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میگل فکر می‌کن� دیگر بزرگ شده است واین تابستان می‌توان� همراه مردهای دیگر خانواده گوسفندها را به کوه‌ها� سانگره دِ کریستو ببرد. اما پدرش هنوز مخالف است. پس میگل حسابی دعا می‌کن� تا بالاخره با سربازی رفتن برادر بزرگش، مردها مجبور می‌شون� او را با خود ببرند. و این داستان زندگی چوپانی مردم دره ریو گرانده است.
179 pages
First published January 1, 1953
24 people are currently reading
3,093 people want to read
About the author
Joseph Krumgold
13books17followers In addition to being a renowned author of books for young readers, Joseph Quincy Krumgold was a scriptwriter for several well-known movies, including "Seven Miles From Alcatraz" (1942) and "Dream No More" (1953). While he did not have a great number of books published over the span of his writing career, Joseph Krumgold became the first author to win the John Newbery Medal for two different books, "...And Now Miguel" (published in 1953), and "Onion John" (published in 1959).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 244 reviews
October 2, 2020
As we approached page 121 of this read aloud last night, my 10-year-old slowly slumped forward on the bed, a finger plugged in each ear. She didn't say a word, just slowly fell forward in silence.
I pulled her left finger out of her left ear and said, “What's up, honey?�
She looked up at me with glazed eyes and said, “I can't listen to one more word of this story.�
I looked over at my 12-year-old, who was busy sketching a picture of an animal (not a sheep), and, without looking up, she said, “It's over, Mom.�
Over?
Over for Miguel? The boy who wanted to grow up quickly so he could be a shepherd of his father's flock? The boy who aspired to climb the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of his native New Mexico, circa 1953?
“Over, Mom. Over.�
I pulled her left finger out of her left ear and said, “What's up, honey?�
She looked up at me with glazed eyes and said, “I can't listen to one more word of this story.�
I looked over at my 12-year-old, who was busy sketching a picture of an animal (not a sheep), and, without looking up, she said, “It's over, Mom.�
Over?
Over for Miguel? The boy who wanted to grow up quickly so he could be a shepherd of his father's flock? The boy who aspired to climb the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of his native New Mexico, circa 1953?
“Over, Mom. Over.�
December 22, 2020
This was it.
This was the minute that divided everything. All the time before from what was here. Until this minute, everything important was ahead, what was coming, to wait for. From this minute, it was different. The most important thing was happening right now. To hope and to be afraid, to plan, that time was ended. There was nothing to do except in this minute, and that was to look and to breathe and to stand here, where I was.
This was it, the minute. And from then on, each minute was the same. pg. 236
This book won the Newbery Award in 1954.
I didn't really know what to expect. It's about a family of latino shepherds in New Mexico. The MC is a boy of 12 who is desperate to be a man. Not due to any machismo or interest in females, or etc. but simply because he wants to work. He wants to work like the men in his family and have his dad look him in the eye and shake his hand and treat him as an equal.
Miguel works very hard to make this happen. He's a child, with a child's thinking, but he's also a hard worker who takes every opportunity to prove himself to his father that he's smart and capable and strong.
Let's answer some basic questions.
Is the writer talented?
Yes, Krumgold is talented. He has a good grasp on the way little boys think and the way their minds work.
I found Miguel quite charming. He was so earnest, so sincere, and he took himself so seriously. It was amusing as a grown-up to read this. You can't fault him, he's not lazy or dishonest. He's a great kid. And his family is lucky he's so intensely interested in the family business.
The writing is good, I liked Krumgold's prose and his way of illustrating an idea or concept. There were plenty of parts of the book I would highlight and hold up as examples of good writing.
I also think Krumgold really captured an essential truth about children - the way they see the world and want to tell people about it, but aren't allowed to. A running 'gag,' or maybe 'plot point' is a better word, in the book is that Miguel has important things to tell adults in his life, but the adults always interrupt and never let him tell his story unimpeded. They make assumptions, they jump to conclusions, they dismiss the importance or the meaning of his accounts because he is a child. This leaves him feeling frustrated and dismissed. This is true, I see this every single day in children. It's why I listen to children and don't interrupt (if I can help it) because as an adult it IS your instinct to dominate children, to dismiss them, to twerk what they are saying to fit your own worldview, and to brush aside their feelings and ideas as if they were inconsequential and stupid. No matter how 'good' of an adult you think you are, this is a very ingrained instinct. I try to curb it in myself, but I feel like most adults do not try to curb it. Especially in 1953? LOL
Poor Miguel doesn't get anyone to truly listen to him until he has a heart-to-heart with his nineteen-year old brother on page 194. It's such a relief to both Miguel and the reader. Perhaps it's easier for Gabriel because he is a bit younger than the other adults, to take Miguel seriously. Which is all Miguel wants - to be taken seriously.
One of the greatest gifts you can give a child is to listen to him/her and take him/her seriously.
Would you recommend this book to children?
No, I would not. I can't think of a single child who would be interested in this book. I know it's well-written and has won the Newbery, but... it's mainly about sheep-farming. I can't think of a single child who would want to read this. Of course, there are going to be exceptions, all children are different, but I think it would be a hard sell. The Little House on the Prairie book series is more appealing to children, while also heavily focusing on 'olden day work' IMO.
There's also other themes. Like prayers/wishing, if prayers are answered, be-careful-what-you-wish-for and etc. I know I'm an adult but I find this all to be bullshit. Oh, well, it's Catholic and it features Catholic thinking. The brothers do have an interesting discussion about praying/wishing, and if prayers/wishes come true and at what cost, and an analysis of the Lord's Prayer that I found interesting.
The book is also quite male-centric. It's not COMPLETELY male-centric, like so many 'children's books' kids are forced to read in school in which nary a female graces the page, but this is all about men and being a man and men-eat-first and Big Man type of narrative which is correct and accurate for the period and culture but kind of a downer to shove in the hands of a girl-child and tell her it's great literature. This has happened for years and years. Curriculum has changed a lot from when I was a child, however. I feel like it's being updated now. And plenty of books, even books with male MCs have female side characters who feature. I'm not against books with boy MCs at all, in fact some of my favorite children's books feature male MCs. But there are books which disappear females completely. This isn't one of them, but it's pretty damn close. Miguel's mother makes one or two appearances and his babbling little sister crops up a dozen times. So it could be worse. I'm simply pointing it out, though.
Another 'issue' is that, of course, Joseph Krumgold is white and he's writing about latino experience. Honestly, in the 'old days' this was normal. Expected. White men and white women frequently wrote about POCs. Nowadays, I doubt Krumgold would win a Newbery for this, despite the writing skillz on display. Instead he'd be lashed and punished for presuming he could capture a latino experience.
People complain about children's books not being very racially diverse. However, IMO children's literature is one of the few genres that is very racially diverse and has been for a long time. YA and adult books, I think, struggled more with racial diversity in MCs. HOWEVER, if you are talking about being racially diverse in the area of AUTHORS, there's a real problem. Even though I read about plenty of nonwhite children as MCs growing up, the authors writing about them were invariably white. If you look at a list of the past Newbery winners and honorary books, this is shown again and again and again. It's only recently people have started to say POC people should write about POC characters.
