El verano de Raymie Nightingale

Three Rancheros #1

by Kate DiCamillo

Cosa rara, tener a los tiernos diez años un motivo en la vida: hacer que tu padre regrese a casa luego de haberse fugado con la dentista del pueblo. Diez años, buena edad para ser valerosa, pero ¿cómo lograrlo?

Pues bien, su nombre es Raymie y ha encontrado una forma. Será fácil, bueno… quizá. Sólo debe ganar el concurso de Pequeña Señorita Florida. Eso le dará proyección. Será suficiente para que su padre vea la foto de su gloria en el periódico y decida volver porque, ¿quién no querría estar cerca de una chica tan increíble?

Genres: Middle Grade, Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Historical Fiction, Friendship, Childrens, Audiobook

236 pages, Paperback

First published April 12, 2016

About the author

Kate DiCamillo, the newly named National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature for 2014–2015, says about stories, “When we read together, we connect. Together, we see the world. Together, we see one another.” Born in Philadelphia, the author lives in Minneapolis, where she faithfully writes two pages a day, five days a week.

Kate DiCamillo's own journey is something of a dream come true. After moving to Minnesota from Florida in her twenties, homesickness and a bitter winter helped inspire Because of Winn-Dixie - her first published novel, which, remarkably, became a runaway bestseller and snapped up a Newbery Honor. "After the Newbery committee called me, I spent the whole day walking into walls," she says. "I was stunned. And very, very happy."

Her second novel, The Tiger Rising, went on to become a National Book Award Finalist. Since then, the master storyteller has written for a wide range of ages, including two comical early-chapter-book series - Mercy Watson, which stars a "porcine wonder" with an obsession for buttered toast, and Bink & Gollie, which celebrates the tall and short of a marvelous friendship - as well as a luminous holiday picture book, Great Joy.

Her latest novel, Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures, won the 2014 Newbery Medal. It was released in fall 2013 to great acclaim, including five starred reviews, and was an instant New York Times bestseller. Flora & Ulysses is a laugh-out-loud story filled with eccentric, endearing characters and featuring an exciting new format - a novel interspersed with comic-style graphic sequences and full-page illustrations, all rendered in black and white by up-and-coming artist K. G. Campbell. It was a 2013 Parents' Choice Gold Award Winner and was chosen by Amazon, Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, and Common Sense Media as a Best Book of the Year.

Reviews

[Emily May · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this book was wonderful.

I don't read a lot of middle grade these days. I have my childhood favourites that will always hold a special place in my heart, but I rarely seek out new ones. It's hard for me to engage with most juvenile writing styles and I often find them too simplistic. But Raymie Nightingale was warm, sad, subtle loveliness.

The story is indeed very simple, but that is its strength. It's a quiet, whimsical tale of three girls in 1975. There's our protagonist - Raymie - whose father has ran off with a dental hygienist. She plans to win the Little Miss Central Florida Tire competition, capture his attention, and bring him home. Then there's the spirited, takes-no-crap Beverly who offers a voice of (often hilarious) cynicism and wants to sabotage the contest as an act of rebellion. And the sweet, faint-of-heart Louisiana with the possibly insane grandmother.

In a series of adventures that involve many funny elderly characters and a lot of life lessons (though refreshingly not heavy-handed), the friendship grows between these three unlikely companions.

Ultimately, the lasting messages of the book are bittersweet. Does Raymie win the competition and bring her father home? Does she find all the answers? Is life ever really that simple?

Or is life actually about the friendships we make that get us through the rest of the madness?

Perhaps this is a bildungsroman about growing up and learning and new perspectives. But, for me, it was a story about three girls and the strength they brought to one another.

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[Sally · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dear Ms. diCamillo,

As a girl who clipped my grandma's toenails and biked, weekly, terrified, to Southport Manor Nursing Home to volunteer as Cheerful Board Games Assistant, as a girl with the weight of my sorrowful, lonely soul blowing around inside me night and day-- as I believe it still does, fifty years on -- I thank you for Raymie Nightingale. I thank you for Beverly, and for Louisiana, friends one could only dream of. Friends I now have had the privilege to meet.

Thankyou, dear wonderful writer, for creating perfect habitations and names out of your achy, laugh-teary, omnicient world-love. You git me every time. Zing!

Raymie Nightingale must be read. It is not necessarily just a children's book. It is a book that shouts to the world: "Hold my hand! Hold my hand!"

[Mischenko · Rating 4 out of 5]

Raymie Nightingale is a story about a friendship between three girls, beginning with Raymie Clarke who’s father has recently left home with another woman. She struggles to find ways to bring him back home and settles on the idea to win the Miss Central Florida Tire Competition. If she can only win and get her picture in the paper, maybe her father will see it and finally come back home. While attending a class to learn baton, she meets two interesting girls: Louisiana Elefante and Beverly Tapinski.

Raymie, Louisiana, and Beverly are all so different—each suffering from some sort of hardship due to the adults around them. This unlikely friendship that forms might just be what each of them need to heal and move on with their own lives.

Ramie Nightingale is a moving, heartwarming tale that deals with love and friendship, while also touching on heavier issues such as death and the meaning of life. The prose is simple yet wonderful, and as usual, we were captivated by the story. Kate DiCamillo always manages to create interesting, complex characters that open up for good discussion. My middle-grade readers loved this. We read the physical books and also used the audiobook, which was narrated very well.

We’ve read nearly all of Kate DiCamillo’s books which never disappoint. We did read these out of order beginning with Louisiana’s Way Home. It’s probably best to go in order with how they tie together. The trilogy completes with Beverly Right Here, which we immediately dove right into. I highly recommend checking out this author if you haven’t already.

4****

[Julie G · Rating 5 out of 5]

My 12-year-old demanded five stars for this one.

(I told the girls that they could rate all of our middle grades reads—they're the intended audience, after all).

Still, I scrunched up my face in protest.

“Five stars, Mom!”

I rolled my eyes. “It was too stagey. Screamed 'I want a movie deal!' It was not as good as The Tiger Rising or Because of Winn Dixie, and you know it.”

