THUNDER BOY JR. by Sherman Alexie

We had a wonderful holiday pot luck feast at our last meeting, and although we were all very full, a great discussion of Thunder Boy Jr. by Sherman Alexie; illus. by Yuyi Morales. Several people loved it, a few did not. A couple of readers felt the story was very disjointed, and didn't really say much. Others loved the fact that Thunder Boy Jr. wanted his own name, and although he loved his strong, powerful dad, he needed his own identity. As he went through various possibilities of names based upon things he was really good at, he was finally happy when his dad actually gave him his new name, Lightning, because then they could be strong and powerful together. Several readers thought that there were just too many possible name choices, and got tired of reading about them. Others felt it was fine, because it provided a good picture of who the little boy really 'was'. Most of us really liked the illustrations, but a couple of folks weren't thrilled with them. We weren't sure how young readers would respond to the book, but one of our members, a school librarian, informed us that when she read it to kids in her school, they liked it, and they responded in different ways according to their ages. So....mixed feelings all around, and contented, full, tired people heading home later than usual from a book group meeting.

NINO WRESTLES THE WORLD by Yuyi Morales and THE THING ABOUT LUCK by Cynthia Kadohata

At our last meeting we discussed the picture book, Nino Wrestles the World  by Yuyi Morales first. Only one person really liked it a lot. Everyone else -- not so much. Some folks thought that kids who had no experience or knowledge of Lucha Libre wrestling wouldn't have much interest in this book, even though they agreed that there was a good explanation at the end and detailed descriptions in the end papers of the various 'characters' that Nino vanquished. Most people liked the illustrations, but thought that there wasn't really a story. The lone dissenter felt that it was a good depiction of a little boy participating in imaginary play, winning his bouts with all of the bigger, stronger, 'wrestlers,' and then deciding that even though his two little sisters kind of scared him, things would be better if the three of them took on the world together.

There was no unanimity in our discussion of the novel, The Thing About Luck by Cynthia Kadohata. Although we all agreed that the author had done excellent research regarding wheat farming, (she actually had spent a great deal of time on a Kansas wheat farm) we weren't thrilled with her Michener-like detailed explanations of the whole process, and hoped we would never again meet another combine or thresher in a book! A few people loved the quietness and introspection of Summer, the main character. Others weren't so impressed with it. Some thought that she had knowledge beyond her twelve years, although at other times she appeared to be very young. Someone pointed out that this is pretty normal behavior for 12-year-old girls. We agreed that as a member of a migrant farm working family she had a very hard life. We also had a hard time figuring out what the character of Jaz, her brother, actually added to the story. Everyone loved Summer's grandparents, although some of us weren't so happy with the way their pidgin-English dialog was written. But we thought the fact that they both really loved Summer came through clearly. We also liked the fact that Summer accomplished the seemingly impossible task of driving a combine (or was it a thresher??) and that the young man Mick, whom she didn't like at first, actually came to her aid and became a friend -- one that she could relate to as an older brother. Finally, we couldn't figure out why the book A Separate Peace was so important to Summer as she tried to figure out her place in life.