Some white people write great books about POC. I don't believe that if you are white you only can write about white people, or if you are black you can only write about black people, etc. etc. For me, the book comes first (is it a good book or not?) and the race (and sex) of the MCs and author comes after that. But I am glad there is more racial diversity in authorship nowadays than in the '50s, '60s, '70s, '80s, and '90s. Even the 2000s was pretty bad. You have to go to 2010+ to really get people to focus on having racially diverse authors.
Just an interesting tidbit about how we've awarded and lauded children's literature in the past.
And once when I went over to clean up where he was working he called over to my father. "This new hand of yours, Twister, he's worth two men. You're lucky, Chavez, to get him. A man like that."
"Lucky? My father shook his head. "When we need a good man, we don't depend on luck. We raise them." That's what he said, my father, without a smile, serious.
It made me work twice as hard. pg. 150
TL;DR I enjoyed this book as an adult reader. I thought Miguel was endearing, looking at him through the eyes of an adult woman who speaks to children often and deals with children's everyday lives and thoughts.
However, I would not be eager to recommend this book to a child. I simply don't think it would hold most children's interest. That's just my personal opinion based on my experiences. There's other children's literature out there - even other Newbery winners - that I think a child would delight in. This doesn't fall into that category for me.
NAMES IN THIS BOOK:
This was the minute that divided everything. All the time before from what was here. Until this minute, everything important was ahead, what was coming, to wait for. From this minute, it was different. The most important thing was happening right now. To hope and to be afraid, to plan, that time was ended. There was nothing to do except in this minute, and that was to look and to breathe and to stand here, where I was.
This was it, the minute. And from then on, each minute was the same. pg. 236
This book won the Newbery Award in 1954.
I didn't really know what to expect. It's about a family of latino shepherds in New Mexico. The MC is a boy of 12 who is desperate to be a man. Not due to any machismo or interest in females, or etc. but simply because he wants to work. He wants to work like the men in his family and have his dad look him in the eye and shake his hand and treat him as an equal.
Miguel works very hard to make this happen. He's a child, with a child's thinking, but he's also a hard worker who takes every opportunity to prove himself to his father that he's smart and capable and strong.
Let's answer some basic questions.
Is the writer talented?
Yes, Krumgold is talented. He has a good grasp on the way little boys think and the way their minds work.
I found Miguel quite charming. He was so earnest, so sincere, and he took himself so seriously. It was amusing as a grown-up to read this. You can't fault him, he's not lazy or dishonest. He's a great kid. And his family is lucky he's so intensely interested in the family business.
The writing is good, I liked Krumgold's prose and his way of illustrating an idea or concept. There were plenty of parts of the book I would highlight and hold up as examples of good writing.
I also think Krumgold really captured an essential truth about children - the way they see the world and want to tell people about it, but aren't allowed to. A running 'gag,' or maybe 'plot point' is a better word, in the book is that Miguel has important things to tell adults in his life, but the adults always interrupt and never let him tell his story unimpeded. They make assumptions, they jump to conclusions, they dismiss the importance or the meaning of his accounts because he is a child. This leaves him feeling frustrated and dismissed. This is true, I see this every single day in children. It's why I listen to children and don't interrupt (if I can help it) because as an adult it IS your instinct to dominate children, to dismiss them, to twerk what they are saying to fit your own worldview, and to brush aside their feelings and ideas as if they were inconsequential and stupid. No matter how 'good' of an adult you think you are, this is a very ingrained instinct. I try to curb it in myself, but I feel like most adults do not try to curb it. Especially in 1953? LOL
Poor Miguel doesn't get anyone to truly listen to him until he has a heart-to-heart with his nineteen-year old brother on page 194. It's such a relief to both Miguel and the reader. Perhaps it's easier for Gabriel because he is a bit younger than the other adults, to take Miguel seriously. Which is all Miguel wants - to be taken seriously.
One of the greatest gifts you can give a child is to listen to him/her and take him/her seriously.
Would you recommend this book to children?
No, I would not. I can't think of a single child who would be interested in this book. I know it's well-written and has won the Newbery, but... it's mainly about sheep-farming. I can't think of a single child who would want to read this. Of course, there are going to be exceptions, all children are different, but I think it would be a hard sell. The Little House on the Prairie book series is more appealing to children, while also heavily focusing on 'olden day work' IMO.
There's also other themes. Like prayers/wishing, if prayers are answered, be-careful-what-you-wish-for and etc. I know I'm an adult but I find this all to be bullshit. Oh, well, it's Catholic and it features Catholic thinking. The brothers do have an interesting discussion about praying/wishing, and if prayers/wishes come true and at what cost, and an analysis of the Lord's Prayer that I found interesting.
The book is also quite male-centric. It's not COMPLETELY male-centric, like so many 'children's books' kids are forced to read in school in which nary a female graces the page, but this is all about men and being a man and men-eat-first and Big Man type of narrative which is correct and accurate for the period and culture but kind of a downer to shove in the hands of a girl-child and tell her it's great literature. This has happened for years and years. Curriculum has changed a lot from when I was a child, however. I feel like it's being updated now. And plenty of books, even books with male MCs have female side characters who feature. I'm not against books with boy MCs at all, in fact some of my favorite children's books feature male MCs. But there are books which disappear females completely. This isn't one of them, but it's pretty damn close. Miguel's mother makes one or two appearances and his babbling little sister crops up a dozen times. So it could be worse. I'm simply pointing it out, though.
Another 'issue' is that, of course, Joseph Krumgold is white and he's writing about latino experience. Honestly, in the 'old days' this was normal. Expected. White men and white women frequently wrote about POCs. Nowadays, I doubt Krumgold would win a Newbery for this, despite the writing skillz on display. Instead he'd be lashed and punished for presuming he could capture a latino experience.
People complain about children's books not being very racially diverse. However, IMO children's literature is one of the few genres that is very racially diverse and has been for a long time. YA and adult books, I think, struggled more with racial diversity in MCs. HOWEVER, if you are talking about being racially diverse in the area of AUTHORS, there's a real problem. Even though I read about plenty of nonwhite children as MCs growing up, the authors writing about them were invariably white. If you look at a list of the past Newbery winners and honorary books, this is shown again and again and again. It's only recently people have started to say POC people should write about POC characters.
Some white people write great books about POC. I don't believe that if you are white you only can write about white people, or if you are black you can only write about black people, etc. etc. For me, the book comes first (is it a good book or not?) and the race (and sex) of the MCs and author comes after that. But I am glad there is more racial diversity in authorship nowadays than in the '50s, '60s, '70s, '80s, and '90s. Even the 2000s was pretty bad. You have to go to 2010+ to really get people to focus on having racially diverse authors.
