Raymie Nightingale by Kate DiCamillo
The Blurb On The Back:
Three girls.
One summer.
A friendship that changed their lives.
Have you ever in your life come to realise that everything, absolutely everything, depends on you?
Two days ago, Raymie Clarke’s father ran away with a dental hygienist.
But Raymie has a plan. If she can just win the Little Miss Central Florida Tire competition, then her father will see her picture in the paper and (maybe) come home.
First, however, Raymie has to do good deeds and learn how to twirl a baton. Then she must compete with the wispy but determined Louisiana Elefante and the feisty, knife-wielding Beverly Tapinski …
It’s 5th June 1975. Two days ago, 12-year-old Raymie Clarke’s father ran off with a dental hygienist. Now she’s taking baton twirling lessons from Ida Nee (a world champion baton twirler) because she has a plan: if Raymie wins the Little Miss Central Florida Tire competition then she’ll be famous and her father will see her picture in the newspaper and come home. Her father’s secretary, Mrs Sylvester suggested that she learn to baton twirl and now Raymie finds herself in a class with Louisiana Elefante (a strange girl who lives with her grandmother and feels guilty at betraying her cat, Archie) and Beverly Tapinski (an angry cop’s daughter who dreams of sabotaging the contest and running away to New York to live with her father). Over the coming days the girls form an unlikely friendship that teaches them a lot about life and about themselves …
Kate DiCamillo’s historical novel for children’s aged 9+ is another beautifully written story about love, loss and friendship. The plot is stripped back and deceptively simple - the girls wait for their baton twirling class, Raymie tries to do a good deed and together they try to recover Louisiana’s cat. DiCamillo’s real focus is on Raymie and how she grows as a result of her experiences and her skill is in taking her through some painful life lessons without ever becoming cloying or overly sentimental. There are some incredibly moving moments in the book - particularly those that involve Raymie coming to terms with her father’s decision to leave and how it isn’t her fault. I also love how DiCamillo weaves in small moments from Raymie’s backstory (such as life saving classes) to flesh her out while also move the plot forward - she makes it look so easy, when in fact it’s remarkably sophisticated. The slow development of the girl’s friendship is also well done from the quirky Louisiana to the angry Beverly (who’s loathing of baton twirling really made me smile) but I did want a little more of their backstory - specifically their family set up. There’s a hint that Beverly’s being abused and Louisiana’s grandmother seems to have mental health issues but this doesn’t go anywhere and I just needed a little more information to really flesh them out. This aside, I thought that this was a beautifully written book that marks DiCamillo as one of the finest writers in children’s fiction today.
The Verdict:
Kate DiCamillo’s historical novel for children’s aged 9+ is another beautifully written story about love, loss and friendship. The plot is stripped back and deceptively simple - the girls wait for their baton twirling class, Raymie tries to do a good deed and together they try to recover Louisiana’s cat. DiCamillo’s real focus is on Raymie and how she grows as a result of her experiences and her skill is in taking her through some painful life lessons without ever becoming cloying or overly sentimental. There are some incredibly moving moments in the book - particularly those that involve Raymie coming to terms with her father’s decision to leave and how it isn’t her fault. I also love how DiCamillo weaves in small moments from Raymie’s backstory (such as life saving classes) to flesh her out while also move the plot forward - she makes it look so easy, when in fact it’s remarkably sophisticated. The slow development of the girl’s friendship is also well done from the quirky Louisiana to the angry Beverly (who’s loathing of baton twirling really made me smile) but I did want a little more of their backstory - specifically their family set up. There’s a hint that Beverly’s being abused and Louisiana’s grandmother seems to have mental health issues but this doesn’t go anywhere and I just needed a little more information to really flesh them out. This aside, I thought that this was a beautifully written book that marks DiCamillo as one of the finest writers in children’s fiction today.
Thanks to Walker Books for the review copy of this book.
Three girls.
One summer.
A friendship that changed their lives.
Have you ever in your life come to realise that everything, absolutely everything, depends on you?
Two days ago, Raymie Clarke’s father ran away with a dental hygienist.
But Raymie has a plan. If she can just win the Little Miss Central Florida Tire competition, then her father will see her picture in the paper and (maybe) come home.
First, however, Raymie has to do good deeds and learn how to twirl a baton. Then she must compete with the wispy but determined Louisiana Elefante and the feisty, knife-wielding Beverly Tapinski …
It’s 5th June 1975. Two days ago, 12-year-old Raymie Clarke’s father ran off with a dental hygienist. Now she’s taking baton twirling lessons from Ida Nee (a world champion baton twirler) because she has a plan: if Raymie wins the Little Miss Central Florida Tire competition then she’ll be famous and her father will see her picture in the newspaper and come home. Her father’s secretary, Mrs Sylvester suggested that she learn to baton twirl and now Raymie finds herself in a class with Louisiana Elefante (a strange girl who lives with her grandmother and feels guilty at betraying her cat, Archie) and Beverly Tapinski (an angry cop’s daughter who dreams of sabotaging the contest and running away to New York to live with her father). Over the coming days the girls form an unlikely friendship that teaches them a lot about life and about themselves …
Kate DiCamillo’s historical novel for children’s aged 9+ is another beautifully written story about love, loss and friendship. The plot is stripped back and deceptively simple - the girls wait for their baton twirling class, Raymie tries to do a good deed and together they try to recover Louisiana’s cat. DiCamillo’s real focus is on Raymie and how she grows as a result of her experiences and her skill is in taking her through some painful life lessons without ever becoming cloying or overly sentimental. There are some incredibly moving moments in the book - particularly those that involve Raymie coming to terms with her father’s decision to leave and how it isn’t her fault. I also love how DiCamillo weaves in small moments from Raymie’s backstory (such as life saving classes) to flesh her out while also move the plot forward - she makes it look so easy, when in fact it’s remarkably sophisticated. The slow development of the girl’s friendship is also well done from the quirky Louisiana to the angry Beverly (who’s loathing of baton twirling really made me smile) but I did want a little more of their backstory - specifically their family set up. There’s a hint that Beverly’s being abused and Louisiana’s grandmother seems to have mental health issues but this doesn’t go anywhere and I just needed a little more information to really flesh them out. This aside, I thought that this was a beautifully written book that marks DiCamillo as one of the finest writers in children’s fiction today.
The Verdict:
Kate DiCamillo’s historical novel for children’s aged 9+ is another beautifully written story about love, loss and friendship. The plot is stripped back and deceptively simple - the girls wait for their baton twirling class, Raymie tries to do a good deed and together they try to recover Louisiana’s cat. DiCamillo’s real focus is on Raymie and how she grows as a result of her experiences and her skill is in taking her through some painful life lessons without ever becoming cloying or overly sentimental. There are some incredibly moving moments in the book - particularly those that involve Raymie coming to terms with her father’s decision to leave and how it isn’t her fault. I also love how DiCamillo weaves in small moments from Raymie’s backstory (such as life saving classes) to flesh her out while also move the plot forward - she makes it look so easy, when in fact it’s remarkably sophisticated. The slow development of the girl’s friendship is also well done from the quirky Louisiana to the angry Beverly (who’s loathing of baton twirling really made me smile) but I did want a little more of their backstory - specifically their family set up. There’s a hint that Beverly’s being abused and Louisiana’s grandmother seems to have mental health issues but this doesn’t go anywhere and I just needed a little more information to really flesh them out. This aside, I thought that this was a beautifully written book that marks DiCamillo as one of the finest writers in children’s fiction today.
Thanks to Walker Books for the review copy of this book.