "every story is a love story", Ferris comes to terms with her loss with the help of her close-knit community.
Told in DiCamillo's familiar and lyrical style, there is a lot of repetition and poetic moments, a quirky, large, and unpredicatable cast of characters, and a little supernatural air. The small town feel is reminiscent of the settings of her other books, and this is most likely set in the 1980s, although it is never stated. I base this on these inclusions: Ferris' calm and normal mother is seen pasting S &H green stamps in a book with a sponge, Mrs. Mielk's husband of 34 years fought in World War II, the family has their own encyclopedia, an office is seen using a typewrite and carbon paper, and a grilled cheese sandwich costs fifty cents. I know that a Chick Fil-A sandwich cost $1.69 in 1982, so that's just a ball park setting!
While the plot is slight, it is the amusing anecdotes that propel the story in this slim volume. Aunt Shirley gives Ferris a disastrous and very curly perm that she eventually shears into a shag. Attempts to reform Pinky start with getting her a library card, which she is almost denied until she can prove that she can read. Alan Buoy declares his love for Charisse. After biting a bank teller, Pinky is taken to the police station and processed, hoping to mend her ways. Ferris has an out of body experience that leads her to Pinky trapped in an old trunk in the attic. There is lots of love and tenderness shown among the characters, which is one of the reasons that DiCamillo has so many fans.
Readers who have Horvath's Everything on a Waffle, Giff's Jubilee, Urban's Hound Dog True, Week's Pie, or the works of Patricia MacLachan on their shelves will want to race out, purchase this work by this US literary treasure, and add Ferris to their collection.
I came to the conclusion long ago that lyrical, quirky, heart print books do better with fourth and fifth graders, so I will probably not purchase this one. The cover is not in a style that my students would pick up. This didn't speak to my wizened soul, either, although I will purchase it if there are teachers who fall in love with it and want to recommend it to students.
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