Just an interesting tidbit about how we've awarded and lauded children's literature in the past.
And once when I went over to clean up where he was working he called over to my father. "This new hand of yours, Twister, he's worth two men. You're lucky, Chavez, to get him. A man like that."
"Lucky? My father shook his head. "When we need a good man, we don't depend on luck. We raise them." That's what he said, my father, without a smile, serious.
It made me work twice as hard. pg. 150
TL;DR I enjoyed this book as an adult reader. I thought Miguel was endearing, looking at him through the eyes of an adult woman who speaks to children often and deals with children's everyday lives and thoughts.
However, I would not be eager to recommend this book to a child. I simply don't think it would hold most children's interest. That's just my personal opinion based on my experiences. There's other children's literature out there - even other Newbery winners - that I think a child would delight in. This doesn't fall into that category for me.
NAMES IN THIS BOOK:
March 27, 2015
I was impressed with this book. I came into it expecting to dislike it. I mean how can a book about a shepherd family be that exciting? But there wasn't a moment of the book that I really didn't like. I totally got Miguel's desire to grow up fast and to be a part of the annual trip to the mountains. I was entertained by his constant scheming to obtain his desire. Things went well somedays, but somedays everything fell apart, like when he fell into the wool bag, and was too embarrassed to call out for help. When he got his wish, and it cost his family something big, it lead to some really big questions about the nature of life, wishes and the futility of trying to plan out your future. I love it when a kid's book gets really deep, and this book did so at the perfect moment, right at the end, so that it leaves you thinking.
April 15, 2018
The Good: So . . . it’s a book about sheep? Okay. When I was a kid, I loved animal books, and I might have liked learning about sheep. The story gives the reader a glimpse into the life of rural New Mexican shepherds. Miguel has a strong bond with his family. He’s eager to grow up and become a shepherd like his father, uncles, and brothers. I always like seeing functional families in children’s literature. They’re becoming rare these days. Miguel comes from a big family, and I understand why he would feel overshadowed by his older siblings and want to be like them.
The Bad: I guess this is a black sheep review (haha, see what I did there?) because I kind of hate this book. If it wasn’t a Newbery winner, I wouldn’t have finished it. Everything about it got on my nerves. It’s cool for a book to teach kids about sheep, but I wish the sheep facts had been blended with other elements of Miguel’s life. Unfortunately, Miguel has no life. It’s just all sheep all the time! Even when Miguel goes to school and sees his friends, they only talk about sheep! The kid needs a hobby or something.
The dialect is tedious to read. I understand that Miguel’s first language isn’t English, but 247 pages of dialect slowed down my reading and made a boring book even more boring.
Miguel is frustratingly immature. He wants his father to take him to the mountains, so he invents schemes to show how grown-up he is. Shouldn’t scheme #1 be asking his father if he can go? Why doesn’t he just ask? I guess his immaturity is realistic, but I still wanted to shake him.
The Bottom Line: My least-favorite Newbery winner so far.
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The Bad: I guess this is a black sheep review (haha, see what I did there?) because I kind of hate this book. If it wasn’t a Newbery winner, I wouldn’t have finished it. Everything about it got on my nerves. It’s cool for a book to teach kids about sheep, but I wish the sheep facts had been blended with other elements of Miguel’s life. Unfortunately, Miguel has no life. It’s just all sheep all the time! Even when Miguel goes to school and sees his friends, they only talk about sheep! The kid needs a hobby or something.
The dialect is tedious to read. I understand that Miguel’s first language isn’t English, but 247 pages of dialect slowed down my reading and made a boring book even more boring.
Miguel is frustratingly immature. He wants his father to take him to the mountains, so he invents schemes to show how grown-up he is. Shouldn’t scheme #1 be asking his father if he can go? Why doesn’t he just ask? I guess his immaturity is realistic, but I still wanted to shake him.
The Bottom Line: My least-favorite Newbery winner so far.
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February 9, 2018
I'm not sure that I would have enjoyed this when I was a child, but now I can appreciate the craftsmanship, the themes, etc. The details about raising sheep are interesting, and those I would definitely enjoyed even more as a child. Also, terrific choice to introduce us to the traditions of this way of life, giving us a sense that this timeless historical fiction... and then revealing that it's actually almost contemporary to its publication.
I do have to admit that I'm not fond of the pictures, though. Sure they're by a real artist, an influential figure, but they don't do it for me.
The first-person narration is very well-done. To my ears, it really does seem like I'm hearing this young boy tell us the story. The vocabulary, the rhythm, the perspective, all ring true to the voice of a child of that culture and time.
(Is this one of the first notable children's books to use first-person? It just doesn't seem familiar to me. And modern books, all too often, use it but have the child say things that no real child ever would.)
I also appreciate that the boy himself seems real. Sometimes there is joy and laughter, sometimes he gets angry, even a bit mean, and sometimes he's almost whiny. Still a good kid, certainly. Just authentic instead of a saintly role model of the kind common in older (lesser) children's books.
I do have to admit that I'm not fond of the pictures, though. Sure they're by a real artist, an influential figure, but they don't do it for me.
The first-person narration is very well-done. To my ears, it really does seem like I'm hearing this young boy tell us the story. The vocabulary, the rhythm, the perspective, all ring true to the voice of a child of that culture and time.
(Is this one of the first notable children's books to use first-person? It just doesn't seem familiar to me. And modern books, all too often, use it but have the child say things that no real child ever would.)
I also appreciate that the boy himself seems real. Sometimes there is joy and laughter, sometimes he gets angry, even a bit mean, and sometimes he's almost whiny. Still a good kid, certainly. Just authentic instead of a saintly role model of the kind common in older (lesser) children's books.
April 25, 2021
صوتیش رو‌گو� دادم که واقعا عالی بود شاید اگه معمولیش رو‌می‌خوند� انقدر خوشم نمی‌یوم� و حتی برام خسته کننده می‌ش�
بخشی از کتاب:
برای آن که آرزو صورت حقیقت به خود بگیر باید آن را به دیگران گفت هر چند ممکن است به آدم بخندند باید به دیگران گفت و گر نه تنها چیزی که برای آدم باقی می ماند یک راز کوچک است که هیچ ارزشی ندارد
بخشی از کتاب:
برای آن که آرزو صورت حقیقت به خود بگیر باید آن را به دیگران گفت هر چند ممکن است به آدم بخندند باید به دیگران گفت و گر نه تنها چیزی که برای آدم باقی می ماند یک راز کوچک است که هیچ ارزشی ندارد
April 7, 2008
A friend told me this book was a must-read. I saw it on the library shelf one day while browsing and checked it out. Reading was kind of painful. I didn't really like it that much. Sure I learned all about sheep herding, never really gave sheep herding much thought before. I had a hard time with the way the book was written and how slow it moved along.
April 8, 2017
Four authors have won the Newbery Medal twice; Joseph Krumgold is one of them. Yet while I got Onion John's 1960 win, I was admittedly befuddled by ...And Now Miguel. It's not a horrible book by any means, but compared to the two succeeding winners (The Wheel on the School and Carry On, Mr. Bowditch), it clearly comes up short.