My daughter stared me down. “You said I get to rate them.”

We circled each other, not losing sight of each other's faces.

“Five stars, Mom! It made me laugh. Tell all your friends who write for my age that we're sick and tired of all these serious books.”

I conceded: “Five stars.”

But added, “I get to write whatever I want in my review, though.”

Funny, but stagey.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have a feeling this will be one of those books that will grow in fondness the more that time passes, but as of right now, I'm feeling kind of "meh" about it. I liked the characters of Raymie, Beverly, and Louisiana, but something in the story felt lacking to me.

[Kelly (and the Book Boar) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Find all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/

Y’all might as well just leave this space and go read Alissa’s review because she’s the only reason I even heard of Raymie Nightingale in the first place. I don’t read a lot of middle-grade stuff – mainly because my kids have pretty much outgrown it – so I have no clue how to find the good ones. That’s what Goodreads is for! The story here is of three little girls who meet at baton twirling lessons they are taking in order to compete in the Little Miss Central Florida Tire pageant. Each are there for a different reason: one just knows if she wins, her daddy will come back home; one needs to win in order to keep herself out of the county home; and the other plans to sabotage the whole shebang. The end result is a tale of three little girls learning some hard truths about how the world operates, but told with tact while wearing kid gloves as to not scare the bejesus out of young readers.

Alissa said this reminded her of Little Miss Sunshine, which I know I saw but don’t remember much of. (Wasn’t that the one where Steve Carell wants to kill himself??? Maybe not. I do have old lady brains.) It reminded me of what might have happened in this story . . . .



If less time would have been focused on Sandra Bullock banging Harry Connick, Jr. (not that there’s anything wrong with that), and more time spent with Bernice. Hey Erica, do you know who played little Bernice????



The girl who starred in The D.U.F.F. (YOUR FAVORITE!!!!) when she got older : )

[Carolyn Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every page was a delight!
Kate DiCamillo is one of those writes who feels more like a close friend to me than anything else. We’ve been friends since I first read Because of Winn Dixie when I was very young! Sometimes the greatest friendships are with people who may not know you exist, or who don’t exist at all. Correction, they don’t exist in our world, but in our hearts!

[Josu Diamond · Rating 3 out of 5]

¡Gracias, Raymie, por sacarme de mi parón lector!

Resulta que El verano de Raymie Nightingale llevaba pendiente desde antes de que saliera a la venta, pero por unas razones u otras, nunca era el momento. Pero miré a la estantería y cogí el primer libro que mi corazón me pidió para el momento, y gracias, porque me ha salvado del parón lector.

No ha sido especialmente un libro que me haya marcado, pero sí que lo guardaré con cariño debido a las protagonistas: Louisiana, Raymie y Beverly. Su manera de conectar, de hablar entre ellas, sus locas aventuras... Son tan inocentes pero al mismo tiempo tan reales. Me encantan los libros que presentan la versión del mundo que tienen los más pequeños, es muy enternecedor.

Como digo, lo más destacable son las protagonistas, pero le acompaña la escritura de Kate DiCamillo, que es delicada y muy, muy bonita. Me gusta cómo te cuenta las cosas tal y como Raymie las ve, sin entrar en detalles, tal y cómo pasan. Es muy gracioso ver la información que se va dando: la que Raymie cree necesaria.

En general, una novela recomendada para una tarde agradable. Se lee enseguida y te saca más de una sonrisa, ¡me ha gustado, sí!

[Panda Incognito · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm glad I read this book, not because I liked it or learned anything, but because it vindicates my childhood dislike of juvenile "literary" novels. An odd jumble of ideas barely grounded in reality, this book attempts to be poetic and meaningful but twists in on itself to become a vague, pointless mess. I have enjoyed Kate DiCamillo's work in the past and respect her as an author, but this book was too vague and strange to satisfy me.

The characters had potential, but there was hardly any plot development - the whole book was carried through on the strength of the premise, which I found rather weak and unappealing. If the premise interests you, you may be one of the vast majority who finds this book is delightful, but otherwise, you can pass. There is no compelling plot, crucial story elements are vague and unexplained, and the prose is chock-full of repetitive, meaningless ideas and leitmotifs. If you want to read a novel about someone who stretches/curls her toes on almost every page and constantly relates surrounding events to the imagined size, brightness, or weight of her soul, that's okay, but I found it wearying and almost laughable. Other DiCamillo books employ literary devices in a beautiful, understated way where you only identify them if you are reading analytically, but here, even though she used many of the same techniques, instead of creating a well-rounded and deep story, the literary devices made the novel seem self-conscious and contrived. I am glad that this book has brought joy into other people's lives, but it only brought me an opportunity for analysis and criticism.

[Betsy · Rating 5 out of 5]

My relationship to Kate DiCamillo’s books is one built entirely on meaning. Which is to say, the less emotional and meaningful they are, the better I like ‘em. Spaghetti loving horses and girls that live in tree houses? Right up my alley! China rabbits and mice with excessive earlobes? Not my cup of tea. It’s good as a reviewer to know your own shortcomings and I just sort of figured that I’d avoid DiCamillo books when they looked deep and insightful. And when the cover forRaymie Nightingale was released it was easily summarized in one word: Meaningful. A girl, seen from behind, stands ankle-deep in water holding a single baton. Still, I’ve had a good run of luck with DiCamillo as of late and I was willing to push it. I polled my friends who had read the book. The poor souls had to answer the impossible question, “Will I like it?” but they shouldered the burden bravely. Yes, they said. I would like it. I read it. And you know what? I do like it! It is, without a doubt, one of the saddest books I’ve ever read, but I like it a lot. I like the wordplay, the characters, and the setting. I like what the book has to say about friendship and being honest with yourself and others. I like the ending very very much indeed (it has a killer climax that I feel like I should have seen coming, but didn’t). I do think it’s a different kind of DiCamillo book than folks are used to. It’s her style, no bones about it, but coming from a deeper place than her books have in the past. In any case, it’s a keeper. Meaning plus pep.

