Broken Bike Boy and the Queen of 33rd Street
by Sharon Flake
Hyperion Books for Children, 2009, 144pp.,$15.95,
Adolescent Fiction,
ISBN: 9781423100355
“Our carriage is special. It only carries royalty. Queens,”…
This story is narrated by an outspoken, spoiled, stuck-up, ten year old young lady by the name of Queen Marie Rosseau who is the youngest amongst three older brothers in college. Throughout the story we learn how Queen alienates her best friend, classmates and Mrs. McBride her 5th grade teacher. Queen treats her one friend, classmates and teacher like her royal subjects. However, she uses the following line as her justification for her inappropriate behavior…“A queen’s subjects don’t always like her…” this comment explains why her behavior is the main source of contention throughout the book. Her teacher, Mrs. McBride dislikes her constant attention seeking behavior but believes Queen has the capability to improve. In this statement Mrs. McBride clearly lets Queen know she will not stand for her behavior under any circumstances...”Young lady, you have a long way to go before you learn to conduct yourself like a real queen.” As the story continues a new boy by the name of Leroy Wright joins her 5th grade class. Along the way her parents befriended Leroy and forced her to be nice to him in spite of her hatred for him. In her journey to expose him she comes in contact with a man by the name of Cornelius who is Leroy’s neighbor. Eventually the advice of her parents, Symone, Leroy and Cornelius help her to understand the importance of friendship and imagination.
Young readers between the ages of 12 to 16 would enjoy this fiction storyline. The focus of this easy to read book is friendship and fantasy. Teachers can easily add this book to their classroom collections as it welcomes the reader who wants a fairy tale ending. In my opinion, this book is not written as well as some of her other writings like Bang or Who Am I Without Him?: Short Stories About Girls and the Boys in Their Lives. Flake is lacking her normal capturing of the audience drama and excitement all of which cause the reader to buy-in to her characters and storyline. The author utilizes vivid pictures to assist the young reader who requires visuals to better understand the storyline. These pictorials allow the reader to fantasize themselves as a possible character in the story. Flake uses extremely easy vocabulary/terminology for the reader who may be below reading level in your class but who enjoys reading.
Interested in other African American authors who write adolescent fiction books which focus on friendship and how to overcome hurt, then check out the following:
Darkness Before Dawn (Hazelwood High Trilogy #3)
by Sharon M. Draper
Who Am I Without Him?: Short Stories About Girls and the Boys in Their Lives by Sharon Flake
Delana-
ReplyDeleteI liked all the negative adjectives you used to describe this "young lady" in your opening sentence. It's kind of funny to think that anybody with these attributes could be describe as a "young lady." I think this would be a great read aloud, maybe a chapter a day. Queen seems quite feisty and rambunctious. I'm sure my students would enjoy hearing about her. Also, the story seems to touch upon something my grandmother told me years ago "you have to be a friend to make a friend." It seems like Queen had to learn this the hard way.
There are a few places where there is no space between the last letter of a word and the start of quotation marks. Also, I think you should separate the end of your remarks from the intended audience. I like the way you provided links to other books. All in all you did a great job!
Hi Delana,
ReplyDeleteThe Queen sounds like a girl we teachers all know well at some point or another! Be sure to include your critical/analytical review of the book: what was good? bad? why? You'll want to spend about 1/2 your review on summary and the other 1/2 on your assessment. Also, be sure to mention how other books connect to these particular books. Happy reading!