My Second Newbery Book This Year

I just finished reading Criss Cross by Lynne Rae Perkins. Hey with a name like that it should be excellent, right? This was the second of the twelve Newbery Award winners I plan to read this year as part of my new year’s resolutions. I gave this book the “It was OK” rating on my GoodReads page. I should have been warned by the tag line on the cover, “She wishes something would happen”—and so did I! Even near the end of the book when something fairly dramatic happens, the whole book is written in this awful “ho-hum” voice. The other thing that annoyed me about this book was that the author uses several unorthodox styles (song lyrics, haiku, dual column POV) that seem more gimmicky and “look how brilliant I am” then a truly effective communication method. I’m going to give Newbery one more try and if I read another dud—I’m giving up on this resolution.