Maybe it isn’t much of a plan, but don’t tell Raymie that. So far she thinks she has it all figured out. Since her father skipped town with that dental hygienist, things haven’t been right in Raymie’s world. The best thing to do would be to get her father back, so she comes up with what surely must be a sure-fire plan. She’ll just learn how to throw a baton, enter the Little Miss Central Florida Tire competition, win, and when her father sees her picture in the paper he’ll come on home and all will be well. Trouble (or deliverance) comes in the form of Louisiana and Beverly, the two other girls who are taking this class with Ida Nee (the baton-twirling instructor). Unexpectedly, the three girls become friends and set about to solve one another’s problems. Whether it’s retrieving library books from scary nursing home rooms, saving cats, or even lives, these three rancheros have each other’s backs just when they need them most.

DiCamillo has grown as an author over the years. So much so that when she begins Raymie Nightingale she dives right into the story. She’s trusting her child readers to not only stick with what she’s putting down, but to decipher it as well. As a result, some of them are going to experience some confusion right at the tale’s beginning. A strange girl seemingly faints, moaning about betrayal in front of a high-strung baton instructor. Our heroine stands impressed and almost envious. Then we learn about Raymie’s father and the whole enterprise takes a little while to coalesce. It’s a gutsy choice. I suspect that debut authors in general would eschew beginning their books in this way. A pity, since it grabs your attention by an act of simple befuddlement.

Initial befuddlement isn’t enough to keep you going, though. You need a hook to sustain you. And in a book like this, you find that the characters are what stay with you the longest. Raymie in particular. It isn’t just about identification. The kid reading this book is going to impress on Raymie like baby birds impress on sock puppet mamas. She’s like Fone Bone in Jeff Smith’s series. She’s simultaneously a mere outline of a character and a fully fleshed out human being. Still, she’s an avatar for readers. We see things through her rather than with her. And sure, her name is also the title, but names are almost always titles for Kate DiCamillo (exceptions being The Magician’s Elephant, Tiger Rising, and that Christmas picture book, of course). If you’re anything like me, you’re willing to follow the characters into absurdity and back. When Beverly says of her mother that, “Now she’s just someone who works in the Belknap Tower gift shop selling canned sunshine and rubber alligators” you go with it. You don’t even blink. The setting is almost a character as well. I suspect DiCamillo’s been away from Florida too long. Not in her travels, but in her books. Children’s authors that willingly choose to set their books in the Sunshine State do so for very personal reasons. DiCamillo’s Florida is vastly different from that of Carl Hiaasen’s, for example. It’s a Florida where class exists and is something that permeates everything. Few authors dare to consider lower or lower middle classes, but it's one of the things I've always respected about DiCamillo in general.

Whenever I write a review for a book I play around with the different paragraphs. Should I mention that the book is sad at the beginning of the review or at the end? Where do I put my theory about historical fiction? Should character development be after the plot description paragraph or further in? But when it comes to those written lines I really liked in a book, that kind of stuff shouldn’t have to wait. For example, I adore the lines, “There was something scary about watching an adult sleep. It was as if no one at all were in charge of the world.” DiCamillo excels in the most peculiar of details. One particular favorite was the small paper cups with red riddles on their sides. The Elephantes got them for free because they were misprinted without answers. It’s my secret hope that when DiCamillo does school visits for this book she’ll ask the kids in the audience what the answer to the riddle, “What has three legs, no arms, and reads the paper all day long?” might be. It's her version of "Why is a raven like a writing desk?"

Now let us discuss a genre: Historical fiction. One question. Why? Not “Why does it exist?” but rather “Why should any novel for kids be historical?” The easy answer is that when you write historical fiction you have built in, legitimate drama. The waters rise during Hurricane Katrina or San Francisco’s on fire. But this idea doesn’t apply to small, quiet novels like Raymie Nightingale. Set in the summer of 1975, there are only the barest of nods to the time period. Sometimes authors do this when the book is semi-autobiographical, as with Jenni Holm’s Sunny Side Up. Since this novel is set in Central Florida and DiCamillo grew up there, there’s a chance that she’s using the setting to draw inspiration for the tale. The third reason authors sometimes set books in the past is that it frees them up from the restrictions of the internet and cell phone (a.k.a. guaranteed plot killers). Yet nothing that happens in Raymie Nightingale requires that cell phones remain a thing of the past. The internet is different. Would that all novels could do away with it. Still, in the end I’m not sure that this book necessarily had to be historical. It’s perfectly fine. A decent time period to exist in. Just not particularly required one way or another.

Obviously the book this feels like at first is Because of Winn-Dixie. Girl from a single parent home finds friendship and (later rather than sooner, in the case of Raymie Nightingale) an incredibly ugly dog. But what surprised me about Raymie was that this really felt more like Winn-Dixie drenched in sadness. Sadness is important to DiCamillo. As an author, she’s best able to draw out her characters and their wants if there’s something lost inside of them that needs to be found. In this case, it’s Raymie’s father, the schmuck who took off with his dental hygienist. Of course all the characters are sad in different ways here. About the time you run across the sinkhole (the saddest of all watery bodies) on page 235 you’re used to it.

Sure, there are parts of the book I could live without. The parts about Raymie’s soul are superfluous. The storyline of Isabelle and the nursing home isn’t really resolved. On the flip side, there are lots of other elements within these pages that strike me as fascinating, like for example why the only men in the book are Raymie’s absent father, an absent swimming coach, a librarian, and a janitor. Now when I was a child I avoided sad children’s books like the plague. You know what won the Newbery in the year that I was born? Bridge to Terabithia. And to this day I eschew them at all costs. But though this book is awash in personal tragedies, it’s not a downer. It’s tightly written and full of droll lines and, yes I admit it. It’s meaningful. But the meaning you cull from this book is going to be different for every single reader. Whip smart and infinitely readable, this is DiCamillo at her best. Time to give it a go, folks.

For ages 9-12.

[Cheri · Rating 4 out of 5]

”Did her father think about her?
“What if he had already forgotten her?”

