And he and Ernie will have to do chores, like picking peas and scooping dog poop. Then, he breaks the model truck that’s one of the only things Grandma still has of his deceased uncle. Next, there’s no Internet, so the questions he keeps track of in his notebook (over 400 so far) will have to go un-Googled. Main characters default to White some names cue diversity in secondary characters.Ī shallow but engaging dip into a story and characters worthy of a deeper dive.Įleven-year-old Brooklynite Genie has “worry issues,” so when he and his older brother, Ernie, are sent to Virginia to spend a month with their estranged grandparents while their parents “try to figure it all out,” he goes into overdrive.įirst, he discovers that Grandpop is blind. Fans of Creech’s hallmark beautiful writing won’t be disappointed even if the story reads like an idea not fully realized. What is Antonio really seeing when he spins his tales? How much havoc is her Italian Nonna’s fabled Angel Lucia actually responsible for? Gina’s eventual revelations about how the lives of her family, neighbors, and classmates unfold flesh some of this out, but the story never feels wholly complete. As Gina navigates this transition, the line between real and imagined is blurred. Newbery-winning Creech skillfully catches Gina at the point in life when a child’s small world opens up into a much wider adult one. Through her writing prompts, Gina, her classmates, and readers simultaneously discover that with most people there is far more than meets the eye. At school, their English teacher, Miss Lightstone, poses questions that ask students to imagine both who they are and who they could be. In new neighbor Antonio she finds a friend whose wild mind seems connected with hers. She has a bright imagination and a vibrant wardrobe to match. A standout teacher and mysterious new student open the minds and notebooks of Gina Filomena and her fellow classmates.Įleven-year-old Gina has always felt different from the other students.
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