The Boy on Cinnamon Street in Mock Newbery 2026

Jul 20, 2012 Samantha rated it it was amazing

It has been a while since a book brought tears to my eyes, but this beautiful book struck a chord with me and down my cheeks they fell. Louise begins her story by telling the reader that she has changed her name to Thumbelina. Both characters are known for being small and this is how she chooses to identify herself. A note delivered with her pizza sends Louise on a quest to figure out the identity of her secret admirer.

On the surface this story is light and fun as Louise/Thumbelina and her frie ...more

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Apr 06, 2012 Shanshad Whelan rated it liked it

Shelves: childrens, realistic-fiction, fiction, mg

I just . . . couldn't quite get into this. Louise (aka Thumbelina) is a short seventh grader who lives with her grandparents and is struggling to regain her identity and balance after a traumatic event has shattered her. With the appearance of notes from a secret admirer, she suddenly finds herself remembering pieces of the past as she tries to understand her feelings for this imagined admirer.

I have to admit, I pretty much figured out the secret admirer about halfway through, though I don't kn ...more

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Aug 11, 2012 Sps rated it liked it

Shelves: story, elem, character, 2013-mock-newbery

At once puzzlingly weird and comfortably predictable, the what-tween-girls-are-made-of cover of this book certainly deceives. While it's clear early on that the book will follow a classic romantic plot with added drama from Louise's (hark!) absent-parents scenario, our protagonist is a bit of a mess. She's punchy and short-tempered with her grandparents, a nervous pushover to her gymnastics team bullies, clueless and hyper with her two best friends.

The characters are slightly wacky, kind of in a At once puzzlingly weird and comfortably predictable, the what-tween-girls-are-made-of cover of this book certainly deceives. While it's clear early on that the book will follow a classic romantic plot with added drama from Louise's (hark!) absent-parents scenario, our protagonist is a bit of a mess. She's punchy and short-tempered with her grandparents, a nervous pushover to her gymnastics team bullies, clueless and hyper with her two best friends.

The characters are slightly wacky, kind of in a Saffy's Angel sort of way, and of course the town has its quaint elements. Happily, Louise is not so precocious or atypical that she doesn't notice the quirks and become exasperated with them (town, grandparents) or cherish them (friends). She and her friends have some great lines but they are completely in keeping with their characters: "Since I was sick and got better I feel like Miss Healthy from planet Get Out Of My Face." (198)

Like The Mighty Miss Malone, this book could maybe have used some more intensive editing--and I don't mean cutting, necessarily, but structural work so that it hung together better. The unraveling of Louise's mysterious past isn't as elegant as, say, Rebecca Stead might have handled it, and things happen too fast or slow. Characters pop up with new problems or reveal new sides of themselves for no particular reason. Part of me didn't even care, though: this book is not bland or overly tidy and the quick, disorienting shifts in direction felt like surges of mischievous life. Far better some double-takes than the leaden, stereotyped characters or moody exposition in lesser writers' books. And to a certain extent Louise's varied temperaments made sense since she's a tween, so sometimes she wants fairy tales and crowns of flowers while other times she wants a better cell phone and to eat cheez doodles with her besties.

Now, who the heck would I recommend this to? I guess Lauren Myracle fans, Hilary McKay fans, Tom Angelberger fans, maybe Louis Sachar and Gary Schmidt fans, the kids who will be reading John Green in a few years. ...more

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Jun 20, 2012 Donna rated it liked it

Shelves: children, tweens

I appreciated this book's twists and turns and how it showed a young teen dealing with some drama. However, I found the main character to be portrayed as very young emotionally and a bit annoying. So, by the time more is revealed at the end, I found that I wasn't rooting for her quite as much as the author likely intended. ...more

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May 21, 2012 Brenda Kahn rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2012, grief, friendship, grandparents

Lovely exploration of grief and unconditional love.

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Feb 11, 2012 Emily rated it really liked it

I thought this narrator’s voice was incredibly accurate - it really did sound like a seventh grader. At the beginning of the book, you know something happened to her, but you don’t know what. It’s revealed gently and seriously. I thought it was a good way to show that everyone deals with grief and trauma differently. The best part of the book was Louise’s support system. She had so much love surrounding her during a tough time. It was very sweet and very romantic - on a middle school level.

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Sep 14, 2012 Kirsten rated it really liked it

Shelves: young-adult

Sweet, tender story of first love. Good for middle schoolers.

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Feb 02, 2012 Karen Arendt rated it really liked it

Shelves: family, young-adult, realistic-fiction, grandparents, romance

Sad and moving story of a girl named Louise who has trouble coming to terms with a tragic event. She develops a crush on a pizza delivery guy and finds true love in the least likely place.

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