Beverly, Right Here

Starred review from May 27, 2019
This thoughtful companion to two-time Newbery Medal–winner DiCamillo’s Raymie Nightingale and Louisiana’s Way Home follows Beverly Tapinski, the third of the Three Rancheros, in August 1979—four years after the first book’s events. Grieving the death of her beloved dog Buddy and tired of her mother’s drinking, Beverly, 14, decides to skip town. After she hitches a ride to Tamaray Beach, a lie about her age garners her a job at Mr. C’s restaurant and room with elderly Iola, who offers the girl shelter in exchange for her driving Iola around. Beverly can be deeply unforthcoming about her feelings, making her gradual transition away from a solitary being determined not to rely on others feel deeply meaningful. Secondary characters—sensitive teen store clerk Elmer, who’s interested in art; bingo enthusiast Iola; and the staff of Mr. C’s—are well defined through concise narrative and dialogue, and DiCamillo builds them into a new community that matters a great deal to Beverly. But it’s Beverly’s private moments—thoughts of the other Rancheros, a message revealed, a love for the term lapis lazuli—that move her from being a person in flight to a present, whole participant in her world. Ages 10–up. Agent: Holly McGhee, Pippin Properties.

June 1, 2019
The friendship of strangers helps a 14-year-old runaway realize that there are important connections to be found at home as well. It is 1979, four years after the events that bound together the Three Rancheros, Raymie, Louisiana, and Beverly, in Raymie Nightingale (2016). Buddy, the dog they rescued, has died, and Beverly Tapinski can think of no reason to stay home, so she hitches a ride to Tamaray Beach, Florida. Lying about her age, she finds a job in Mr. C's restaurant and a place to stay in elderly Iola Jenkins' trailer. In this third book about the girls, DiCamillo mixes familiar ingredients: absent parents, disparate friends, the ability to drive a car, the power of generosity, and the satisfaction of a big celebratory meal. Beverly is the focus here; her old friends appear only as memories or a voice on the telephone. At 14, she's on the verge of finding herself, and she's newly seeing herself through others' eyes. As always, secondary characters (likely white, like Beverly) are interestingly drawn: the lonely older woman; acne-faced and college-bound Elmer, who draws her picture and teaches her to dance; ambitious Freddie the waitress and her unsuitable boyfriend. But in this immediate narrative, simply told and progressing in real time, readers encounter this world through Beverly's eyes and mind, finding pleasure in small things, appreciating friends of all sorts, coming to terms with losses, and moving on. A satisfying read that stands alone but is richer for its company. (Fiction. 10-14)

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July 1, 2019

Gr 5-7-Readers first met Beverly Tapinski when she entered the Little Miss Central Florida Tire competition with Raymie Nightingale and Louisiana Elefante. Beverly is now 14. Her dog Buddy has died, and Beverly feels like she has been left behind by everyone-her dad, Louisiana, and now Buddy. So she leaves, too, and goes to Tamaray Beach. She gets a job at a restaurant, is taken in by a kind old lady, and makes friends with the cashier of Zoom City. But eventually she realizes she left behind Raymie, and that hurts more than she can stand. In her signature style of short, accessible prose sprinkled with carefully chosen, meaningful words, DiCamillo once again tells extraordinary stories with ordinary characters. This is a multilayered story of hope, from Iola who wants to win a turkey from the VFW Christmas in July, to Freddie who has big dreams, to Elmer who loves art and poetry and wants to be an engineer, to Beverly herself, who just wants things to be different than they are. Beverly acts tough and uninterested, but underneath she is tender and vulnerable. VERDICT This is not a lighthearted book, but it is heartwarming and touching. Highly recommended.-Julie Overpeck, Holbrook Middle School, Lowell, NC

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from June 1, 2019
Grades 5-8 *Starred Review* DiCamillo's Raymie Nightingale (2016) and Louisiana's Way Home (2018) told the stories of two of three good friends. Now it's Beverly Tapinski's turn. Beverly, 14, runs away from home: her beloved dog is dead, and her mother doesn't mind much that she's gone. She hitches a ride that drops her at a seaside restaurant, where she gets a job busing tables and finds a home with an elderly woman who needs someone to drive her to bingo games.(DiCamillo has a penchant for heroines who can drive big cars at young ages.) When Beverly sees seemingly random words written on a telephone booth?"in a crooked little house by the crooked little sea"?this chance discovery comes to describe her new home. As she did in the previous books, DiCamillo writes in a spare style, describing small, seemingly disparate moments that gradually come together in a rich, dynamic picture. The other thing she does brilliantly is shape characters whose eccentricities make them heartbreakingly, vividly real, like Elmer, whose acne-covered face is a mask that hides his humanity; Freddie, the young waitress with great expectations that are colored by untruths; and owlish Iola Jenkins, whose willingness to take a chance on Beverly counts for everything. Thoughtful and hopeful in equal measure. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: DiCamillo is a household name by now, and this final volume in the trilogy of linked novels begun with Raymie Nightingale is sure to draw an adoring crowd.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)