Raymie has a plan to get her father to come home. She decides to enter the Little Miss Central Florida Tire contest, and when she wins her picture will appear in the paper and her father will suddenly realize how important his family is to him, leave the dental hygienist he’s run off with, and come home.

Also on a quest to win the same glorious contest are Louisiana Elefante and Beverly Tapinksi, but only Louisiana comes from a line of circus performers, and she hopes that will give her the edge she needs to win, and then her life will return to normal.

”There was something scary about watching an adult sleep. It was as if no one at all were in charge of the world.”

As these girls become a trio, exploring together, training together, searching for missing cats together, and sharing their innermost hopes and dreams, they bond as the “Three Rancheros,” an unbreakable bond.

”She flexed her toes again.
“She could feel her soul. It was a tiny little spark somewhere deep inside of her.
“It was glowing.”

A lovely story that explores the life-long bonds we form as children, the strength that is born from these bonds among these young girls that will remain throughout their lives.



Many thanks to the Public Library system, and the many Librarians that manage, organize and keep it running, for the loan of this book!

[Rachel L · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

A cute little middle grade book about three unlikely friends and all the shenanigans they get into together.

[Lisa Vegan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read a Kindle edition e-book borrowed from my public library.

This *might* have been a hit with me when I was 8 or 7.

I was surprised that Raymie was 10. The book seems “younger” and the sort I’d have read at age 8, maybe 7 or 9, on my own. Not older. For my taste right now it was too naïve and too simple a story.

I like that this is about three girls, told from the viewpoint of Raymie, and it looks as though there are two companion books/sequels from the points of view of Louisiana and of Beverly. I’m slightly intrigued and perhaps might even read the other two book at some point.

I got a kick out of this quote/in context: “Raymie thought how nice name tags were. She wished that everyone in the world wore them.”

I did appreciate how a friendship between three girls was shown, sort of, and how genuine feelings about real issues the girls were experiencing were shown, sort of. There wasn’t enough there for me though and it was way too predictable and unrealistic. There were some rather horrifying parts too and I found that weird given that I think this is aimed at a young audience, younger than most middle grade books.

2-1/2 stars, rounded up. I think I’d have liked it more if I’d read it at the target age AND my mood is such that my experience of it might have been less satisfying than it would have been had I been in a different frame of mine AND I seem to be in the minority of not really liking or even loving the book. It was okay and I did like it. I’m also glad it was a really, really fast read and I didn’t have to spend much time reading it.

[Shari (Shira) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know what's happening here. Everyone LOVES this book, but I do not. "Shari Frost Roth Does Not Love Raymie Nightingale." It is really sad, in spite of the ending. Three girls from broken homes who are hurting and dealing with real problems like hunger and child abuse find each other one summer. There are some loose ends such as the janitor at the nursing home and the canary. I found the repetition tedious and annoying. Writer's craft? RAYMIE NIGHTINGALE is on everyone's short list for the Newbery, but I am not feeling it.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not crying, you're crying

[Dest · Rating 3 out of 5]

I know this is going to be a minority opinion, but I found this a little boring. My expectations were really high, so I was surprised it took me so long to read. I didn't feel a lot of motivation to go back to it when I put it down. Maybe because there wasn't much of a plot and the whole thing felt pretty bleak. I felt really bad for Raymie, Louisiana, and Beverly. Each girl is deeply troubled by her family situation and each is dealing with it in her own way (Raymie trying to win the pageant to get her father's attention, Beverly wanting to sabotage the pageant to work through her anger, and Louisisana fixating on getting her cat Archie back).

I'll also say the whole thing felt a little weird to me, which is to say at the end of the book a lot of motifs still felt random. So much toe flexing. So much soul shrinking and growing. So much quirkiness from the Elefantes. And there were so many older ladies with some sort of significance - Ida Nee, Mrs. Sylvester, Mrs. Borkowski, Ruthie, Florence Nightingale, Isabelle, Alice Nebbley, Clara Wingtip. They all represent something to Raymie, but it was a bit of jumble. Especially in a book for young readers. My book club kids often express frustration when they can't keep all the characters straight and that's how I felt reading this book.

And, this is a finicky thing, but a student would not refer to her school librarian by their first name. Edward Option was confused in my head with Edgar the lifesaving dummy. It's not a big deal, but this is just another way the book felt like a jumble to me.

I keep saying the word jumble. I guess that's how I feel about this book. I suppose I will need to read it again before I really make my mind up about it. I always admire DiCamillo's craftsmanship as a writer. I just didn't hook into this story and these characters.

[Puck · Rating 4 out of 5]

What do you do when your father has run off with a dental hygienst? You try to get into the newspaper.

At least, that is Raymie’s plan. If she wins the Little Miss Central Florida Tire contest, her father must realise what he’s missing and come home.
Only problem – or, actually two – is that one: she needs to twirl a baton to win (and she doesn’t know how), and two: Raymie isn’t the only one competing.

Together with circus-child Lousiana Elefante and tough Beverly Tapinksi, we follow Raymie as she tries to become Little Miss Florida. Raymie I wanted to hug from the start, but I quickly fell in love with all three of the girls (although cynical Beverly is my favorite).
The strenght of this middle-grade book lies in, despite being grounded in (harsh) reality, the tone that never becomes tragic. The whole book is filled with a sense of warm love as the three girls go on adventures and become the Three Rancheros.

And while Raymie searches for a missing cat, or steals a price-winning baton to prove a strict mother wrong, we get to wonder: are problems so easily solved? Can fathers return if you get into the newspaper?
Kate Dicamillo keeps things real, but so is the power of female friendship.

Raymie Nightingale is a wonderful and thoughtful story that I read in a day, and stayed with me the whole week. What a unexpected gift.

[Monica Edinger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not to worry --- no spoilers here. Just an excerpt from this blog post of mine, giving a sense of what is in store.