The final few chapters have surprising insight, but, alas, most of the novel was a chore to get through. A paragraph about the smell of sheep goes something like this: "Sheep smell like coffee and cigarettes. You know you are smelling sheep because that is what they smell like. I have smelled this smell many times. That is how I know I'm smelling sheep." It's painfully redundant, and, what's worse, this structure isn't uncommon. Also, I'm not sure if Krumgold is simply going for dialect, but the adverb usage in this novel is poor. I lost count of how many times I saw constructions like "he did that real good."
I'm not sure if I'd recommend this novel. While its final few chapters are brilliant, it's quite a slog to get there. It's not a complete disaster, but it's definitively mediocre in the Newbery canon, and there are many better choices focusing on Latino culture (think I, Juan de Pareja or Shadow of a Bull).
The final few chapters have surprising insight, but, alas, most of the novel was a chore to get through. A paragraph about the smell of sheep goes something like this: "Sheep smell like coffee and cigarettes. You know you are smelling sheep because that is what they smell like. I have smelled this smell many times. That is how I know I'm smelling sheep." It's painfully redundant, and, what's worse, this structure isn't uncommon. Also, I'm not sure if Krumgold is simply going for dialect, but the adverb usage in this novel is poor. I lost count of how many times I saw constructions like "he did that real good."
I'm not sure if I'd recommend this novel. While its final few chapters are brilliant, it's quite a slog to get there. It's not a complete disaster, but it's definitively mediocre in the Newbery canon, and there are many better choices focusing on Latino culture (think I, Juan de Pareja or Shadow of a Bull).
April 5, 2017
Newbery Medal Winner--1954.
There is a lot of information about sheep. Like...a lot. In detail.
There was all this build-up for a journey Miguel has been waiting and waiting to go on...you think that maybe THEN we'll stop talking about shearing sheep and marking sheep and breeding sheep and get to some excitement.
Miguel leaves on his trip on page 228. There are only 245 pages.
So...yeah. Just a lot of sheep.
There is a lot of information about sheep. Like...a lot. In detail.
There was all this build-up for a journey Miguel has been waiting and waiting to go on...you think that maybe THEN we'll stop talking about shearing sheep and marking sheep and breeding sheep and get to some excitement.
Miguel leaves on his trip on page 228. There are only 245 pages.
So...yeah. Just a lot of sheep.
Read
November 27, 2015وقتی بچه بودم و هنوز مدرسه نمیرفتم میتونستم بخونم،این رو اولین بار قبل از مدرسه خوندم و یک بار هم چند سال بعدش شاید وقتی ۹-۱۰ ساله بودم
January 15, 2018
I can sum this book up in one word: sheep. It's about sheep. If you're dying to know how to run a sheep farm, this is the book for you. Otherwise, I'd give it a pass.
August 22, 2013
This one hovered between three and four stars for me, but I finally decided it earned the last star because it really was well written. I consistently felt like I should have been enjoying the book more because it the sort of thing that I generally like and was well done at the same time. I guess sometimes one is simply not in the mood for a particular book, and you shouldn't hold that against the book.
For genre I marked both historical and realistic. The book was originally written in the '50's, so some of the setting is probably a bit outdated, but it was realistic fiction at the time of its writing, and it has that feel to it.
The voice was probably the most powerful part of what makes this a distinguished piece of children's literature. I fully believed in Miguel's voice, the way that he thought and the way that he expressed himself. I particularly loved the parts where he had a whole thought process worked out in his head, but then when he tried to talk to a family member they were just confused by what actually came out of his mouth (though sometimes the family member seemed a little obtuse.)
This is another slice of life book, relishing the details of daily living on a sheep farm in middle of the century. Miguel is part of a large extended family of shepherds, and is proud of the traditions of his family. I find it interesting how many of these older books feature a character who is desperate to take on more responsibility, to prove that they can be hard workers. Very seldom do I find contemporary books with similar aspirations, though of course part of that is inherent in the setting. As much as a modern 12 year old might want to show that he is growing up and responsible, there isn't much he can do if his parents work in an office, whereas farmwork lends itself to full family participation, with greater respect and responsibility placed on the shoulders of the children over time.
For genre I marked both historical and realistic. The book was originally written in the '50's, so some of the setting is probably a bit outdated, but it was realistic fiction at the time of its writing, and it has that feel to it.
The voice was probably the most powerful part of what makes this a distinguished piece of children's literature. I fully believed in Miguel's voice, the way that he thought and the way that he expressed himself. I particularly loved the parts where he had a whole thought process worked out in his head, but then when he tried to talk to a family member they were just confused by what actually came out of his mouth (though sometimes the family member seemed a little obtuse.)
This is another slice of life book, relishing the details of daily living on a sheep farm in middle of the century. Miguel is part of a large extended family of shepherds, and is proud of the traditions of his family. I find it interesting how many of these older books feature a character who is desperate to take on more responsibility, to prove that they can be hard workers. Very seldom do I find contemporary books with similar aspirations, though of course part of that is inherent in the setting. As much as a modern 12 year old might want to show that he is growing up and responsible, there isn't much he can do if his parents work in an office, whereas farmwork lends itself to full family participation, with greater respect and responsibility placed on the shoulders of the children over time.
May 7, 2009
I have never, ever wanted to know this much about sheep...ever! This book is about Miguel, a young teenage boy who wants so badly to go with the men in his family on their annual trip to the Sangre de Cristo mountains with the sheep. I didn't really ever care whether he got to or not. I think I would have preferred getting a root canal to reading one more sentence about "will he or won't he?!?" The only good thing I can say about this book is that it's very authentic in terms of the way a child thinks and acts (I thought). The broken English though is so distracting I wanted to throw the book down in disgust. I've never had a children's book take me so long to get through. I obviously don't recommend it.
February 28, 2023
Miguel wants desperately to go with the men on the long sheep drive in the summer, but his father thinks he is too young. Miguel does everything he can to prove himself to his father, but his father's answer is still no. Finally, Miguel resorts to praying to the saint, begging the saint to find a way for Miguel to go on the drive.
Miguel does not anticipate the consequences of his prayer. His father changes his mind, allowing Miguel to go, but at what cost, for what reasons?
This book is a thoughtful look at a boy growing to become a man, suddenly seeing things that were once clearly black or white have become a frightening gray.
Miguel does not anticipate the consequences of his prayer. His father changes his mind, allowing Miguel to go, but at what cost, for what reasons?
This book is a thoughtful look at a boy growing to become a man, suddenly seeing things that were once clearly black or white have become a frightening gray.
March 8, 2021
کتاب صوتیشو با صدای سروش صحت گوش کردم و واقعا فوق العاده بود.داستانی که از تلاش و بزرگ شدن و بذت دیده شدن میگه و تو هر سنی خوندنش لذت بخشه
May 16, 2011
I liked this more than I thought I would, but not much. It's by the same author as Onion John, which started off great and fizzled out. Joseph Krumgold was the first author to win two Newbery awards.
