A review by shighley
The Center of Everything by Linda Urban
4.0
I read this in preparation for attending ALA Midwinter, wanting to finish it before it perhaps wins an award. I have to say that I was expecting something a bit more powerful, but I realize that's not the point. I do think the jumps back and forth might confuse students a bit; it is true that as you go through the course of a day, you think back to the many things that have led up to it, but it didn't always make sense. I expected a bigger problem between Ruby and Lucy and Ruby and Nero, but they weren't really that important.
I did like the way Ruby chose to "deliver" her speech (finally), but I thought all of the Newbery name dropping got to be a bit much. The two librarians get rather dubious treatment here: one's old and waiting to retire and spend time with dogs, the successor is a bumbling dufus. Perhaps its my preference for more plotting or action that left me a little wanting. In many ways this reminded me of Hound Dog True; I was expecting something bigger to drive the plot.
I did like the way Ruby chose to "deliver" her speech (finally), but I thought all of the Newbery name dropping got to be a bit much. The two librarians get rather dubious treatment here: one's old and waiting to retire and spend time with dogs, the successor is a bumbling dufus. Perhaps its my preference for more plotting or action that left me a little wanting. In many ways this reminded me of Hound Dog True; I was expecting something bigger to drive the plot.