Capp Street Carnival

Although I'm not in the intended age group for this book I read it anyway after hearing that Sandra Dutton is an alumni of my same high school, and to see again the milieu I grew up in, having lived elsewhere since 1984.I wasn't disappointed. "Capp Street Carnival" is an authentic, straightforward story with a good message that kids and adults should all enjoy. Sandra Dutton includes everyday details of a family with Appalachian roots, but the details are neither trivial nor trite, but authentically human, as all these details serve to reveal and develop the characters in the story. One footnote: Mary Mae's parents reminded me in a way of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet in "Pride and Prejudice" (Jane Austin). Not to say that it's a retelling of the same story. But "Capp Street Carnival" could perhaps be a very distant (American) cousin.One wonders whether the author has more Mary Mae stories in store for her readers. I hope so.

Sandra Dutton's wonderful story of eleven-year-old Mary Mae Krebs had me chuckling from page to page to see how her heroine's good-natured meddling in the love life of the family boarder, Annabelle, would turn out. Mary Mae's mother thinks Leroy, an assistant manager of the Rise'n Shine poultry company is a promising catch for Annabelle. But precocious Mary Mae can spot a phony in a heartbeat. When she finds out that Annabelle is engaged to the "wrong" man, Mary Mae makes it her mission to convince Annabelle to marry for love, not prestige. This guitar-toting schoolgirl never misses an opportunity to speak up or write a song about her keen observations of life -- especially adult peculiarities. "Tell you the truth," Mary Mae says, "I don't know why grownups can't handle more than one event in a week. You just go to one, then you just go to the other." It is this matter-of-fact reasoning that creates some splendid dialogue between Mary Mae, her friends at school and the adults in her world. My favorite comments in the book take place in Mary Mae's uncensored head as narrator of the story. Dutton is a gifted visual writer. Her sensory language and attention to detail are noteworthy. In describing Leroy, Mary Mae says,"So here he was at 7:20, all duded up in a brown suit, collar so tight his neck looked like crescent rolls." Dutton has crafted the story in Appalachian dialect. This is what makes the story so magical and believable. I grew up in Cincinnati and majored in English at Ohio University, located in the foothills of Appalachia. The book's language is authentic because I also taught students who used the same vernacular. Dutton is accurate in her descriptions of the Cincinnati area -- right down to the four-way chili! This book would be a great addition to any school or public library. It is the perfect book to read aloud to a group of children because of Dutton's rhythmic writing and the fun antics of Mary Mae. Although it is considered a children's story -- adults just might have the last laugh.