"The truth is, to get Pedro out of bed it is necessary to pull him by the feet, and let him fall on the floor, and then bend the mattress in half so there's no more bed anymore he can get back into."
"A secret of only one person after a while gets too hard to keep. To make it real you have to tell someone else, even though they laugh at you, you've got to tell. Otherwise, all you got left is just one small, dried-up secret that's not worth anything."
(On why a ewe wouldn't want her lamb around) "Perhaps the ewe had a hard time having the lamb born and it hurt her, and she wants to get away from what hurt her. Or maybe the way the lamb feeds may give her, at the beginning, a little pain. Or maybe she is a yearling, a ewe in her first year who is having her first lamb, and she doesn't know what is expected. All sorts of reasons. When anything like this happens, then it is necessary for us to help the, like we say, to mother them up, the ewe and the lamb."
"It wasn't a question of me giving up, it was a question that just everything had given up, me and everything."
"My father put down his hand. When I took it, he pulled me to my feet. It was just as well he helped me, now that it was all over. I could never have got up by myself."
"It's fine to pray except you never know what's going to be. But if you are hungry and you have a plate of food, at least you know soon you won't be hungry anymore."
"To tell you the truth, it was the first thing since that morning which made me feel a little good, seeing Jimmy unhappy. At least he wasn't making jokes and laughing and eating and dancing like everything in the whole world was just fine. The way some people act you'd think there was no reason ever to feel unhappy."
"To hope so much, it's like carrying what's heavy, like too big a load of wood from the woodpile. And you don't know whether to try and drop some halfway, and you're afraid if you do you'll drop the whole load, and if you don't that you'll drop the whole load anyway before you get to the house. Until your brain gets tired from thinking what to do, and your arms feel like they're ready to fall off. So that the next time you just give up and make two trips instead of one. That's the way I felt about hoping. I didn't want to try anymore."
"It took us five days to get up to the place where we had our first regular sheep camp. Each minute was filled with what there was to look at and to breathe in and to feel. Not all were happy, or exciting or like that. There were all kinds of different minutes, filled with something that hurt, even, or something sad, or with being tired. But each one was important alone and by itself. None of them were only part of something that was before or followed after."
"The truth is, to get Pedro out of bed it is necessary to pull him by the feet, and let him fall on the floor, and then bend the mattress in half so there's no more bed anymore he can get back into."
"A secret of only one person after a while gets too hard to keep. To make it real you have to tell someone else, even though they laugh at you, you've got to tell. Otherwise, all you got left is just one small, dried-up secret that's not worth anything."
(On why a ewe wouldn't want her lamb around) "Perhaps the ewe had a hard time having the lamb born and it hurt her, and she wants to get away from what hurt her. Or maybe the way the lamb feeds may give her, at the beginning, a little pain. Or maybe she is a yearling, a ewe in her first year who is having her first lamb, and she doesn't know what is expected. All sorts of reasons. When anything like this happens, then it is necessary for us to help the, like we say, to mother them up, the ewe and the lamb."
"It wasn't a question of me giving up, it was a question that just everything had given up, me and everything."
"My father put down his hand. When I took it, he pulled me to my feet. It was just as well he helped me, now that it was all over. I could never have got up by myself."
"It's fine to pray except you never know what's going to be. But if you are hungry and you have a plate of food, at least you know soon you won't be hungry anymore."
"To tell you the truth, it was the first thing since that morning which made me feel a little good, seeing Jimmy unhappy. At least he wasn't making jokes and laughing and eating and dancing like everything in the whole world was just fine. The way some people act you'd think there was no reason ever to feel unhappy."
"To hope so much, it's like carrying what's heavy, like too big a load of wood from the woodpile. And you don't know whether to try and drop some halfway, and you're afraid if you do you'll drop the whole load, and if you don't that you'll drop the whole load anyway before you get to the house. Until your brain gets tired from thinking what to do, and your arms feel like they're ready to fall off. So that the next time you just give up and make two trips instead of one. That's the way I felt about hoping. I didn't want to try anymore."
"It took us five days to get up to the place where we had our first regular sheep camp. Each minute was filled with what there was to look at and to breathe in and to feel. Not all were happy, or exciting or like that. There were all kinds of different minutes, filled with something that hurt, even, or something sad, or with being tired. But each one was important alone and by itself. None of them were only part of something that was before or followed after."
May 25, 2014
Notes:
Cool facts listed about author Joseph Krumgold and the documentaries that he wrote and produced after a lucrative film career. Although And Now Miguel is certainly a worthwhile book, I believe it would not survive the competition of the 21st century. Also, the Newbery Board’s opinion might possibly have been swayed by admiration for facts noted in the first sentence above.
Things I liked about the book:
1. Miguel himself
----a. very good at heart, and also realistic (he lied just a little, and was mean just once or twice);
----b. extremely hard-working;
----c. deeply respectful of Church and family (culturally ingrained, but nonetheless admirable);
----d. loved his brothers greatly, and was a little envious of the older ones, especially Gabriel;
----e. saw beauty in nature, especially the Sangre de Cristo Mountains;
----f. thought sweetly, even if almost maddeningly repetitive and confusing
2. Authentic
----a. thought as a maturing child would think;
----b. wrote as a bilingual child, even a very smart one, would write (a little inconsistently);
----c. blamed himself when his prayer was “answered� in a way he viewed harmful to Gabriel;
----d. represented Latino culture well;
----e. succeeded after great efforts and hard work;
----f. thought sweetly, even if almost maddeningly repetitive and confusing
3. Strong characterization—knew them well and liked them all
4. Educational
----a. learned lots about sheep and shepherding
----b. loved the way his family tried to treat Miguel as he wanted to be treated
----c. loved that the Chavez family were citizens—almost all Latinos in literature nowadays are portrayed as illegal; good to show both
----d. showed how children can think, sometimes maddeningly repetitive and confusing
Things I did not like about the book:
1. Manuel’s thinking was sometimes (surprise!) too maddeningly repetitive and confusing; I skipped over many pages� worth, especially having to do with St. Ysidro and Gabriel.
2. Too many details about sheep and shepherding; I skipped over many pages� worth
Glad to have read the book!
Cool facts listed about author Joseph Krumgold and the documentaries that he wrote and produced after a lucrative film career. Although And Now Miguel is certainly a worthwhile book, I believe it would not survive the competition of the 21st century. Also, the Newbery Board’s opinion might possibly have been swayed by admiration for facts noted in the first sentence above.