In Raymie Nightingale out this April, this uniquely talented writer has returned to her roots, to the Florida of her childhood, centering on an imagined small town that feels just down the road from the one in Because of Winn-Dixie It is the summer of 1975 and Raymie Clarke’s father is gone, run off with a dental hygienist. Now Raymie is at Ida Nee’s to learn how to twirl a baton so perfectly that she can win the Little Miss Central Florida Tire competition and get her photo in the paper for her father to see, wherever he is. Also at Ida Nee’s are Louisiana Elefante who has swooning tendencies and rough and tough Beverly Tapinski. Over the course of this gorgeous spare novel, as the competition draws near, these girls — each with fears and pains of her own — become unlikely friends.

In tight chapters that are sometimes barely three pages, crisp paragraphs (DiCamillo is the master of the one sentence paragraph), and elegantly crafted sentences, Raymie Nightingale is a book to savor, to read and re-read. Fans will recognize DeCamillo’s unique wry voice as it gives readers vivid images, dizzying ideas, humor, heart-wrenching emotions,and gorgeous, gorgeous language. You all have something to look forward to this April, I promise.

[Theresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Usually I'm a sucker for a sweet and heartwarming middle grade novel, but unfortunately, "Raymie Nightingale" by Kate DiCamillo left me feeling frustrated more than anything. I really liked Raymie, (she's such a sensitive but highly misguided child) but the problem I had was the writing. I found it very repetitive. Every previous chapter was rehashed and explained more than it needed to be. Also, this novel felt very foolish and condescending. I didn't find Raymie's new baton-twirling friends, Louisiana and Beverly very believable. Those poor little girls were so cliché-ridden. Eh. The plot was interesting but it surprisingly got lost and ignored halfway through. I know this story is important to DiCamillo because it's loosely based on her childhood, but I just didn't feel the heart and emotion seeping through her prose. Everything just felt bland and awkward. Too bad because this book showed so much promise in the beginning. It's a mixed bag for me.

[Liza Fireman · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am a big fan of Kate DiCamillo. I would have never imagine that I would claim that a book of hers is plain boring, but I guess there is a first time for everything. This one was a real disappointment for me.

The plot was the main thing that was lacking. Each one of the girls (Raymie, Louisiana, and Beverly) had something going on in their lives, coming from a broken home. With Raymie, the main character, trying to get her father's attention, and hopefully her father back. The book was very confusing, and it is a big problem when the target audience is MG. It felt like random things were entered to cover up for the lack of basic plot, and the result is not great.

A jumble of a book, and too many big issues and way too much pondering. Very sad 2 stars for the one and only Kate DiCamillo. Go read the amazing The Tale of Despereaux instead.

[Alissa Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so stinking cute. In a weird way. If you liked the movie Little Miss Sunshine, you would like this.

It's about 3 girls who are taking baton twirling lessons in order to compete in the Little Miss Central Florida Tire competition in 1975. The girls are so completely different- Raymie is just in the contest hoping to win so that she can get her picture in the paper- hoping her father , who left her and her mom for a dental hygienist, will see it and decide to come home. Louisiana (my FAVORITE) is basically a nicer Honey Boo Boo. Shes a beauty pageant princess who is unbelievably stupid and naive but she is just so sweet and hopeful. I just loved her. Then there's Beverly. Oh gosh. She was amazing. She hates the world and hates her life and is only taking lessons so that she can enter and sabotage the entire thing. She is a dark cynical one and the exchanges between her and Louisiana were just gold.

This book is about batons and families and angry old ladies yelling at the nursing home and bunnies and runaway cats and crazy grandmas. It was so weird. It was amazing. Try this!!

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

How does she DO that??? Those three girls are going to stay with me a long time.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was given this as a gift at a school I spoke at recently, because it was the librarian's favorite book from 2016, and I have to say: I can see why! (Also, giving a book to an author is a GREAT IDEA. We LOVE books! She also gave me chocolates! Another great idea!)

RAYMIE NIGHTINGALE is what I think of as "classic DiCamillo." It reminded me very much of THE TIGER RISING or BECAUSE OF WINN-DIXIE. A simple story, packed with complex characters, told with clarity. A bit sad, a bit funny, a bit happy as well. I can see this winning awards, and deservedly so. I have talked this year about books that I consider "librarian books" that really seem to be written for grown ups, but this truly is a book that could be enjoyed by all ages.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfection.

[Linda Hart · Rating 4 out of 5]

cute story, easy read, with a few very good morals to the story.

[Schizanthus Nerd · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Have you ever in your life come to realize that everything, absolutely everything, depends on you?”

Raymie is learning how to twirl a baton. If she can master that, then surely she’ll be crowned Little Miss Central Florida Tire 1975. Then her father will see her photograph in the newspaper and come back home. See, he ran off with Lee Ann, the dental hygienist, two days ago.

Louisiana also plans to win the contest. Beverly plans to sabotage it. These three unlikely friends meet during one of Ida Nee’s baton-twirling lessons and quickly become the Three Rancheros.

Raymie is sad, Louisiana is scared and Beverly is angry. Together they face fears and painful truths, supporting one another along the way. They also search for Archie, the King of the Cats, and meet a one eyed dog named Buddy, not Bunny.

I really liked the supporting characters in this book, especially Mrs Sylvester, who has the best work phone banter ever (“How may we protect you?”), and Mrs Borkowski, who asks great questions and whose catchphrase seems to be “Phhhhtttt.”

“And I wonder what will become of us. Don’t you wonder what will become of us?”

I was left needing more information about Louisiana and Beverly, so thankfully they have their own books. I would have been so disappointed if the Three Rancheros’ story ended here, when I have so many unanswered questions. Now I need to revisit Louisiana’s story (yes, I read the second book first!) before I find out more about Beverly, who I suspect may wind up being my favourite Ranchero.

Content warnings include physical abuse, neglect, death, loss and abandonment.

