Review: Raymie Nightingale by Kate DiCamillo

Read: March 26-April 2, 2016
Rating: 3 of 5 stars
Pages: 272
Genres: Realistic fiction

Blurb from Goodreads:

"Raymie Clarke has come to realize that everything, absolutely everything, depends on her. And she has a plan. If Raymie can win the Little Miss Central Florida Tire competition, then her father, who left town two days ago with a dental hygienist, will see Raymie's picture in the paper and (maybe) come home. To win, not only does Raymie have to do good deeds and learn how to twirl a baton; she also has to contend with the wispy, frequently fainting Louisiana Elefante, who has a show-business background, and the fiery, stubborn Beverly Tapinski, who’s determined to sabotage the contest. But as the competition approaches, loneliness, loss, and unanswerable questions draw the three girls into an unlikely friendship — and challenge each of them to come to the rescue in unexpected ways."

And here we have another book I received as an ARC, woo hoo!  My copy even had all the intended campaigns, release dates, and stuff....

Anyways.

Put simply...this was one of those short and sweet stories for me.  The ones that need little to no brain power to understand.  AND THIS IS A GOOD THING.  After reading a plethora of English novels and squeezing out every single little detail of significance as humanly possible, this kind of story is...very pleasing.

Anyways.

The characters were quite diverse.  And I loved them all!  Although, I did have a love-hate relationship with Beverly's attitude though.  Her indifference towards...almost everything was annoying...and to balance her attitude, Louisiana, seemed overly optimistic or dramatic...also annoying...and Raymie...she was the mediator between the two, I guess!

Yes, I do realise that I contradicted myself a little there...it made sense in my head, anyway....

So!  Baton twirling!  I've heard of such a thing before...and reading about it in this book...I decided to do some Googling, and WOW, I want to learn how to twirl a baton now, too!

I enjoyed reading about this little crusade.  Raymie, trying to win the contest so that her dad will come back, Beverly, trying to sabotage the contest because her mom enters her every year, and Louisiana, trying to win the contest because the winner receives a large check...and she needs that money so that she can have a proper place to live, and proper food to eat.

All the mini adventures this little trio have were amusing, and at times, even touching.

And the ending!  In case you were wondering...Raymie DOES get to communicate with her father at the end...but the results are nowhere near satisfying!  Not only that...I found the entire ending to be...lacking.  I wanted to know more of their lives after the contest ended....ah wells.

Something I found peculiar: most of the books I've been reading have had a missing or despondent parental figure, usually the father.

Anyways.

Can you twirl a baton? 

What was the last good deed you did?