Things I liked about the book:
1. Miguel himself
----a. very good at heart, and also realistic (he lied just a little, and was mean just once or twice);
----b. extremely hard-working;
----c. deeply respectful of Church and family (culturally ingrained, but nonetheless admirable);
----d. loved his brothers greatly, and was a little envious of the older ones, especially Gabriel;
----e. saw beauty in nature, especially the Sangre de Cristo Mountains;
----f. thought sweetly, even if almost maddeningly repetitive and confusing
2. Authentic
----a. thought as a maturing child would think;
----b. wrote as a bilingual child, even a very smart one, would write (a little inconsistently);
----c. blamed himself when his prayer was “answered� in a way he viewed harmful to Gabriel;
----d. represented Latino culture well;
----e. succeeded after great efforts and hard work;
----f. thought sweetly, even if almost maddeningly repetitive and confusing
3. Strong characterization—knew them well and liked them all
4. Educational
----a. learned lots about sheep and shepherding
----b. loved the way his family tried to treat Miguel as he wanted to be treated
----c. loved that the Chavez family were citizens—almost all Latinos in literature nowadays are portrayed as illegal; good to show both
----d. showed how children can think, sometimes maddeningly repetitive and confusing
Things I did not like about the book:
1. Manuel’s thinking was sometimes (surprise!) too maddeningly repetitive and confusing; I skipped over many pages� worth, especially having to do with St. Ysidro and Gabriel.
2. Too many details about sheep and shepherding; I skipped over many pages� worth
Glad to have read the book!
May 10, 2012
I'd really prefer to give this 2.5 stars, but as that's not one of the choices and it definitely isn't a 3, here you go with 2.
I'm behind on book reading, book reviewing, library fines, and work, so I'm not really going to write a review. I'm just going to say that this had the potential to be a great book. The story itself is good, and interesting, and sort of charming, and I could definitely relate to Miguel. However, the grammar choices were ... well, disturbing and possibly even offensive. That is, I don't know what nationality Krumgold is, or what he's trying to imply, but at first I thought this book was actually taking place in Mexico. When I realized it was in New Mexico, and that NM was a state at the time of the writing, I really couldn't figure out what point the author was trying to make by giving Miguel the voice he did. I think there are ways he could have made his point that Miguel is a 12-year-old kid, and also ways he could have made clear that English wasn't his first language (if that was in fact his point); but instead, the writing was just hard to wade through. And near the end, there were a couple of "yous" that should have been "yours" but were incongruous to the rest of the book so I couldn't decide if they were typos or just bad editing. That irritated me enough to remove any thought of that third star :)
Good story; not so great writing.
I'm behind on book reading, book reviewing, library fines, and work, so I'm not really going to write a review. I'm just going to say that this had the potential to be a great book. The story itself is good, and interesting, and sort of charming, and I could definitely relate to Miguel. However, the grammar choices were ... well, disturbing and possibly even offensive. That is, I don't know what nationality Krumgold is, or what he's trying to imply, but at first I thought this book was actually taking place in Mexico. When I realized it was in New Mexico, and that NM was a state at the time of the writing, I really couldn't figure out what point the author was trying to make by giving Miguel the voice he did. I think there are ways he could have made his point that Miguel is a 12-year-old kid, and also ways he could have made clear that English wasn't his first language (if that was in fact his point); but instead, the writing was just hard to wade through. And near the end, there were a couple of "yous" that should have been "yours" but were incongruous to the rest of the book so I couldn't decide if they were typos or just bad editing. That irritated me enough to remove any thought of that third star :)
Good story; not so great writing.
March 16, 2018
This book is great Catholic and Christian Children's Literature, there are all kinds of themes running through it.
1. Sheep: Learning about sheep for a child will be an excellent reference and backdrop to the many metaphors of sheep, shepherds, the Good Shepherd, Lamb of God, etc. in the bible.
2. Prayer: Prayer in a child's eye's is often a wish and here it is referred to as a wish, not prayer, yet at the end children will get a small glimpse into the Our Father and why we say, "Thy will be done."
3. Coming of Age: The desire to grow up and become more responsible also comes with losses, in this book we see that Miguel has to give up his beloved brother to gain his real "coming of age."
4. Hard work and sacrifice: The Chavez family is truly hard working, it is a loving family where order and grace mingle.
5. Spanish: There are Spanish words in the book which will make the Latino ELL reader feel comfortable and have a sense of familiarity.
6. Saints: Asking for the help of a Saint, the main character, Miguel reaches for his most treasured dream. This theme may encourage prayer as well as a desire to learn more about Saints and their work in our lives.
The writing in this book takes one in immediately and keeps one throughout the book. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. No wonder it got a Newberry Award!
I give it my 5 stars TEACHER'S CHOICE AWARD.
If you're a 3rd or 4th grade teacher or even 2nd grade, get this for your classroom library.
1. Sheep: Learning about sheep for a child will be an excellent reference and backdrop to the many metaphors of sheep, shepherds, the Good Shepherd, Lamb of God, etc. in the bible.
2. Prayer: Prayer in a child's eye's is often a wish and here it is referred to as a wish, not prayer, yet at the end children will get a small glimpse into the Our Father and why we say, "Thy will be done."
3. Coming of Age: The desire to grow up and become more responsible also comes with losses, in this book we see that Miguel has to give up his beloved brother to gain his real "coming of age."
4. Hard work and sacrifice: The Chavez family is truly hard working, it is a loving family where order and grace mingle.
5. Spanish: There are Spanish words in the book which will make the Latino ELL reader feel comfortable and have a sense of familiarity.
6. Saints: Asking for the help of a Saint, the main character, Miguel reaches for his most treasured dream. This theme may encourage prayer as well as a desire to learn more about Saints and their work in our lives.
The writing in this book takes one in immediately and keeps one throughout the book. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. No wonder it got a Newberry Award!
I give it my 5 stars TEACHER'S CHOICE AWARD.
If you're a 3rd or 4th grade teacher or even 2nd grade, get this for your classroom library.
December 6, 2016
I'm giving this 3 stars because I somehow can't decide between 2 stars and 4 stars.
I really loved certain aspects of this book: the setting, the pared-down narrative, the archetypal symbolism, and some of the characters. I even loved the voice at certain points, the little asides and observations Miguel makes about his family and community.
However, I couldn't love this book all the way because I couldn't shake the feeling that the author was somehow mocking Miguel and his family. The super-colloquial syntax throughout felt forced (was he trying to recreate some sort of Spanglish syntax?). And frankly, Miguel's behavior and ideas were, for a twelve-year-old boy, so immature that I kept questioning his age. This felt like a fault in the author's writing, as though he were writing down to Miguel, rather than being realistic and respectful toward the very real shame and anxiety that kids often feel when they are trying to prove their own agency and worth to adults.
So I guess that's what it is. I loved Miguel and his story, and thought his writer let him down by making him look a fool, instead of helping readers to sympathize and identify with his struggles.
I really loved certain aspects of this book: the setting, the pared-down narrative, the archetypal symbolism, and some of the characters. I even loved the voice at certain points, the little asides and observations Miguel makes about his family and community.