[Barb Middleton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my first pick of a Newbery contender book for 2017. Kate DiCamillo's crafting of stories is brilliant and this one will not disappoint fans. Here is a tale where each reader will take away different meanings from themes, symbols, and motifs. This is more fairy tale than anything else with its terse chapters and familiar tropes, but it is also a mixture of historical fiction and adventure; a story that shows how the female characters (both young and old) suffer and are wounded from loss, poverty, abuse, and abandonment in everyday life. These characters need a Florence Nightingale in their life, founder of the nursing profession, and the book protagonist, Raymie Clarke, decides to read to old people in a nursing home. Florence Nightingale walked the battlefields with a lantern looking for the wounded during the Crimean war; the children in DiCamillo's story need a light in the darkness as well, to heal their wounds suffered from abandonment. Better yet, they have to find the light or reason for their existence within themselves. Raymie searches for it and finds that she is stronger than she thinks and that she can rescue others and herself, even if her prince (aka dad) isn't coming home in this fairy tale. The three young girls choose to bond with each other and find happiness in their new friendship. This story is full of hope, healing, and sadness.

Ten-year-old Raymie Nightingale has a plan. She is going to enter the Little Miss Central Florida Tire contest because her dad has just run off with a dental hygienist. Her plan is to win and once her dad sees her picture in the paper, he will miss her and come home to her and her mother. He is such a "skunk," he even left without saying goodbye. Not that Raymie acknowledges this. Her inner monologue is innocent and shows a young person that doesn't quite have life's experiences nor the vocabulary to express how she feels. Her understanding is always just out of reach and with each adventure she has with her new friends she steps closer to self-understanding. To enter the contest, Raymie needs a talent as well as perform good deeds which leads her on some crazy adventures with her two friends, Louisiana and Beverly.

*Spoiler alert*

Raymie meets Louisiana and Beverly at baton-twirling lessons. All three are entering the contest and need a skill, except Beverly's mom made her enter the contest even though she didn't want to, which makes Beverly one angry swan, hissing and lashing out at everyone around her and determined to "sabotage" the contest. Louisiana is malnourished from living in poverty and has "swampy lungs". She's afraid of ending up in a foster home as her Granny doesn't have an income. She's hungry all the time and faints before the first lesson even starts. Beverly slaps Louisiana because that is "what you do" with people who have fainted. The adults in Beverly's life use physical force to make her do what they want and she feels angry at their abuse. Later when Raymie learns her mom punched Beverly in the face for shoplifting, Beverly explains she is going to live on her own and take care of herself. The adults have failed her in her life. Her dad left and her mom is angry at working in a low level job and having to raise her daughter by herself. Beverly's lonely and tough, but she shows a compassionate side when she holds Alice Nebbly's hand in the nursing home when Raymie and Lousiana are afraid of the screaming old lady. Raymie admires Beverly's fearlessness. Beverly's strong personality shows her fighting for control in her life by stealing, sabotaging, and lashing at adult authority. She admires Bonnie and Clyde, probably the most romanticized outlaws in history, and wants to be a criminal like them.

While this is set in 1975, it is more of a fairy tale than historical fiction. The few historical facts create enough background such as Ida Nee's green shag rug, batons, a wood-paneled station wagon, and references to Looney Tunes , Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Gunsmoke, and the Flying Wallendas. I would argue the story is more like a fairy tale than a historical fiction novel. In Jack Zipes, The Original First Edition of the Brothers Grimm, he exposes common themes in fairy tales such as kings who often renege on their promises and exploit children, authoritative people who abuse their power over common people, or children who are brutally treated or abandoned, to name just a few. Fairy tales show the socioeconomic context of the common folk who have little or no control over those in more powerful positions. The fairy tale is a way to point out injustices by poor leaders and try to create change. The transformative power of the fairy tale has evolved over the years reflecting issues in society today. Kate DiCamillo reflects this with the focus on divorce and abandonment and the lack of voice children have with adults due to not being able to express themselves or as in Beverly's case unable to stop the abuse.

Fairy tale characters tend to be innocent or simple-minded, but are actually quite smart - similar to Raymie. They are aided by either magic from objects or people in their pursuit of justice and happiness. Mrs. Sylvester is like a fairy godmother as Raymie seeks her out when she needs protection and comfort. Her candy corn jar is like a magic wand, because in her own words, Mrs Sylvester likes to feed people and the swans by the lake. In the Brothers Grimm's, "The Six Swans," there are six brothers that are changed into swans by a wicked stepmother. They are rescued by their sister who can't speak and must knit them magical shirts to break the curse and return them to their human form. Raymie describes Mrs. Sylvester as standing in the middle of the swans with a "...big bag of swan food in her arms, she looked like something out of a fairy tale. Raymie wasn't sure which fairy tale. Maybe it was a fairy tale that hadn't been told yet." Kate DiCamillo is creating her own fantastic fairy tale with Mrs. Sylvester as someone who feeds the hungry and abandoned such as Raymie and her two friends. When Raymie asks her about her dad leaving with another woman, Mrs. Sylvester says that she believes "most things work out right in the end." She believes in fairy tale endings and suggests Raymie can choose her own happy ending.

Raymie can't go to her mom to discuss her dad leaving because her mom is depressed and can only focus on herself; hence, Raymie seeks out Mrs Sylvester. Raymie's mom is not presented as a villain, just a person completely derailed by her husband leaving her. Raymie has become invisible to her mom who is self-absorbed with her own suffering, just like the old people are presented as invisible in this story. Mrs. Sylvester is also compared to the cat, Sylvester, in the i>Looney Tunes cartoon but her voice sounds like the big yellow canary named, Tweety Bird. She's like a hybrid cartoon. The cat, Sylvester, in the cartoon tries to eat Tweety Bird, but obstacles always prevent him. Sylvester the cat is always on the losing side, just like Mrs. Sylvester who still works for Raymie's dad. Like a good fairy godmother, Mrs. Sylvester not only comforts and feeds but it is she who suggests Raymie read to residents at a nursing home to fulfill the good deed requirement on the contest application.

