Circa Now in Mock Newbery 2026

Jun 08, 2014 Jan rated it liked it

I tried to like this book, I really did. I’ve read so many glowing reviews from other teachers here on goodreads, all of whom thought it would definitely win a Newbery Medal or Honor next year, that I just had to read it to see for myself. I’m sorry to say, I just didn’t get it. It took me a week just to get through the first 75% of the book because I wasn’t connecting at all to the story or the characters and keep putting it down. Finally today I picked it back up and finished it. I will say th ...more

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Jun 02, 2014 Susan rated it it was amazing

Shelves: booktalkers, newbery-2015

Home is a refuge for Circa Monroe—especially in her family’s photo studio where her mom shoots portraits and her father skillfully restores old photos. Circa is learning the family business at her father’s side—they especially enjoy photoshopping the odd photo for their own amusement. Together they are working to create a memory wall for the local nursing facility to help residents connect their pasts and presents. When a demanding customer insists on the immediate delivery of a special family r Home is a refuge for Circa Monroe—especially in her family’s photo studio where her mom shoots portraits and her father skillfully restores old photos. Circa is learning the family business at her father’s side—they especially enjoy photoshopping the odd photo for their own amusement. Together they are working to create a memory wall for the local nursing facility to help residents connect their pasts and presents. When a demanding customer insists on the immediate delivery of a special family reunion photo, Circa’s warm, funny dad jumps into his jeep and never returns—lost to a category 5 tornado.
I can’t name a book I’ve read recently that doesn’t have a main character grieving or coping with loss. Circa Now is different because the story takes place in the weeks following Mr. Monroe’s death. Circa takes refuge in her father’s photo collection—the precious ‘shopt’ pictures (complete with captions creating stories to go with the bizarre images…think Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children) and, most of all, the memory wall project. Her mother, who already suffers from depression, refuses to allow Circa to continue the memory wall project so Circa tries to prove herself to her mother by creating some “shopt” images herself. Circa reasons that these images will help keep her father alive, and she begins to believe that the shopt parts have become real—especially when a strange boy who reminds Circa of her father, turns up claiming no memory from the time of the storm; this and other coincidences fuels Circa’s belief that the power to change the past may lie in the skillful clicks of a mouse.
The possibility of restoring what was lost is an intriguing concept---one power we all wish we had. The author allows us to wonder “what if” even as she plans to bring us, and Circa, down to earth. The ending is satisfying and hopeful, the people and the situations—even when the possibility of a little ‘shopt’ magic is suggested—are real. This one’s a winner.
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Jun 27, 2014 Sharon rated it really liked it

Shelves: death-grief, family, photography

Circa and her Dad share hobby of photoshopping actual photos of real people with additional details which blend into the original so naturally they appear to be part of the original. They do not share these altered photos with anyone and store them in a folder labeled “Shopt”. One evening, Dad receives a phone call, and suddenly leaves as a tornado is about to bear down on his destination. Dad is dead. Circa and her Mom are suffering through the stages of grief, when a boy who seems to be suffer ...more

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May 12, 2014 Benji Martin rated it really liked it

This is a really refreshing book about tragedy and dealing with grief. I really enjoyed it. I was reading a e-galley, and for some reason the Shopt photos didn't show up. I'm looking forward to getting a print copy when it comes out, so I can take a gander at them. ...more

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