I haven’t read this one yet, so I’m going to quote its three starred reviews below and let you weigh in on the strengths and weaknesses in the comments below.  Maybe you’ll convince me to read it sooner rather than later.

KIRKUS: The protagonist of this debut joins a growing list of endearing young girls from the South, and it’s an extra bonus that her new best friend and mentor is a boy whose method of transportation, without fanfare, just happens to be a wheelchair.

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY: Working in the folksy vein of Ingrid Law’s Savvy, Lloyd offers a reassuring, homespun story about self-expression and the magic that resides in one’s mind and heart.

SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: It’s the characters that make this story shine: gruff Aunt Cleo and her tongue-tied swain; Oliver and Ponder, purveyors of unusual ice cream and baked goods, respectively; Jewell Pickett, hair-stylist and auto-mechanic extraordinaire; and her son Jonah, who has the amazing ability to make things better for anybody, despite his own difficulties. And Felicity, who sees words everywhere and uses them in remarkable ways.

THE GHOSTS OF TUPELO LANDING, REVOLUTION, and A SNICKER OF MAGIC all join that growing list of “endearing young girls from the South.”  Actually, I think a book qualifies for this little subgenre if it has two of these three qualities:

Southern/Country/Folksy Voice Spunky/Feisty/Charming Heroine Dead/Missing/Absent Mother (or other significant family member) So, here’s how these books have fared recently with the Newbery committee. 2014 ONE CAME HOME 2013 THREE TIMES LUCKY 2011 MOON OVER MANIFEST 2010 THE EVOLUTION OF CALPURNIA TATE 2009 SAVVY 2007 THE HIGHER POWER OF LUCKY and HATTIE BIG SKY In the previous 7 years there were less than half that number– 2001 BECAUSE OF WINN-DIXIE 2000 GETTING NEAR TO BABY and OUR ONLY MAY AMELIA And only three in the 90s. 1997 BELLE PRATER’S BOY 1995 WALK TWO MOONS 1993 MISSING MAY I’m apt to fall for this genre myself every now and then (KEEPER, anyone), but I’ve otherwise developed ennui about the whole niche.  We can all name numerous examples, both recent and not-so-recent.  It’s not like anybody is discovering a new element of the periodic table when they write one of these.  As with any genre, the more I read, the higher the bar is set for one of them to truly elevate itself from the rest.  But, generally speaking, isn’t the Newbery committee’s bar getting lower?  They seem to be recognizing more and more and I’m not sure that all of them are nearly as good as, say, BECAUSE OF WINN-DIXIE or WALK TWO MOONS or BELLE PRATER’S BOY.  What do you think?