The Mighty Miss Malone by Christopher Paul CurtisSummary: “We are a family on a journey to a place called wonderful” is the motto of Deza Malone’s family.
Deza is the smartest girl in her class in Gary, Indiana, singled out by teachers for a special path in life. But the Great Depression hit Gary hard, and there are no jobs for black men. When her beloved father leaves to find work, Deza, Mother, and her older brother Jimmie go in search of him, and end up in a Hooverville outside Flint, Michigan. Jimmie’s beautiful voice inspires him to leave the camp to be a performer, while Deza and Mother find a new home, and cling to the hope that they will find Father.
The twists and turns of their story reveal the devastation of the Depression and prove that Deza truly is the Mighty Miss Malone.
My Thoughts: This book was just wonderful. I have been a Curtis fan since I read The Watsons go to Birmingham in my college methods of LA class. I just love the voice of his characters and the way he touches on important periods in history and race relations in a kid-friendly way. Malone takes place during the Depression--seems to be a theme with my books this summer! I found myself both captivated by the family's spirit and completely feeling for them as they face obstacle after obstacle. I am thinking about using that as a read aloud later in the year--I'll let you know how it goes if I do! Definitely add this one to your to-read list of you're a Curtis fan or looking for some good historical fiction!
4/5 stars
I have this on my to-read list...but how did I somehow miss that Curtis wrote it?! I loooooooove Birmingham and read it to my kids almost every single year. I'll have to bump this one to the top of my list so that I can possibly do it as a read-aloud this year too. I seriously cannot believe I still haven't finished a book! :-( These first 2 weeks of school have clearly taken me by surprise. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteOh, and P.S...I did my first linky party on my blog and sort of kind of "tagged" you to try it. :-)
http://being-ladylike.blogspot.com
Oh boy, I hope that you have read Bud, Not Buddy. The Mighty Miss Malone was published after BNB and although it is not technically a sequel, there is a great cross over scene between the two books. Without giving it away, the scene really is a great work on perspective. The reader is able to read about Bud's perspective and then Deza's perspective about the same situation. My class loved to compare what happened and then try and figure out where the "truth" lay. Love CPC!
ReplyDeleteTheresa