Bird in a Box Audiobook

" Great book about Joe Louis and the 1930s in this country. The three main characters - Hibernia, Otis, and Willie - have their share of struggles and dreams, just like Joe. This novel makes you care about what happens to them as their lives come together. Beautiful! "

" snore. Read for mock Newberry. "

" One Sentence Review: While two of the narratives in this book are expertly written, the third feels out-of-place and simplistic, dragging an otherwise good title down. "

" I enjoyed the setting of this book and time period, but I found the characters a bit dull. I listened to the audiobook, and probably would have enjoyed this story more as a physical read. "

" While Hibernia is annoying, she has a distinctive voice, in contrast to Otis and Willie, whom I kept mixing up. The voices of Otis and Willie blended together. I knew that one of them had scarred hands and that the other was an actual orphan but I could rarely remember who was who. Furthermore there was no character development, no growth in maturity and Otis was a saint. As it was Otis and Willie had to grow up fast, but then their growth stagnated. I'm not even sure why Hibernia was in the story to be perfectly honest. She wasn't living at the orphanage and I think her character would have been more interesting if she was actually an orphan and set off to pursue her dreams. I wasn't thrilled by the dialogue and descriptions either. Phrases such as "[i]t's as if a mighty hand is yanking the room to its feet." (pg. 253) and "Carmen turns her voice in popcorn blips. I backflip the melody into flatted riffs." (pg. 228) made the book seem like it was trying to hard to be creative with words. I don't even know what a 'flatted riff' is. The flashbacks were stiff and I didn't understand why the story couldn't just start at the beginning instead of a year later, as a teaser it was rather ineffective. Finally the narrative would abruptly end at points and never be revisited such as when *SPOILER, highlight to read*: The boys get the radio back from the bleach man. I refuse to believe the bleach man wouldn't know it was them, so why was no mention made of their punishment?*End spoiler* Occasionally the creative wording/descriptions worked well such as when Hibernia "put pepper on that tune." (pg. 227). I loved the details about the radio though. I really did get the impression that this was the "Golden Age of Radio" the commentators had personality and it was easy to see through the author's words how the radio programs affected the listeners. The variety of programs was shown ranging from jazz music, to of course, the Joe Louis fights. The other historical tidbits gel quite well with the fictional characters, places and events, there is a real sense of time and place. The illustrations were lovely, simple but expressive. The only character who became fully fleshed out (in my opinion) was Lila, the orphanage worker. She was a doll, tough when needed but always ready to give the children a hug, she has a tough past but doesn't wallow in depression. Although I would like to know why she randomly showed up at Hibernia's church... Bird in a Box left more questions in my mind than answers except when it came to the importance of radio during the 1930s. Storylines were abruptly ended and the three children had interesting backgrounds but remained flat with no development. I don't much about the 1930s but all the facts seemed to be in order to me, the town of Elmira, New York came to life. A town that was filled with people who wanted to work but couldn't find jobs and yet still mustered up the cheer to DRESS UP (I mean that in the best of ways) for church. Personally, I wish the story had actually taken place in the more exciting New York City but at least Elmira developed a presence in my mind (and I could understand Hibernia's frustration with the town). A hit or miss read I think "

" I made it to page 56 and could go no further, because I can't stomach graphic descriptions of child abuse, esp in a book meant for juveniles. Prior to that section, the book seemed well written and the characters and plot were interesting. "

" Fast paced and moving, if also purposeful and overwritten. I am becoming phobic of figurative language that draws attention to itself. "

" I really enjoyed this book! It is really good!! "

" Wonderful story. Loved the voices of Otis, Willie and Hibernia. Warm, hopeful story about life during the depression, regardless of the terrible things that happen to the characters. "

" I couldn't get into this one! Some of my students said that it gets better but I haven't gone back to it yet. "

" During the depression, three children are drawn together around Joe Louis's fight to become Heavy Weight Champion of the World. I enjoyed all the voices in this story, but I wanted a little more from each of them...maybe longer would have helped. "

" A little too preachy historical kid fiction for my taste. "

" depression era kids seem hopeful despite extreme hardships. one child is abused by his father and ends up losing the use of his hands, so this book is definitely for older kids. "

" Excellent historical fiction with heart! "

" I really do think MG books can and should develop characters. "

" This was a perfect companion piece to Mighty Miss Malone (Curtis). I am putting Nation's Hope (de la Pena)on my to read list now. "

" This is an awesome book! Can you say award winner? "

" Once I got the characters' chapters straight in my head, I LOVED this one. Historical fiction that feels like I'm right with it. Go Joe Go! "

" Some fun characters and a couple of moments of tragedy that are handled well, but I found this slow. I find boxing an unpleasant thing to think about, so there were things here I couldn't appreciate. "

" A very sweet story of orphans and children missing a parent, Joe Louis and a Philco radio! Love Hibernia, Willie, Otis & Miss Lila. "

" I tried to like this book but I got tired of hearing about Joe Louis, even though I acknowledge the importance of him winning the boxing title to the black community. I also didn't like the switching back and forth between the three main characters. "

" A little too preachy historical kid fiction for my taste. "

" Such a great example of young adult historical fiction. I wish I could read it with my students next year. "

" liked the voices of each character "

" Great book about Joe Louis and the 1930s in this country. The three main characters - Hibernia, Otis, and Willie - have their share of struggles and dreams, just like Joe. This novel makes you care about what happens to them as their lives come together. Beautiful! "

" Once I got the characters' chapters straight in my head, I LOVED this one. Historical fiction that feels like I'm right with it. Go Joe Go! "

" I wanted to love this one especially after Gary Schmidt specifically recommended it to me but it just didn't do it for me. Fine but not amazing. "