youth fiction Archives - Awful Library Books

Friday Fiction: J.T.

December 3, 2021 Holly Friday Fiction 12 comments

J.T.
Wagner
1969

Submitter: This library book is still out there, living in a public library in NY. As soon as I read the first sentence inside the front cover, I knew I should submit it here. Published in 1969, it is a sad story about a sweet boy who is trying his best. The language however is so out of date it’s almost alarming! Pictures by Gordon Parks Jr. wouldn’t even have me keeping this, if it were in my library.

Holly: Apparently there’s a movie of this book, and you can watch it here. The shadowy pictures and the pure outdatedness (do kids know what a transistor radio is?) make this an easy weeder for most public and school libraries.

Thanksgiving Fiction for the Kids

Smashed Potatoes
and other Thanksgiving Disasters
Murphy
1994

Someone had to remind me that this week is Thanksgiving week. It is one of my favorite holidays since it really requires nothing but some turkey and the Detroit Lions failing to win a football game. Usually we post fiction on a Friday, but since I have a Thanksgiving title, we will be featuring this one before the holiday.

This one is for the middle elementary set. The family is preparing for the holiday when Mom is called away to help a relative who is ill. Mom sets a reservation at a local place since she won’t be there to cook. (Evidently, Dad is too incompetent to cook as well.) Megan decides this isn’t how they should do Thanksgiving dinner and cancels the reservation. She is going to step up and cook. Of course, nothing goes to plan and Megan realizes her dinner is fast becoming a disaster. However, she eventually realizes that Thanksgiving is really about family togetherness.