Review: When the Whistle Blows - Fran Slayton

When the Whistle Blows

by Fran Slayton

Ages 9-12

160 pages

Philomel, June 2009

Summary from Amazon:

Jimmy lives in Rowlesburg, West Virginia, during the 1940s. He does all the things boys do in the small mountain town: plays a mean game of football, pulls the unforgettable Halloween prank with his friends in “the Platoon,” and promises to head off into the woods on the first day of hunting season— no matter what. He also knows his father belongs to a secret society, and is determined to uncover the mysteries behind it! But it is a midnight encounter with a train that shows Jimmy the man his father really is.

I was captivated by these vignettes of a rural railroad community in the 1940s. Rowlesburg is a West Virginia steam train town on the cusp of the diesel revolution.  Jimmy is twelve in the first chapter, which takes place on one day -- All Hallows' Eve, to be precise. Each chapter carries the reader one year later in Jimmy's life, with its consummate trials, tests and triumphs.

This short middle-grade novel is a winner. The voice of a growing adolescent is authentic and the historic setting springs to life on every page. Think Stand By Me.

It's funny, too. Here's a taste: "I spit hard onto the ground. The spit is good quality -- heavy and thick with no lumps -- and it comes out in a perfect, spinning wad that slaps itself onto the ground just like the way I'd like to slap Stubby upside the head."

On the other hand, I'm not sure if this will appeal to my typical middle grade boy readers. The content is all boy -- football, trains, gross practical jokes, dead bodies -- but the actual story mostly takes place in Jimmy's head. Although the pacing is fairly quick and the stories are engaging, I'm not sure if it has enough dialogue or action to carry the day.

In addition, it's rife with emotion. Jimmy deals with some pretty intense feelings through the course of seven years. I would like to think this will not put boys off, but the sexist cynic in me wonders. It reminds me of the kind of "I love you, man" melodrama that women writers think men feel, but men themselves scoff at. I guess in the end, being a girl reader myself, I will have to try this out on some boys-who-only-read-boy-books and see what they think.

I would give this to readers of Richard Peck and kids who liked Heart of a Shepherd (another excellent book, by the way).

Ratings

• Awesomeness: 7 - quietly unassuming, but packs a punch
  
• Wordsmithing: 6 - vocabulary is straightforward and does not demand much of the reader
  
• Personages: 7 - memorable characters are familiar but still three dimensional
  
• Mesmerizitude: 6 - chapters were short, just right to consume in small bites

Other Reviews - and wow, there are a lot of them!  I am assuming this is because Fran is herself a blogger.

• at Books, Books Everywhere!
• at Bookends and again
• at 100 Scope Notes
• at Everyday Reading
• at The Reading Zone
• at Jen Robinson's Book Page
• at Beckwith's Book Blog
• at Donna St. Cyr
• at Not Acting My Age
• at Frenetic Reader
• at Iron Inklings
• at Galleysmith
• at Booking Mama (with an author video)
• at Capricious Reader
• at Carrie's YA Bookshelf
• Author interviews here and here and here

Audio: Alvin Ho #1 and #2 by Lenore Look

I was reading Heavy Medal back issues about last year's Mock Newbery, and I was captured by their review of Alvin Ho:

Funny. Multiculturalism/diversity doesn't stick out, it's just there. Funny. Episodic chapters--each one a complete narrative arc--serve a young audience that's still learning to read novels. Funny. Each chapter builds, realisitically if only slightly, on the theme of overcoming fears. Funny. Funny. Funny. Funny. Funny. Funny. 

These are books I've been pooh-poohing for months now, on the grounds that middle grade readers don't want to read about a kid who's 2-4 years younger than them.  Junie B. notwithstanding, this is something that is simply not done by 8-10 year olds.  And yet, here I sit reading review after review of how great these books are.  So I sigh, and put the audiobook on hold.  Maybe it'll be worth a look.

Good thing I wasn't taking any sips of water on my way to work this morning, or I suspect they would have been spewed all over my dashboard.  A students'-eye-view of me on my way into the building would have seen me literally falling all over myself laughing.  How often do I do this?  Hardly ever.  (For example, I was listening to Homer Price last night, and that merited scarcely a weak smile.)  Lenore Look presents Alvin's day at school and at home in these flighty little vignettes that left me shaking my head and giggling all morning.

I will admit that a good portion of my enjoyment came from the reader, eleven-year-old Everette Plen (what a great name).  He is funny funny funny.  And oh my gosh, doesn't he just look like his voice?  There is nothing like listening to young Mr. Plen cursing in Shakespearian English.

I don't think book two is quite as creative and wonderful as the first, but I'm kinda feeling it as a continuation of book one, so perhaps it doesn't matter.  I was definitely looking forward to more.

Lenore Look, you have another convert!  I will never again discount a book because of the age of its main character. 

Awesomeness: 8 - big kudos for a fabulous task accomplished - put on your to-read pile soon

Wordsmithing: 8 - quirky and funny

Personages: 8 - wow, a 2nd grader with a missing eye and a limp!  Awesome

Mesmerizitude: 8 - I could listen to Everette Plen chirp all day

The Dangerous Days of Daniel X by James Patterson

Okay, so, my relationship with James Patterson is as a serial killer novel writer (Kiss the Girls, Along Came A Spider).  So I was really surprised when I heard he'd been writing novels for teens.  I'm a little out of touch, being at the elementary school, but I like to read teen novels because, gosh, they're good!  

This one... well, I wouldn't say it's good.  The blurb says "Spider-Man meets Men in Black," which is a very accurate description.  It's scary. It's gory.  It's fast.  It's even funny, at times. It's also very simply written.  The chapters are each three pages long.  The language is easy.  I would guess the lexile level is around 800, or less... (running to Titlewave to check -- ha!  680; that's third grade!).  There's no discernible character development, and all the supporting characters are flat as construction paper.  

I guess what I'm trying to say is that it's clearly written for low level readers, but in such a way that most teen readers would still really enjoy it. Heck, I enjoyed it.  So, I guess that makes it good!

It's hard to find hi-lo books in such a convincing, appealing package.  This one works.  But, unfortunately, I think it's too scary and gory for most elementary school students (this coming from a girl who read Steven King at eleven), so don't reach for this as a hook for your third or fourth grade reluctant readers.  

Awesomeness: 5/10

Wordsmithing: 2/10

Personages: 2/10

Mesmerizitude: 7/10