Lunch-Box Dream

Starred review from May 2, 2011
Set in the summer of 1959, Abbott's sophisticated novel explores racial and family tensions, as well as death, through several perspectives. The primary narrator is Bobby, who does not like being around "chocolate" people, and who is on a road trip with his mother and older brother, Ricky, returning his recently widowed grandmother to her home in Florida. As a reward for the long hot drive, they visit Civil War battlefields between Ohio and Florida, feeding Ricky's obsession with the history of that conflict and fueling Bobby's uneasiness around death. Interspersed with the recounting of their journey is the story of a black family in Georgia, movingly told in small fragments by a variety of first-person voices. (The book helpfully opens with a list of the characters and their relationshipsâan essential resource.) In the final scenes, the separate stories converge, with subtle finesse, in one small, iconic physical gesture. Throughout, Abbott (Firegirl) builds an increasingly disturbing undercurrent of racial conflict, sibling distrust, and marital discord. Although beautifully crafted and written, the book's emotional complexity and unsettling tone will likely prove challenging (in multiple senses of the word) for the target audience. Ages 10â14.

April 1, 2012

Gr 4-6-One summer day in 1959, a white middle-class family from Ohio-nine-year-old Bobby, his brother, his mother, and his Hungarian grandmother-sets out to Florida, planning to tour Civil War battlefields along the way. In a parallel story, Jacob, and African-American boy, takes a trip from Atlanta to Dalton, GA, to visit his relatives for a few days. Neither family realizes that their paths will cross in an unexpected way, or that their beliefs and assumptions will be tested. Set against the backdrop of the Jim Crow South, Tony Abbott's semi-autobiographical tale (Farrar, 2011) of race relations, segregation, and prejudice is juxtaposed with the story of a young boy coming of age. Told from multiple perspectives, this pre-Civil Rights era tale weaves together different strands of life in the South, exploring racism and bigotry. Brian David voices Bobby in a slightly stilted manner, but clearly expresses the turmoil of growing up. The voicing of the other characters, provided by Kevin R. Free and Robin Miles, is more authentic and fluid. A poignant and memorable tale.-Michaela B. Schied, Indian River Middle School, Philadelphia, NY

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