Overview
Twelve-year-old Jessie K. Bovey has a lot to worry about. She doesn’t know who her father is; her old biddy of a grandmother keeps interfering in her life; her best friend, Robert, desperately needs new glasses that his family can’t afford; and mean Dickie Whitten teases Robert until Jessie has no choice but to punch him out.
When some New York City reporters show up in Beulah County to research a story about the War on Poverty, Jessie sees a way to solve one of her problems. She can charge money for showing the reporters around town so they can take pictures of the “local color” and use it to help pay for Robert’s glasses. But her plan backfires spectacularly, and Jessie learns some big lessons—and some big secrets as well.
A small Kentucky town and its quirky inhabitants are vividly evoked in Shutta Crum’s warm, atmospheric coming-of-age story, which handles multiple serious themes with a light touch.
In the small town of Baylor, Kentucky, twelve-year-old Jessie K. Bovey and her friends confront some of life's questions during their summer vacation in the late 1960s.
Synopsis
Twelve-year-old Jessie K. Bovey has a lot to worry about. She doesn’t know who her father is; her old biddy of a grandmother keeps interfering in her life; her best friend, Robert, desperately needs new glasses that his family can’t afford; and mean Dickie Whitten teases Robert until Jessie has no choice but to punch him out.
When some New York City reporters show up in Beulah County to research a story about the War on Poverty, Jessie sees a way to solve one of her problems. She can charge money for showing the reporters around town so they can take pictures of the “local color” and use it to help pay for Robert’s glasses. But her plan backfires spectacularly, and Jessie learns some big lessons—and some big secrets as well.
A small Kentucky town and its quirky inhabitants are vividly evoked in Shutta Crum’s warm, atmospheric coming-of-age story, which handles multiple serious themes with a light touch.
April 2003 - Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
...an engaging and believable narrative voice...the tender touches of the loving characters embrace both Jessie and the reader...
Editorials
From the Publisher
"Narrated by a chamingly unpolished character...truly memorable characters abound...absorbing plot with an uplifting ending. A remarkable first novel." SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL, STARRED REVIEWSchool Library Journal, Starred
"...engaging and believable narrative voice...developed most eloquently...tender touches of the loving characters embrace both Jessie and the reader." THE BULLETIN OF THE CENTER FOR CHILDREN'S BOOKS The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
"... a great job of humanizing the backwoods stereotypes...family story...compelling drama...told with truth, tears, laughter, and real surprise." BOOKLIST Booklist, ALA
"distinct characters...Jessie's spirit and determination drive the plot...her cover portrait will draw readers; her voice will intrigue them." KIRKUS REVIEWS Kirkus Reviews
"Feisty, thoroughly appealing narrator...engrossing reading...authentic, resounding voice...humorous...heart-wrenching...an affecting portrait of memorable characters in trying times." PUBLISHERS WEEKLY Publishers Weekly
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
...an engaging and believable narrative voice...the tender touches of the loving characters embrace both Jessie and the reader...—April 2003
Booklist
...with all the local color details is...her search for her father, told with truth, tears, laughter, and real surprise.—March 1, 2003
Oakland Press
She's feisty, she's fun...champion of the underdog...Jessie's story...takes more sharp curves than a hillside country road.—March 18, 2003
Publishers Weekly
Set in a small town in Beulah County, Ky., in 1967, Crum's involving first novel unfolds through the perspective of a fiesty, thoroughly appealing 12-year-old narrator. Jessie lives with her single mother and spends much of her time with contemplative Robert and his endearingly eccentric four-year-old brother, Baby Blue. Soon after the story opens, the three meet Miss Woodruff, a kind VISTA worker who has come to the economically depressed area as a soldier in President Johnson's War on Poverty. Jessie, engaged in a constant struggle to stay out of trouble ("Jessie, Dickie may really rile you up good, but you've got to stop using your fists to make a point," a sympathetic neighbor tells her), tackles other dilemmas as well. The heroine is determined to discover who her father is, raise money to help Robert get the new eyeglasses he desperately needs and to "figure out... how to get a nicer grandmother [and] how to control my temper as I'd promised Mama over and over that I would." The ways in which she achieves her goals make for engrossing reading, and the catalysts frequently come in the form of the novel's darker personalities, including Robert's alcoholic father, mean-spirited Dickie and his sinister dad. Some difficult themes make this more appropriate for mature readers. Through Jessie's authentic, resounding voice, the author ably balances the humorous and the heart-wrenching as she presents an affecting portrait of memorable characters in trying times. Ages 9-13. (Apr.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.Children's Literature
This story revolves around the life of Jessie Bovey, a 12-year-old seemingly fearless tomboy. The story takes place in rural Kentucky in 1967. Poverty is evident throughout the novel and so prominent that it brings New York City reporters to Jessie's town. They are eager to write about the war on poverty, and Jessie wants to find a new pair of glasses for her best friend Robert who can't afford them. When the reporters interview her and she takes them around town, the stories they write are very different from what she said. The inhabitants around town become very upset, and Jessie learns many important lessons. This is a great book for teachers to teach; it includes themes concerning poverty, pride, child abuse, friendship and family. Though these topics remain sensitive, the story treats them lightly. This is a great book for children in the middle grades because of its emphasis on questions that Jessie addresses at this point in her life. This book is highly recommended! 2003, Clarion Books, Ages 9 to 13.—Sara Love