Fairy tale references are scattered like dust throughout the story, not to mention the style with its short, terse chapters and lack of background detail. Fairy tales jump right into the story and that's exactly how this starts making the reader puzzle out the beginning. Louisiana refers to the contest money, "...There's one thousand nine hundred and seventy-five dollars to win. ...That's a king's ransom."And when she tells Raymie her secret about Archie she begins, "Once upon a time..." Raymie thinks Isabelle looks like a "fairy godmother" and describes Alice Nebbly's scream as sounding like a troll from the Three Billy Goats Gruff. Louisiana thinks Ida Nee looks like a sleeping princess in a fairy tale. She reads Florence Nightingale by slamming the book shut and opening it anywhere. She makes up her own stories. The girls can write their own ending. She calls the lantern a "magic globe" like a fairy tale. Raymie ponders wishes in fairy tales and how they don't turn out right. "Wishes were dangerous things" and she thinks Beverly is smart to not wish. Beverly doesn't want to get her hopes up only to be let down later.

Motifs from Hans Christian Andersen's, "The Nightingale," are throughout the story as well. The fairy tale is about a nightingale that sings in an amazing voice for an emperor but is replaced by an automaton. When the mechanical bird breaks the emperor becomes deathly ill. So ill, that Death stands in his room. The nightingale returns and sings of hope and trust driving Death away. All the girls are filled with joy when they hear the janitor's bird sing just like anyone that hears the nightingale in Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale. Louisiana is determined to free the janitor's bird because it is trapped in a cage and she wants it to be free. The symbolism of cages as a form of oppression whether they are self-made or imposed by an outside force is common in literature and here it adds depth to the characters predicament. Much of the story is about rescuing people. Just like Florence Nightingale rescued wounded soldiers, Louisiana rescues animals, Beverly rescues Alice, and Raymie rescues Louisiana, and their friendship saves all three.

Louisiana makes up words and stories. In Jack Zipes, "The Irresistible Fairy Tale," he explores the history of fairy tales and how they created an alternate world for the common people. A world where a person living in poverty could become a king through magic and wit. They would rule with justice and find happiness in life. Louisiana lives in an alternate world where she makes up stories as a way of dealing with her constant hunger. When she changes Raymie's last name to "Nightingale," she is implying that she can shine a light. Louisiana is always positive and adds humor to the story. The only time she loses it is when Beverly is being hit by Ida Nee with a baton and she can't rescue her cat who she feels she betrayed. Louisiana is like the nightingale bird. She has an incredible singing voice that stuns Beverly and Raymie when they first hear it. They tell her to skip the baton and sing in the contest. Not only does Louisiana sing of hope and trust like the Nightingale did to the emperor she wins the contest and has driven off Hunger or Death.

Ida Nee is described as a mermaid, mirroring the Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Mermaid," who gives up her identity to be with a prince. But the prince rejects the mermaid and she is abandoned. Ida Nee doesn't seem to know her identity in the world as she keeps trophies with other people's names on them and is a nasty person. She wanted to be a champion baton-twirler, but lost out to Beverly's mom. She keeps trophie's in her house, she even has the championship one that Beverly's mom won. Ida Nee (reminds me of Ida Lee Nagger from the TV show, Hee-Haw) lives in the past and cares more about her baton than people.

Ida Nee supposedly teaches the girls three lessons, only she never teaches them. She walked away when Louisiana fainted calling it "nonsense", hit Beverly on the head with her baton for chewing gum, and slept through the last lesson. Again, in fairy tales the stories often have three lessons or trials that the character has to go through before justice is served or the curse broken. In this case, Beverly serves justice by breaking into Ida Nee's home and stealing her baton. She's getting back at Ida Nee for her abuse. The baton is accidentally left at Mrs. Sylvester's office and the end shows Ida Nee at the contest holding it and glaring at the girls. She obviously got it back and has not changed while Beverly seems to have put her mistreatment behind her in wake of her new friendship.

The theme and imagery of abandonment is well crafted. Louisiana tells Rayme about her guilt over getting rid of her cat. She uses the word, "betrayal" that Raymie ponders and repeats over and over in her head. She feels betrayed by her dad that abandoned her. Just like Raymie, the old people are presented as invisible and abandoned in the nursing home. Louisiana's grandma is so short Raymie thinks that she looks invisible. Isabelle in the nursing home is confined to a wheel chair and cannot move any more. She is angry and tells Raymie it is important to keep moving. She asks her to push her wheelchair faster and faster. Isabelle has no voice and can't get the music changed that the janitor plays at the nursing home - she has Raymie write a complaint letter, but nothing changes. She's invisible.

Abandonment is compared to hunger. The lake is described as hungry, angry, ominous, glittering, murky. A woman drown herself in the lake during the Civil War because she thought her husband had been killed or abandoned her by dying. He showed up the day after she killed herself and Raymie wonders how long does a person have to wait and when should he or she stop? She is dealing with her dad leaving and contemplating how long she should hope for him to come back. By the end it seems she's decided to move on, especially after the silent phone call.

Characters don't tell but show. When Raymie tells Beverly that her father left, Beverly violently beats her baton into the ground. Raymie doesn't know that the same thing happened to Beverly. Beverly's mother seems to live in the past and doesn't know how to discipline her daughter. She has a tug-of-war with her daughter over her baton, punches her when she steals, and wonders aloud why she has to do everything. She's still angry about her husband leaving her and discouraged by a dead end job. Abandonment can cripple the soul - another motif. Raymie discusses her feelings as "her soul" either expands in joy or disappears becoming invisible. Mrs. Borkowski tells Raymie that most people waste their souls and most of the adults in this story fit into that category. She tells Raymie about an evil seabird that suggests bad things happen to people. That's life. Deal with it. But she also tells her if she is in a deep dark hole and looks up at the sky she can see stars in the middle of the day. She's telling her to not lose hope.

The pain of abandonment on the characters is shown through divorce, death, or not saying "goodbye." Raymie makes a point of noticing that her swim teacher said goodbye but her dad didn't. She feels betrayed by him. As she repeats the word over and over she applies it to different people and situations. Beverly leaves baton-twirling lessons and says she'll never see Raymie again. Raymie thinks, "For some reason, these words felt like a punch to the stomach. They felt like someone sneaking down a hallway in the middle of the night carrying their shoes in their hand - leaving without saying good-bye." Raymie's dad left without saying goodbye. In contrast, Raymie's Lifesaving coach from the previous summer, Mr. Staphopolous, doesn't ask questions that have no answers but is a problem solver. He did say goodbye to her when he moved away. Raymie thinks of him throughout by "flexing her toes" and "making a plan." She's trying to solve this problem of feeling abandoned.

