I read it, but only because I forced myself to. Every year I feel it is my duty to read the winner just so that I know what everyone is talking about and so that I can tell my teachers if it's worth it for them to add it to their curriculum for next year.
I hated this one. It's about animal abuse. Really. Not . My. Cup. Of Tea. I'm not a big fan of animal books to begin with, but abused animals is even more of a turn off. Yes it turns out happy in the end, but come on, really? Who wants to read about that? At least in Water for Elephants there was some romance involved to distract the reader from the abuse, but in this book it's relentless. I really did not care for it at all.
I know I've discussed before about the weirdness of book award winners. Some times they are right on, but most of the time it seems as if the judges of these contests are looking for the saddest, most taboo subjects and giving the awards to those books. These are not books that kids want to read. These are the books that adults make kids read because they are good for them like vegetables. I don't want books to be like vegetables for kids. I want them to read what they want to read even if it is Captain Underpants of Diary of a Wimpy Kid.
This book just didn't have anything special about it to me to merit the Newbery Award. Last year's winner, Dead End in Norvelt, was a good book, but still a vegetable book. 2011's Moon Over Manifest was brussel sprouts too. The last time I read a Newbery that I liked and that I still recommend to kids and teachers alike was 2010's When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead. Now that is a timeless classic that deserved awards.
Of course we all have different opinions about what is a good book, but if I can't recommend it to anyone, it's not a good book. I will not be recommending this book except to my most fanatic animal book readers.
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