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Macaroni Boy
Katherine Ayres Random House 2003 |
This book was about a boy named Mike and his family in 1933. The family owned a store called Costa Brothers Fine Foods. Mike has to deal with many things, like rats in his father’s shop, his sick grandfather, and a boy named Andy Simms who has chosen Mike to bully. Mike’s family has money stored to hold them over until the depression is over, so their finances are not an issue in his house. He catches a sneaky rat who has been stealing the cheese off his traps, and begins testing things on it that could possible make his grandfather sick. It will be a real surprise to readers where the answer to the mystery will come from.
I really enjoyed reading this book by Katherine Ayres. It helped me understand more about the Depression and at the same time see what life would have been like for the more fortunate families. I would recommend this book to a sixth or seventh grader who liked historical fiction or mystery stories. I thought the vocabulary level was low and the story was basically easy to understand. I also felt that the ending was predictable, but would not be for a younger reader. Readers will learn a lot from this book and I hope they enjoy it.
~Abi Dawson, 8th grade, Boardman Center Middle School, Boardman, Ohio