The Mighty Miss Malone

Title: The Mighty Miss Malone

Author: Christopher Paul Curtis

Summary: Deza Malone is growing up in the 30s, right in the Depression. She is having a great life, with her brother Jimmy, her mother, and her father who she absolutely adores. She loves her teacher and her friend Clarice, and enjoys writing greatly.

One day, after her father is lost in a boating accident, things take a turn for the worst. Shortly after, he is found, alive, but things aren't the same. He is beaten down badly and the finances and money for the house is failing. He leaves to go find work, against the family's wishes, and Deza and her brother and mother are left alone to fend for themselves. They are eventually evicted and forced to travel around with no permanent home. Then, Jimmy is recognized for his amazing singing voice and is whisked off, leaving just Deza and her mother.

Things are turned upside down for about two years (the book covers these years) of Deza's life until finally, things seem like they may be able to get back to normal.

Comments: I liked this book. Deza is a great girl with a knack for writing essays for school and for figuring things out. She is very, very smart and I couldn't help but love her and her family. The book was sad continuously as any book about such a sad thing could be. There were a few graphic sequences describing the boating accident with her father, and a few horrors of what Deza is going through.

It isn't enough to scare anyone away from the book though, and honestly, with some of the crazy gruesome books out there (Hunger Games, etc.), this is really nothing when it comes to scary. It is a bit sad, but still an amazing book and I'd recommend it for 10+.

While the book was sad, it wouldn't have been as amazing or worked out any other way.

Complaints: None!
Rating: 5 stars