The Boy on Cinnamon Street

Stone, Phoebe. The Boy on Cinnamon Street.  Arthur A. Levine Books (2012). ISBN 978-0545215121

Plot Summary

                Louise is in the seventh grade.  When the story opens, we find her just as she becomes a different person.  She quits her gymnastics team, she is now living with her grandparents, and only has two, albeit amazing and loyal, friends – Reni and Henderson.  Then one day Louise starts to receive mysterious love letters and other items from a secret admirer.  Louise spends most of the book thinking it is the pizza delivery boy but is never able to really connect with him.  Whenever she sees him or tries to talk with him, he seems clueless as to what she is talking about. 

                Louise has blocked out terrible events in her past, sparking the life changes we find her in.  When she finally remembers the circumstances surrounding her mother’s death, and the absence of her father, it is more than Louise can take.  With the help of her friends, and a surprising budding relationship, Louise is able to start to come to terms with what happened and start her life again.

Critical Evaluation

                This book held much deeper messages than at first glance.  Louise clearly has some emotional problems that she refuses to address. When she finally is forced to address them, the big one being her mom’s death, she reacts like most kids would react – she takes to her bed.  When she finally comes out of it, she starts to realize who she is and how she can live without her parents.  There are themes of self-acceptance as Reni, quite obviously, has self-esteem issues as does Louise, in a slightly less apparent way. 

                The naiveté of the girls, Reni and Louise, can be taxing at times.  Why are they so certain that the pizza guy is the secret admirer?  How can neither of them see that Henderson is the one in love with Louise?  It does get frustrating, but teen readers may be able to relate a bit better.  This book is a sweet, fun read with a few splashes of seriousness added in.

Reader’s Annotation

Come solve the mystery of Louise’s past and figure out who her secret admirer is in the present.

Author’s Information

Phoebe Stone started out as a painter and never had any interest in writing until later in life.  Since she has started writing, her books have received many starred reviews from review sources such as Kirkus Reviews and Hornbook.  Check out what else she has written here: http://www.phoebestone.com/.

Genre

Realistic Fiction

Book Talking Ideas

                A good topic to discuss would be the mystery of having a secret admirer.  It may be too obvious to the reader who it is, but maybe not at that age.  The characters speak for themselves.  I may read some of Henderson’s lines or Grandpa’s.  Perhaps I’d say something about reading this book if you’ve lost someone close to you. 

Reading Level/Interest

10/12+

Challenge Issues

                I don’t really see any challenge issues arising with this book.  It is very clean and while some of the subject matter is heart-wrenching, it doesn’t go too in depth to make any parents nervous.

Why Include This Title?

I felt this title was a good mixture between light-hearted YA fiction and the more serious subjects present in the overall genre.  A wide range of teens will like this book, even if that range does begin a little lower in the teens.  I don’t feel as if this book wouldn’t be interesting to older teens – in fact I think they’d enjoy the subtle humor presented.