of love and other things

A quiet start to Valentine's Day gave me the chance to read the Newbery winner, CRISS CROSS by Lynne Rae Perkins. Natalie is about half way through it and I will be interested to have her take on this lovely novel where nothing happens and everything happens. Multiple narrators tell of their days in small town Seldem. There are friendships and crushes and perhaps the beginning of a romance. There are emergencies and days filled with wonderful nothingness. The language is rhythmic and hypnotic and sonorous at turns. Characters weave in and out seamlessly. What I wonder if how kids will react. Well, not kids, as this is truly a novel for the older end of the Newbery scale. It seems to me to cry out SEVENTH GRADE and, naturally, girls. I hope kids will have some help finding this book as it could easily be lost if not for some caring educator placing it in the hands of readers.