However, I couldn't love this book all the way because I couldn't shake the feeling that the author was somehow mocking Miguel and his family. The super-colloquial syntax throughout felt forced (was he trying to recreate some sort of Spanglish syntax?). And frankly, Miguel's behavior and ideas were, for a twelve-year-old boy, so immature that I kept questioning his age. This felt like a fault in the author's writing, as though he were writing down to Miguel, rather than being realistic and respectful toward the very real shame and anxiety that kids often feel when they are trying to prove their own agency and worth to adults.
So I guess that's what it is. I loved Miguel and his story, and thought his writer let him down by making him look a fool, instead of helping readers to sympathize and identify with his struggles.
March 8, 2019
I chose this for my middle school literature group because of its diversity and it was a Newbery Award winner. I liked the premise of Miguel's conflict within the sheep raising and herding Chavez family, and that this was based off of a family Krumgold interviewed. However, the story itself was extremely slow in places with repetitiveness within chapters. I found myself skimming often. Probably could have trimmed 50-100 pages and I would have liked it much more. Because the coming-of-age story is a great one. And the ending was solid. But the overall execution was lacking. My 12 year old son gave it 2 stars as well.
September 20, 2022
یکی از کتاب‌ها� دوران نوجوونی بابام که من هم تو دوران نوجوونیم شاید ده ها بار خوندمش. بیشتر صحنه‌ها� هنوز هم بعد از ساله� جلوی چشممه. وقتی که جواب دعاهاش رو با سربازی رفتن برادرش گرفت من هم مثل میگل دل شکسته بودم، وقتی توی کیسه پشم افتاد من هم به سختی نفس می‌کشیدم� وقتی تولد بره ها رو نگاه می‌کر� من هم همونقدر هیجان‌زد� بودم. این کتاب برای همیشه یکی از محبوب‌تری� کتاب‌ها� منه.
May 25, 2014
1954 Newbery Medal recipient.
3.5 stars. Slow, thoughtful, and philosophical. I enjoyed it, even with its long descriptions of Miguel's life tending sheep. "…and now Miguel" ends very well, with the last 60 or so pages being quite good.
However, this is another example of a Newbery winner that adults think kids should read rather than one kids will actually read and get something from.
3.5 stars. Slow, thoughtful, and philosophical. I enjoyed it, even with its long descriptions of Miguel's life tending sheep. "…and now Miguel" ends very well, with the last 60 or so pages being quite good.
However, this is another example of a Newbery winner that adults think kids should read rather than one kids will actually read and get something from.
February 18, 2008
Probably the first book I found myself skipping through. I don't know why, but nothing about this interested me at all, and I had the worst time getting through it for a book report.
September 1, 2008
Good, but not as good as this author's other Newbery winner, Onion John. This author really understood kids.
September 7, 2016
Although nice straight forward prose,the details of this kid's life are very rich.
December 12, 2021
"...And Now Miguel" ended up being one of the last Newbery books on my list and one of my favorites. It had never caught my eye as one of the old chunky books with a plain, dark, reinforced binding. It was probably on a "coming of age" or "animal" list, which I typically passed over for "fantasy" and "adventure". Who wants to read about sheep? Oh, I'm so glad I finally did! I absolutely loved it. By the end of Chapter 13 I even found myself in tears over how beautifully Mr. Krumgold wrote about what Miguel came to understand about wishes and saints and prayer. I definitely need my own copy of this treasure.
November 13, 2024
Written well. Interesting story about this family and sheep herding, although not much plot. Loved Miguel and the story being told from his point of view, but always waiting for something to happen. Not much does.
Read
December 31, 201354 1954: ...And Now Miguel by Joseph Krumgold (Crowell) (checked out)
7/13/13 (245 pages)
This book was written by the same author as Onion John. As it turns out, the books were meant to be two of a trilogy of coming-of-age books for young boys. Knowing that added to the meaning of the book.
Miguel is a 12 year old boy living in New Mexico. His family are sheepherders and his goal is to be invited to go with the men and older brothers to the summer sheep camp. There, they spend the three months of the summer while the sheep graze. Every year, he packs his things in case he is asked to go, but every summer he is still too young. This summer, he does two things differently. First, he prays to the patron saint of farmers and his village. Also, he begins to help more and more. He asked his father if he will be able to go, but is turned down.
"Gabriel laughed because it was good and because it was so easy. That's the way it was with Gabriel. Everything that he wants he can get. With Pedro (7 year old brother), it is the opposite. Everything that he has is enough. Both of them, they are happy But to be in between, not so little anymore and not yet nineteen years, to be me, Miguel, and to have a great wish - that is hard. I had such a wish. It was a secret and yet not a secret. For how secret can you keep high mountains that one can see for hundreds of miles around, mountains that face me when I first open my eyes every morning and are the last thing I see in the night. This was my wish, to go up there - into those mountains that are called the Mountains of the Sangre de Cristo." p. 9
"I stood there, no longer me, only a pair of eyes and a nose and two feet that had taken their first step into the Mountains of the Sangre de Cristo. This was it. This was the minute that divided everything. All the time before from what was here. Until this minute, everything important was ahead, what was coming, to wait for. From this minute, it was different. The most important thing was happening right now. To hope and to be afraid, to plan, that time was ended. There was nothing to do except in this minute, and that was to look and to breathe and to stand here, where I was.
"This was it, the minute. And from then on, each minute was the same.
"There is a time in our house, on New Year's when everyone comes to watch the old alarm clock we have on the icebox in the kitchen. The house is crowded with all our family and many cousins and friends, and even Faustina and Pedro are allowed to stay up so that they, too, can look at the clock. Until the time comes, no one looks too much. But when the big hand gets up on the left side, getting near to the little hand which stands straight up, everyone crowds into the kitchen. it is so crowded, there is hardly room to sit down, and everyone stares over the shoulder of the other. At the clock.
"Like something absolutely wonderful was going to come out of our old alarm clock, the way a fake bird used to come out of the clock of Mr. Hoffman, the saddlemaker in town, before it got broke and stopped running.
"When the big hand gets near to the top, some one says, 'Only four minutes left.'
"Then maybe a few people say, "'Only three minutes.'
"Then all say, 'Two minutes.'
"One minute."
"Then when both hands stand straight up, one covering the other, then that is the minute, the Big Minute, and from looking so hard, everyone busts out being as happy as they can, shouting, 'Happy New Year' and seeing how many people they can hug and kiss and punch and shake hands with while it still remains the Big Minute.
"The truth is, the Big Minute would have to last a lot longer than it does for everyone to get around to everybody else. So by the time the rush for punching and kissing is over it's already maybe five minutes or so after the New Year. And that's about the end of it, as far as everybody busting out all at once goes. Faustina and Pedro get sent off to bed. And a little later, the way it used to be, me. And for the rest it becomes a regular party again, with only one or two or so kissing and punching, as the case may be.
"But the way it was now, on the other side of the crest of U.S. Hill, with me looking and breathing and standing, it was like the two hands got up there to the top and stayed right there. Like they weren't going to move anymore. Like the Big Minute was now, and the next the Big Minute, too, and the next and the next. Each one was the Big Minute, and never one minute to, or one minute after.
