August 2007

Realistic Fiction

 

The Aurora County All-Stars, written by Deborah Wiles, is an extraordinary book. This is Deborah Wiles' third book, after Each Little Bird That Sings and Love, Ruby Lavender and all three are set in the same small town ("Halleluia") and feature many of the same characters. Having loved the other two books, I truly enjoyed reading more about the people I'd come to love.

 

The main character of this story is a baseball-obsessed boy named "House" who had to spend all of last year sitting on the sidelines because of a broken elbow. Nothing is going to keep him from playing in the big All-Star game this summer, nothing that is except the town's 200th anniversary pageant, which ends up being scheduled for the same EXACT time. The pageant is the biggest event ever to hit Aurora County, and all of the moms insist that the boys skip the game to attend the pageant. The pageant is being directed by the dramatic, bossy 14-year-old girl "Finesse" who was the one who broke House's arm last year. This time she's twisting it to get him and all the others to be in her production. Can everybody get what they want this year?

 

Deborah Wiles answer to that question is both funny and sad, with many touching moments that includes poetry by Walt Whitman. I thoroughly enjoyed this story and I couldn't put this book down until I was finished. Now I miss all the characters of Halleluia so much that I hope she writes another book very soon!