Bird in a Box in Mock Newbery 2026

Apr 06, 2011 Doret rated it it was ok

The story takes place in 1936,during the middle of the great depression. The three main characters, are 12yr old Otis, Willie and Hibernia. At the beginning the three have yet to meet. All of them are fans of Joe Louis. The author enterwines some of the fights throughout the story. With so much going wrong the great fighter gives the three someone to hope and believe in.

Hibernia lives with her father a reverend. Her mother left to follow her dream to sing at the Savoy. Willie is forced to leave The story takes place in 1936,during the middle of the great depression. The three main characters, are 12yr old Otis, Willie and Hibernia. At the beginning the three have yet to meet. All of them are fans of Joe Louis. The author enterwines some of the fights throughout the story. With so much going wrong the great fighter gives the three someone to hope and believe in.

Hibernia lives with her father a reverend. Her mother left to follow her dream to sing at the Savoy. Willie is forced to leave home after a terrible incident with his abusive father. Soon Otis must go live at Mercy Home For Negro Orphans as well. That's where the two meet.

The chapters alternate between the three characters. Sometimes this can be tricky, especially when dealing with more then two characters. The author runs the risk of not developing the characters or storylines enough. After one characters scene would end, I'd still have questions. When the story returned to that particular character, it was already onto something new.

After the last awful encounter with his father, Willie goes to live at Mercy. When he arrives Lily, the woman working there, tells him he needs some salve. The next time Willie appears there's drastic change without an explanation. The salve didn't work. This happens more then once. It felt like I was missing important parts of the story. Hibernia's father is set in his ways and very strict. Yet one day he simply decides to open up and talk about Hibernia's mother. Again, I wondered about the why of this.

The characters voices were blending together. I think part of it had to do with the short chapters, but I had a difficult time distinguishing between Otis and Willie.

Pinkney has a great body of work. All the books I've read by her I've loved. I went into Bird in a Box (a book I was really looking forward to ) wondering not if but how much I would enjoy it. So I was surprised, that it simply didn't work for me.

Bird is Box is being very well recieved by other bloggers. It also got a starred Kirkus review ...more

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Jun 04, 2011 Karen Arendt rated it it was amazing

Shelves: middle-grade, multicultural-literature, family, friendship, historical-fiction

Otis, Hibernia, and Willie each suffer loss in their own way during the great depression, but each holds on to hope inspired by the Boxing champion Joe Louis during the Great Depression. Otis loses both his parents in a tragic car crash. Willie' mother sends him away after his father injures his hands ending Willie's hopes of a boxing chapmionship. Hibernia's mother left when she was very young to pursue a singing career- a talent that Hibernia has inherited and now dreams of pursuing herself. E ...more

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Dec 27, 2011 Maureen Milton rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: arbor-seniors, arbor-intermediates

I listened to this book and enjoyed the recording. Set during the Depression, three 12-year-olds' stories intertwine: Hibernia, the reverend's daughter whose mother has left behind a girl who wants to do what's right, but also wants to be a singer; Otis lands in the Mercy Home for Negro Children as the son of loving parents who die in a car crash; and Willie, whose parents are alive, but who flees his abusive father at his mother's behest, and ends up with Otis in the orphanage.

While the story m ...more

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Feb 16, 2011 Malissa rated it liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction-kids, bookaday

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Aug 27, 2011 Kristin R rated it it was amazing

Shelves: juv, audio, historical-fiction

This fabulous audio book is told from the perspective of three children—Hibernia, Willie and Otis, each with their own distinct voice. This is set in upstate New York and the two boys, due to unfortunate circumstances meet at an orphanage, and then meet Hibernia at a local church concert. All the characters are tied together through the hope and promise of the fighter Joe Louis and what he means to the African American community. They all listen to his fights on the radio and their dreams soar a ...more

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Jul 09, 2011 Sarah Abercrombie rated it liked it

Overall the story is worthy. I think the whole Joe louis phenomenon is an interesting and important story to tell, and the depression era setting was well done. My main nagging criticism is that Otis, one of the main characters at twelve years old often sounds like a much younger child. He is incongrous to his "crush" Hibernia, and friend Willy, who are more realistically mature twelve year olds. ...more

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Jul 29, 2011 Lorelie rated it it was amazing

Wonderful story. Loved the voices of Otis, Willie and Hibernia. Warm, hopeful story about life during the depression, regardless of the terrible things that happen to the characters.

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