  | Full Text Reviews: School Library Journal - 03/01/2018 Gr 4–6—When her mother passes away, Reenie and her family go to live with her grandmother. To help her adjust, Reenie starts a paper route with her older brother Dare. As she begins to introduce herself to the people on her route, she meets a hermit named Mr. Marsworth. Slowly, the two become pen pals. When Reenie tells the elderly man that her older brother Billy wants to enlist to fight in the Vietnam War, Mr. Marsworth helps her concoct a plan to keep him home. Despite Reenie feeling more mature than a typical 11-year-old, O'Connor's characters are intriguing and easy to love. References to pop culture (the Beetles) and historical events (the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.) are peppered throughout Reenie's letters. O'Connor also incorporates opposing attitudes toward the Vietnam War into the narrative. The plot is well developed and the author throws some interesting curve balls into the story that keep readers engaged and wanting more. However, the epistolary format may be a turn off for some students. VERDICT An easy addition to libraries where Gary D. Schmidt's Wednesday Wars is popular.—Kira Moody, Salt Lake County Library Services - Copyright 2018 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission. Booklist - 03/01/2018 In 1968, over a year after their mother’s death, 11-year-old Reenie and her brothers go to live with their grandmother in a small Minnesota community. After introducing herself to customers on her new paper route, Reenie begins leaving long messages for the one she’s never met, Mr. Marsworth. In her many diary-like letters, Reenie comes across as chatty, emotional, impulsive, determined, and naive, while her reclusive neighbor, in his infrequent return notes, sounds intelligent, reserved, astute, and worldly. Reenie reports on her life, complete with scenes and dialogue. She shares her worries about her 18-year-old brother, who doesn’t want to fight in Vietnam but can’t afford to attend college in order to avoid the draft. Mr. Marsworth, who has suffered imprisonment, hostility, and harassment since refusing to serve in WWI, is sympathetic and practical. Despite the unconvincing premise that an 11-year-old would write such letters to an elderly stranger, and the revelation of a melodramatic secret near the story’s end, the novel has strengths as well, including Reenie’s effervescent voice and the well-developed main characters. - Copyright 2018 Booklist. Loading...
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