I have a book confession to make...I often read the last few pages of a book. Not right at first, but after I'm a few chapters in. I mostly want to make sure that nothing really terrible is going to happen to the characters that I'm coming to love. Or at least be prepared for something terrible if it does happen. And there is just something about Sandra Kring's books that fills me with dread that something terrible really might happen. Maybe it's the time period (late 50's to early 60's), or the creepy characters she throws in, or the extreme innocence of the main characters. But I really had to know with this one. And I definitely found out more than I was expecting. There is a plot twist near the end that really threw me, and then the end itself was not at all what I expected. But I think that's part of the appeal of this book; it's all about changes.
This is another novel by Kring (see How High the Moon from July's post) that is narrated by a little girl. Evelyn (called Button) is nine and has big ears, literally and figuratively, so as readers we hear lots of adult stuff as well as a nine-year-old take on the world. The misinterpretation of things she hears is charming, and nostalgic, and also a little heart breaking all at once. I think it's an ingenious way to tell a story. We get to hear Button explaining her excitement about a new girl who moves into the house across from Button's aunt, where Button spends her summer days while her mom is at work. Button makes it clear, without even seeming to realize herself, that her aunt is where she gets her loving, and her own parents don't exactly know how to show her their love. We also hear from Button the adult's opinions on the wild little girl, Winnalee, and her wilder older sister, Freeda. Again, Aunt Verdella accepts and loves the new girls, while Button's mom judges them. The overheard conversations are enlightening to both Button and the reader.
In both books I've read by Kring (recommended by my friend Marie), there is a clear disdain for any pretension. The characters who try to seem like they have it all together are really the messy ones inside, and the dirty or poor or in this case slutty characters are the ones who have the wisdom. As do the little kids. It's the young girls who create the Book of Bright Ideas, a list of witticisms based on their experiences. The ideas in the book are both hilarious and so true. And they reveal what's really important. As a teacher and a mom, I know that I don't have a handle on everything in life, but I try to look that way with my clean house and checklists on the fridge (truly: there are five). But the real fun and love in life and in this book is when the characters stop striving for perfection, and let the kids decide what's for dinner, or go dance in the rain in their underwear. That stuff is hard for me. And I actually have a lot more in common with the characters that Kring presents as stuffy and fake--but in this book those characters have a chance to change. I don't think I'll be stripping off and running outside next time it rains, but reading stories like this remind me to have fun and play more.
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