Library Girl and Carter Avery's Tricky Fourth Grade Year

Horvath, Polly. Library Girl

September 10, 2024 by Margaret Ferguson Books

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

The Huffington Public library is in a beautiful, 1894 building on a street filled with thriving businesses. Three of the children's librarians, Doris, Taisha, and Jeanne-Marie are all good friends, and a reference librarian, Lucinda, has managed to weaponize her baked goods and worm her way into their good graces even though they usually aren't friends with anyone who doesn't reread Elizabeth Enright every year. When the four are working late one night, they hear a baby somewhere in the library. Once they find the baby girl, they are unwilling to turn her over to the authorities, although they realize the trouble they might be in. Instead, they gather their resources (all of them have hoped for babies, with no results) and decide to raise Esmerelda, or Essie, in the library. They must hide this activity from Mr. Fellows, the head of the library, who asks occasional questions about a day bed, a tin washtub, or a dresser in the workrooms. Being librarians, they have satisfactory, if silly, statistics to support these items. Essie is cared for when the four take turns staying overnight. She learns to ride a bike in the stacks, but can't be sent to school because there is no record of her birth. She does meet the occasional patron, like the elderly Oscar, who wants to know why she has never had a phosphate at the shop across the street. Her mothers decide to give her spending money and allow her to go out to shops close by; they don't go with her so they can't be accused of kidnapping. She goes to the mall, where she buys disappointing bubble bath (there's no running water in her tub) and candy. She has always longed for a sibling, but does love the women who are raising her. She also thinks that going to school would be interesting, so when she meets G.E. at Gilmore's Department Store, she marvels at how different his life is from her own. When the library hires a new librarian, Ms. Matterhorn, keeping Esme's secret becomes harder and harder. What is Esme's full story? Will she be able to write her own ending? (There are twists and turns I don't want to ruin.)

Strengths: The cover alone will ensure that many children's librarians will find this in their holiday stockings this year. There is a tremendous sense of place, and living in a library would be fantastic. Horvath, whose Everything on a Waffle, Pine Island Home, and Canning Season all explore the idea of "found family" in different ways, has a knack for taking improbable situations and making them believable. Esme's sadness at her situation will give middle grade readers something to think about; what 7th grader is completely happy with their own home life? The ending is quirky, and teachers and librarians who like library themed "heart print books" will love this one. 
Weaknesses: There were several things that seemed... not necessarily inappropriate for children, but a bit uninteresting to them. Also, I think even six year olds know that you can't just find a baby and raise it on your own in a library without problems. 
What I really think: This is a great choice for readers who enjoyed the hidden children in Albus'  Nothing Else But Miracles or books set in libraries, like Alexander's The Library of Ever, Magoon's The Secret Library, or Prineas' The Scroll of Kings. 

 

Buyea, Rob. Carter Avery's Tricky Fourth Grade Year

September 3, 2024 by Delacorte Press

E ARC provided by Netgalley

Carter Avery is THAT student. The one who rockets around the elementary classroom when the teacher needs everyone to sit down. The kid who has no filter. The smart aleck who takes the teacher's chair when told to take any available seat. All of his teachers agree, and he knows all of the staff in the office because he spends so much time there. He has a very supportive grandmother, who is raising him and his high school aged sister Brynn after the death of their parents, but Carter hasn't gotten the support he has needed. That is, until Olivia Krane shows up at his school. When the third graders meet their new teachers on the last day of school, Carter is worried, because he's heard that Ms. Krane is super mean. But... she isn't. She does tell him to act in different ways, but doesn't mind when he sits in her chair. She even sticks up for him when the snooty Missy Gerber is mean. Carter confides in his bus driver that maybe "the Owl" isn't as mean as everyone has said. After a summer of swimming lessons, baking cookies, going to the library, and visiting a local farm with his grandmother, Carter is ready for the first day of school. It takes a little adjustment, but Ms. Krane is kind and supportive, and also shares with Carter than it would be helpful if he used kind words in her classroom because she is pregnant, and she wants her baby to be surrounded by pleasant things. It helps that she lets Carter move around as long as he isn't bothering others, even if it bothers Missy Gerber from all the way across the room, and she even lets him use a dictation device, called the Dragon, to record his stories, and then revise and edit them on the computer. The device is in the office, which means he sometimes overhears things he shouldn't. For instance, he hears that Ms. Krane's pregnancy is "artificial" and also that she is "liberal". He asks Mr. Wilson about these things, but has to get answers from his grandmother and Brynn. Ms. Krane isn't married, but having a baby, and some members of the community are upset, including Missy Gerber's mother. Fortunately, the school district is supportive of Ms. Krane. As the year progresses, the class has all manner of interesting projects, including a visit to a farm and chicks to hatch. Mason, a blind man whom Carter met at the summer reading program, is invited to the classroom with his dog, so that kids can read to the golden retriever. Carter even invites people in his life whom he enjoys to Thanksgiving, and Mr. Wilson (and his wife), Mason, and Ms. Krane all have an excellent holiday. When Ms. Krane isn't in school after break, Carter is worried, especially since the substitute is a hard line, ex-military guy named Lieutenant Boss. He doesn't understand Carter's ways, but after a while the two reach an agreement. Missy has been pulled out and homeschooled by her mother, which is unfortunate because she and Carter manage to become friends.  Ms. Krane even meets with Gram and Carter for breakfast so that she can reassure him that she and her new baby, Oliver, are doing okay, but because Oliver was premature, he needs to stay in the hospital for a while. The substitute changes some of his ways, and the class prepares for Ms. Krane's return. The party is successful, and Carter even makes a medal for Lt. Boss. The best news is that Gram will be caring for baby Oliver, and Ms. Krane will be able to return to the classroom. 

Strengths: Buyea's experience in the classroom is always evident in his excellent fiction, and he writes even more successfully from one point of view. (Both the Because of Mr. Terupt and The Perfect Score series have multiple voices.) Carter's voice is very strong, and his energy comes through on the page. He tries very hard to keep his impulsive behavior in check, but he can't always do it. He's not a bad kid, and the teachers have not understood him well enough to deal with his behavior. I loved all of the caring adults in Carter's world who see the good in him. It's also good to see that Ms. Krane's attention helps change Carter's behavior, but also the way his classmates see him, and having their support further improves his behavior. This is definitely a feel good story, where the world isn't perfect, but people are generally kind, or see the error of their ways if they are not. I'd love to see more characters in middle grade literature like Carter, because there are a ton of them in the real world. 
Weaknesses: Pennypacker's Summer of the Gypsy Moths (2012) is a little dark for fourth grade. I've never looked at Febreeze the same way since I read it. I also found it somewhat surprising that anyone in the community cared about the artificial insemination. We have a single teacher in my building who has a son who's almost twenty, and her teaching position was never challenged, even though her methods were no secret. 
What I really think: This is a "heart print" book, like many of Buyea's titles, that will be very much loved by elementary teachers. There is a sub plot with Brynn's friend who was hanging out with a boy who is no good for her, and that, combined with wrestling, could be Buyea's next book. That one, I would buy; this was just slightly too young for my middle school readers.