A review by star63
Hokey Pokey by Jerry Spinelli

1.0

I picked up this book because it is on so many reading lists, even some lists of possible Newbery contenders. I really didn't like it. I understand that the land of Hokey Pokey is an allegory for childhood but it was really hard to sustain my reading through this book. It wasn't until the middle/late part of the story that I began to really put the pieces together and understand what was going on. Herds of wild bikes? A belly stamp like the Sneetches?
So I decided to hand it over to one of my strongest readers to see what she thought of the book (6th grade), she felt the same way that I did, she finished it but found it laborious. Another strong reader abandoned it after about 50 pages with an, "I don't get it." It's in my classroom library but I'm unsure who I would hand it to.