"This was it." p. 236-238
My personal Newbery scale:
Meaning Coming of age
Read-aloud Maybe
Ages Any
Length Long but easy
Me Enjoyable
7/13/13 (245 pages)
This book was written by the same author as Onion John. As it turns out, the books were meant to be two of a trilogy of coming-of-age books for young boys. Knowing that added to the meaning of the book.
Miguel is a 12 year old boy living in New Mexico. His family are sheepherders and his goal is to be invited to go with the men and older brothers to the summer sheep camp. There, they spend the three months of the summer while the sheep graze. Every year, he packs his things in case he is asked to go, but every summer he is still too young. This summer, he does two things differently. First, he prays to the patron saint of farmers and his village. Also, he begins to help more and more. He asked his father if he will be able to go, but is turned down.
"Gabriel laughed because it was good and because it was so easy. That's the way it was with Gabriel. Everything that he wants he can get. With Pedro (7 year old brother), it is the opposite. Everything that he has is enough. Both of them, they are happy But to be in between, not so little anymore and not yet nineteen years, to be me, Miguel, and to have a great wish - that is hard. I had such a wish. It was a secret and yet not a secret. For how secret can you keep high mountains that one can see for hundreds of miles around, mountains that face me when I first open my eyes every morning and are the last thing I see in the night. This was my wish, to go up there - into those mountains that are called the Mountains of the Sangre de Cristo." p. 9
"I stood there, no longer me, only a pair of eyes and a nose and two feet that had taken their first step into the Mountains of the Sangre de Cristo. This was it. This was the minute that divided everything. All the time before from what was here. Until this minute, everything important was ahead, what was coming, to wait for. From this minute, it was different. The most important thing was happening right now. To hope and to be afraid, to plan, that time was ended. There was nothing to do except in this minute, and that was to look and to breathe and to stand here, where I was.
"This was it, the minute. And from then on, each minute was the same.
"There is a time in our house, on New Year's when everyone comes to watch the old alarm clock we have on the icebox in the kitchen. The house is crowded with all our family and many cousins and friends, and even Faustina and Pedro are allowed to stay up so that they, too, can look at the clock. Until the time comes, no one looks too much. But when the big hand gets up on the left side, getting near to the little hand which stands straight up, everyone crowds into the kitchen. it is so crowded, there is hardly room to sit down, and everyone stares over the shoulder of the other. At the clock.
"Like something absolutely wonderful was going to come out of our old alarm clock, the way a fake bird used to come out of the clock of Mr. Hoffman, the saddlemaker in town, before it got broke and stopped running.
"When the big hand gets near to the top, some one says, 'Only four minutes left.'
"Then maybe a few people say, "'Only three minutes.'
"Then all say, 'Two minutes.'
"One minute."
"Then when both hands stand straight up, one covering the other, then that is the minute, the Big Minute, and from looking so hard, everyone busts out being as happy as they can, shouting, 'Happy New Year' and seeing how many people they can hug and kiss and punch and shake hands with while it still remains the Big Minute.
"The truth is, the Big Minute would have to last a lot longer than it does for everyone to get around to everybody else. So by the time the rush for punching and kissing is over it's already maybe five minutes or so after the New Year. And that's about the end of it, as far as everybody busting out all at once goes. Faustina and Pedro get sent off to bed. And a little later, the way it used to be, me. And for the rest it becomes a regular party again, with only one or two or so kissing and punching, as the case may be.
"But the way it was now, on the other side of the crest of U.S. Hill, with me looking and breathing and standing, it was like the two hands got up there to the top and stayed right there. Like they weren't going to move anymore. Like the Big Minute was now, and the next the Big Minute, too, and the next and the next. Each one was the Big Minute, and never one minute to, or one minute after.
"This was it." p. 236-238
My personal Newbery scale:
Meaning Coming of age
Read-aloud Maybe
Ages Any
Length Long but easy
Me Enjoyable
February 24, 2013
This book is about a boy named Miguel who has a wish to go to the Sangre de Cristo Mountains with his father, brother, and uncles to take care of of the sheep during the summer.
Miguel is a very thoughtful, hardworking boy. He wants to be noticed. I loved his brother Pedro and little sister Faustina. For a little while his father and uncles seemed really tough for me to like but I warmed up to them at the end.
I liked this book. It started off slow and I wasn't sure what to think about it at first because of all the negative reviews and so many were tired of learning about sheep. But, although I don't know if this was the author's intention, I found so many parallels between sheep and ourselves. Those who are not Christians or are not familiar with the words from the Bible that compare us to sheep will not appreciate this book.
I loved the passage were Miguel is trying so hard to think of the right words to say his wish to San Ysidro. "Sometimes when I talk to my father or to my mother or to anyone at all about something that's really important. I could just as well say, "Babaloo, babaloo, babaloo" for all anyone understands." I could really identify with his internal battles and trying to say things right. I learned about San Ysidro. I learned about taking care of sheep. I remember smiling at some passages and really loving the closeness of this large family. It was hard to read the tone for some of the characters- was that serious? Was that sarcastic? Was that a joke? But it was kind of fun to guess.
I loved the father's quote after someone told him he was lucky to have such a good worker as his son Miguel. "Lucky?" My father shook his head. "When we need a good man, we don't depend on luck. We raise them." That's what he said, my father, without a smile, serious."
Themes from this book: loyalty, hard work, wishing, dreams, family
Food from this book: chili colorado con carne, potato loaf made with egg, garlic, and bacon, angel food cake, tortillas, beans, apple pie
Miguel is a very thoughtful, hardworking boy. He wants to be noticed. I loved his brother Pedro and little sister Faustina. For a little while his father and uncles seemed really tough for me to like but I warmed up to them at the end.
I liked this book. It started off slow and I wasn't sure what to think about it at first because of all the negative reviews and so many were tired of learning about sheep. But, although I don't know if this was the author's intention, I found so many parallels between sheep and ourselves. Those who are not Christians or are not familiar with the words from the Bible that compare us to sheep will not appreciate this book.
I loved the passage were Miguel is trying so hard to think of the right words to say his wish to San Ysidro. "Sometimes when I talk to my father or to my mother or to anyone at all about something that's really important. I could just as well say, "Babaloo, babaloo, babaloo" for all anyone understands." I could really identify with his internal battles and trying to say things right. I learned about San Ysidro. I learned about taking care of sheep. I remember smiling at some passages and really loving the closeness of this large family. It was hard to read the tone for some of the characters- was that serious? Was that sarcastic? Was that a joke? But it was kind of fun to guess.
I loved the father's quote after someone told him he was lucky to have such a good worker as his son Miguel. "Lucky?" My father shook his head. "When we need a good man, we don't depend on luck. We raise them." That's what he said, my father, without a smile, serious."
Themes from this book: loyalty, hard work, wishing, dreams, family
Food from this book: chili colorado con carne, potato loaf made with egg, garlic, and bacon, angel food cake, tortillas, beans, apple pie
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