Raymie sees Mrs. Borkowski return the Louisiana's cat in a dream where the hallway looked like a "Bright and shining path" from the Florence Nightingale book. Or is it a dream? Instead the fairy tale element truly comes to fruition as Louisiana says she was lost and now found by her cat. Hope replaces abandonment through friendship and love. Beverly decides not to sabotage the contest showing how their friendship has changed her and Raymie. Up to this point all Beverly has wanted to do is "Get the heck out of Dodge," a phrase from the TV western, Gunsmoke. When Louisiana sings, "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head," from the movie, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid another romanticized tale about robbers and criminals that die in a shoot-out, the threesomes escapades as they flee authoritative figures and the confines of society, adds excitement. Granny drives a broken station wagon with a door that won't close as the group flees baton-twirling lessons like a bunch of gangsters on the lam. Louisiana and Granny turn it into a fairy tale when they are fleeing saying "Marsha Jean is the ghost of what's to come" driving fast and not stopping at any signs or lights. Later when Granny steals food from the funeral table the image of robbers from the wild west takes on a different meaning. Granny asks Raymie and Beverly to protect Louisiana. She knows that she is old and won't always be there. The three girls bond of friendship deepens with each adventure.

Ironically, Raymie gets her picture in the paper that makes her dad call the hospital. Neither of them talk and it shows the father's complete abandonment and how Raymie can't make him come home. Instead she must choose what she wants to do with her life. She wonders why does the world exist and as she is rescuing Louisiana, she seems to realize that she is strong and needs to make sense of her place in it regardless of whether or not her father is a part of it.

At the Very Friendly Animal Shelter, Louisiana rescues a dog that has been so abused the girls are not sure if it is a dog or cat. Yet it still wags its tail at the girls showing that even animals have hope to be loved and treated well. Louisiana names it Bunny because bunny's bring good luck. I used to carry around a rabbit's foot when I was growing up in the 70's. Another clever twist by the author. Louisiana also wears bunny barrettes because she says they bring her luck. Raymie sees the barrettes when she dives into Swip Pond as Louisiana sinks and they are one reason her life is saved. The swans are by the pond as well, like in a fairy tale. Kate DiCamillo has created an original fairy tale that has so many layers and meanings that I can't write about it all. Although I seem to be trying. Don't miss this winner!

[La Coccinelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I guess it had to happen sometime: I read a book by Kate DiCamillo that I didn't absolutely love.

Now, there's nothing wrong with this book, per se. It just didn't click with me. Part of that may be to do with the fact that what's in the book doesn't really match the synopsis. I thought this would be a story about three girls competing in a contest. It's actually not. That's how it starts out, and the contest provides the context in which the girls meet, but the actual plot revolves around rescuing Louisiana's cat from the Very Friendly Animal Center (which is exactly what you might be thinking it is).

The book is very character driven, which is a good thing. I was actually going to read Louisiana's Way Home first, because I didn't realize that this book actually introduces that character. I saw a reviewer say they wish they'd read Raymie Nightingale before they read the companion book, so I figured I'd do that. The characters of the three girls are all drawn very well; they're very distinct and come alive on the page with DiCamillo's trademark precociousness and charm. At times, though, I felt the girls weren't quite acting their age. Raymie sometimes lapsed into sounding too much like an adult, and Louisiana was the opposite (I occasionally had to remind myself that she was not in kindergarten).

Once the plot really got going, with a nighttime rescue mission that involved a shopping cart, a smelly dog, a swan, and a sinkhole, I was pretty engaged (even though I did have to suspend a bit of disbelief that these little girls were wandering around town in the middle of the night on their own; it was 1975, but still). Everything tied up neatly in the end. Perhaps a little too neatly. I just can't shake the feeling that I didn't... well, have any feelings to shake. (The last book I read by this author was The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, which was the best book I've read all year. It almost made me cry, which books so rarely do. Raymie Nightingale had a lot to live up to.)

As I said at the beginning, this isn't a bad book. Not at all. It might appeal more to middle graders, or to readers who enjoy really character-driven stories that might be light on plot. It was just sort of average for me... although I don't think that'll stop me from checking out Louisiana's story in the future.

[Anita Vela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reseña completa: http://anitavelabooks.blogspot.com.es...

La historia me ha parecido divertida, son situaciones un poco surrealistas porque las niñas son un caso, pero me han encantado. Me han hecho reír y pasar un buen rato. Además se lee en nada y es muy fresquita para ahora el verano.

Pero no solo me he encontrado con una historia divertida de tres niñas, hay mucho detrás de cada una de ellas. Sus vidas familiares no son muy buenas y son conscientes de ello, es más, ellas intentan hacer lo posible por arreglarlo. Y esto me lleva a que muchas veces tratamos a los niños como personas que no se enteran de nada, pero son conscientes de todo y a su manera también sufren. En parte me ha recordado a mí yo pequeña y no sé me ha parecido una novela divertida y cargada de valores que trata: la amistad, la pérdida y también habla de la superación.

Y recomiendo leer esta novela a cualquier edad porque los niños disfrutaran mucho con las aventuras de las tres niñas y aprenderán el valor de la amistad. Y los no tan niños también disfrutaran de la historia y entenderán un poquito más a los niños, porque como ya he dicho; ellos también sufren las perdidas como los mayores.

En resumen, El verano de Raymie Nightingale es una novela que os recomiendo mucho leer porque es una lectura divertida y está cargada de valores. Además que estoy segura de que os va encantar.

[Aura · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love everything Kate Dicamilo writes. Raymie is a young girl and she got it in her head that if she wins the little Ms Central Florida contest her Dad would come home. He ran away with a dental hygienist and abandoned the family. Poor little Raymie learns that sometimes things happen and they just don't make sense. I love this sweet novel for kids and adults.