Regurgitations on The Middle Moffat by Eleanor EstesBack cover reads:
"Who is Jane Moffat, anyway? She isn't the youngest in the family, and she isn't the oldest- she is always just Jane. How boring. So Jane decides to become a figure of mystery... the mysterious "middle Moffat." But being in the middle is a lot harder than it looks. In between not rescuing stray dogs, and losing and finding best friends, Jane must secretly look after the oldest inhabitant of Cranbury, help the girls' basketball team win the championship, and stand up to the frightful mechanical wizard Wallie Bangs. Jane is so busy keeping Cranbury in order that she barely has time to be plain old Jane. Sometimes the middle is the most exciting place of all...
Thoughts:
Excrement. This book really had to purpose or point to it. It's pretty much one of the most idiotic things I've ever read. It smacks of the Ramona Quimby series, but lacks the ingenuity and spark that Beverly Cleary has in her books. This tries to be cute, but it uses advanced flipping vocabulary out of nowhere! I'm sure the intended audience is 2nd-4th grade because the protagonist is 7 years old... but the author uses words like paraphernalia (162), remonstrated (163), morosely (171), implacably (182), adroitly (189), and disconsolate (211). And those are only the words i noticed after i got bored with the book! who does that?! Someone who writes a book in 1942, obviously. It took me about a week to read this book because i didn't want to read it. It was flat, boring, lacked enthusiasm and any type of humor. It's could be called a "manners book." Not sure if that's the right title/genre, but there were books written just to illustrate how good little children behaved. I do believe this would be one of them. ack. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone. In fact, it might as well go on the APoS list. I'm not even going to put it back on my shelf. i'll probably sell it.
There are, however, 2 quotes that are of note:
"If she read the bad [books] first, the good ones would be like dessert" (64).
"Maybe growing up wasn't as bad as it seemed, because you were so busy doing what you were doing, you didn't miss the things you used to do. After all, she didn't play blocks or make mud pies anymore. And she didn't miss them. And there was a time when she probably thought mud pies and blocks were very nice things" (207).
2 comments:
Your summmary was really good and I used some of it for a report on the book!! Thankyou!!The oldest inhabits name was on the tip of my tounge!! Thanks again!
~A fan
Wow. Harsh words. At least you are honest! I didn't fall in love with the book, myself. I liked it okay but I thought it was a tad dull.
I think you are wrong about the book being written to illustrate good manners. Jane is always getting into some kind of trouble, much like the author did. The author means to befriend this kind of child, not make him feel shame.
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