Booklist (May 1, 2010 (Vol. 106, No. 17))
Grades 3-5. Fourth-grader Noonie Norton, a self-described “brilliant artist,” is just moving from her blue period (which began after her mother’s death, four years ago) to her purple period. While her archaeologist father travels the world, she lives with Aunt Sylvia, Uncle Ralph, and cousin Junior. Navigating her fourth-grade year with help from her loyal friend Reno and her art teacher, Noonie struggles to deal with math, her imperfect family, and her too-perfect classmate Sue Ann. The school art contest becomes a catalyst for change, shifting Noonie’s views on the people in her life and moving her art into a happier, polka-dot period. Noonie may be an unreliable and even unlikable narrator at times, but her pain and vulnerability are as evident as her belief in herself as an artist, and by the end of the story, she’ll have readers in her corner. The ink-and-watercolor illustrations, appearing throughout the book, have a 1960s-retro look. Originally written and performed as a play, this is Railsback’s first novel.
Grades 3-5. Fourth-grader Noonie Norton, a self-described “brilliant artist,” is just moving from her blue period (which began after her mother’s death, four years ago) to her purple period. While her archaeologist father travels the world, she lives with Aunt Sylvia, Uncle Ralph, and cousin Junior. Navigating her fourth-grade year with help from her loyal friend Reno and her art teacher, Noonie struggles to deal with math, her imperfect family, and her too-perfect classmate Sue Ann. The school art contest becomes a catalyst for change, shifting Noonie’s views on the people in her life and moving her art into a happier, polka-dot period. Noonie may be an unreliable and even unlikable narrator at times, but her pain and vulnerability are as evident as her belief in herself as an artist, and by the end of the story, she’ll have readers in her corner. The ink-and-watercolor illustrations, appearing throughout the book, have a 1960s-retro look. Originally written and performed as a play, this is Railsback’s first novel.
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