By Awnali Mills
It’s Key West, Florida in the height of the Depression. Beans Curry is the leader of a gang of boys who knows what’s what, and he’s determined to help his family out in this time of trouble. In the meantime, he has a reputation as a top marble player to defend, and two little brothers to take care of. He hasn’t been around all that long, but long enough to know that most grownups cannot be trusted, because they’re a bunch of lying liars. So when a Northerner shows up in weird Bermuda shorts and proposes to turn things around for Key West, Beans is not sure whether he can be trusted. But trusting him just may be the only chance that Beans has to save his family from certain disaster.
I loved Bean’s story. The book was published in 2016, but was a Virginia Reader’s Choice Award book for this year. I hadn’t read it before, so I took the plunge, and I’m so glad I did. Holm gives an accurate depiction of Key West during the Depression years, and her slang is spot-on. I loved that she actually interviewed people who lived in Key West during the Depression as part of her preparation for her story, and I enjoyed her short explanation of historical context in the end of the book.
Beans is not perfect, and he does some unfortunate things, but he learns from his mistakes and grows from them. I found it refreshing that Beans steadfastly refuses to admit girls into his circle, and even claims to hate the girl that he holds hands with in a theater. How true to the character of most boys of that age! I found his story reminiscent of The Great Brain, which my daughter and I both adored. Give this book to 3-5th graders who have an entrepreneurial spirit, or who enjoy a good historical fiction.
The Librarian Is on The Loose 