Newbery Honor: The Old Tobacco Shop, A True Account of What Befell a Little Boy in Search of Adventu

[justice_turtle]

TRIGGER WARNING: you don't want to read this liveblog if you have a "stranger danger" trigger. Seriously, don't.

Standard disclaimer: opinions are mine, books are not, Newberys belong to the ALA. Anon commenting is on, IP logging and CAPTCHA are on, anon comments screened for review.

Today's book is The Old Tobacco Shop: A True Account of What Befell a Little Boy in Search of Adventure by William Bowen, but I can't fit all that in the post title.

( Liveblogging under here )

In brief: lots of ableism, racism, awful people, and general facepalmery. Not worth reading at all; I'm not sure the liveblog is worth reading. :P

Review: The Old Tobacco Shop, A True Account of What Befell a Little Boy in Search of Adventure

[justice_turtle]

( summary and reaction both cut for spoilers )

Conclusion: No stars. I said in the liveblog that this author should have been set to write acid trips behind the scenes of the universe instead of anything near kids, and I stand by that assessment. This book doesn't deserve to be dredged out of obscurity, although for completeness' sake I include the Project Gutenberg link. ;P

If you want a kids' book with better writing, equally unexpected silliness, and lower creepiness levels, I recommend anything by Edward Lear. I know he's not American; I think I had something else I was going to recommend that this reminded me of, but I've forgotten it. :P