Newberry Winner Goes Down the Drain From an Eleven Year-olds Perspective 

By Abby

Ginger Pye: By Eleanor Estes

The "typical family" who live in the quaint town of Cranbury, fill the town with abnormality and spunk. An intelligent fox terrier and two siblings are separated when precious Ginger Pye is stolen by a dog-thief. I do not recommend this "gleeful" book because of its uncreative and basic plot. In Ginger Pye, Eleanor Estes writes a predictable mystery with undeveloped characters.

What happened to Newberry Medal-winning Ginger Pye? Where did she go wrong? In the first chapter, Estes has a chance to explain her characters, instead she chooses to start the plot immediately. It seems as though she would rather blab about unimportant events than happenings that are related to the situation. Estes attempts to write a wholesome and suspenseful mystery, but fails due to lack of plot. Two children who's dog is stolen is unoriginal and vague. It lacks specific events, a rich vocabulary, and has completely undeveloped characters. 

This is more of a corny bedtime story than a children's classic that deserves a Newberry Award. Two thumbs down, this Newberry Winner has certainly gone down the drain.