Crow in Mock Newbery 2026

May 05, 2012 Wendy rated it liked it

Shelves: 2012-award-possibilities

A troubling book without easy answers, but I'm not sure of its audience and/or whether it's hitting that audience. I feel like the best reader would be older than the eleven-year-old protagonist. In particular, I'm not sure how many kids would understand the implication (or facts) about who Moses's grandfather is and what that means. I was surprised that this plot point wasn't revisited.

For the first half or so I kept getting confused about when this book was set, but that may be my own fault--s ...more

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May 29, 2012 Becky Barrier Nelson rated it it was amazing

Shelves: read-alouds, 5th-only, battle-candidate, historical-fiction, newbery-candidate-2013

I just finished reading this book and am still caught in its spell. I thought the first part of the book was a bit slow-going, but the author was establishing the setting so important to this novel of historical fiction based on the racial uprising in Wilmington, NC in 1898. I don't remember ever hearing about this frightening breach of justice and decency, and that is exactly why the author wrote this novel, after much research to ensure accuracy. She also wanted the reader to get to know the T ...more

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Jan 19, 2012 Laurel rated it really liked it

This was very powerful in some places.

Initially I was a little put off by the main character's need to introduce himself so obviously (had the same issue with Mighty Miss Malone and Lions of Little Rock. First person pitfall. And I wasn't sure how I'd feel about the use of dialect.

But this book swept me up, and after the first few pages, I got lost in it. One sitting.

Loved the touch of the boy his life intertwines with, Tommy. Loved his family, and believed them. And the setting felt more real t ...more

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Apr 04, 2012 Dest rated it liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction, middle-grade, bipoc

I'm 40% done with this book and so far there is zero plot. The same thing keeps happening over and over again. Well-meaning Moses gets in trouble and his too-perfect dad has all the right things to say. Boo Nanny says something wise and folksy. Rinse and repeat.

The book is well-written and the historical setting is intriguing (particularly for readers who know that Jim Crow and segregation are coming), but it's taking so long to get to the, you know, story that I'm losing interest and feeling e ...more

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Jun 16, 2012 Kristy rated it liked it

Shelves: juv

I didn't love this book as much I'd hoped to. I felt like the author was writing a story about adults for adults but decided for some reason to stick a child protagonist in the middle of it. There were lots of details and implied storylines that went over the main character's head. I found this distracting and annoying.
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Nov 11, 2012 Shannon rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2012

I am continually amazed by my insane gaps in US history. Is it weird to say I found the start of the book more powerful?

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Jun 07, 2012 Kris Springer rated it liked it

Shelves: 2013-newbery-reads

The author had to have done a great deal of research and work to put this together, so I applaud her efforts. Less successful was her writing--story was predictable in places, plot was a bit jumpy and thought that perhaps a greater focus on certain parts of the story wouldn't have led the author to put so many different parts of life in Wilmington, NC into the book--felt a bit scattered and overdone. ...more

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