Literary Merit: Good
Characterization: Mediocre
Recommendation: Optional Purchase
Reading Level: Grades 4-7

Not on Fifth Street tells the story of the Great Flood of 1937 from the perspective of brothers Gus and Pete, who live on Fifth Street in Ironton, Ohio. Located on the Ohio River, the town of Ironton has experienced flooding before, but on this occasion, the flood waters reached places they never had before eventually reaching as far as Fifth Street. The book begins on New Years Day. Gus has invited Venus, a girl who he has fallen for, to have dinner with his family. During the dinner, Pete asks her some questions to make conversation, and it turns out that Venus’s family is not Catholic and that her mother is divorced. This is not OK with the parents, who tell Gus after Venus has gone home that he is not to see her anymore, and Gus blames Pete for asking all of those pesky questions. Days and days of rain and melting snow follow, and the river begins to rise. Dad takes Gus with him to help with the town’s effort to fill sandbags and prevent flooding and says that they may be gone for a few days and Pete should take care of things while they are away. This is unusual because Pete is usually the one to help their father with work outside and around the house, while Gus is more bookish and not used to that kind of work. It turns out both boys are met with challenges they could never have imagined as the river continues to rise and cause flooding all the way up on Fifth Street!

It makes sense that a novel set in 1937 would have a very old-timey feel to it, but this book almost feels like it was written in a bygone era. With expressions like, “That’s enough of your applesauce!” and “Go chase yourself,” readers will quickly get the sense that they are experiencing a different time period. This was a time when conveniences like telephones and electricity existed but couldn’t be relied upon like they are today, and most news was obtained on the radio or from the newspaper. Gender roles and stereotypes of the time period are also firmly entrenched to the point where adult women are less capable of making decisions than adolescent boys. Though I appreciated the author’s desire to set the scene in a way that was historically accurate, I had a hard time connecting with the characters and was especially annoyed by the incompetent women in the book. Though the rising flood waters should provide a sense of tension and urgency, the plot moves slowly especially in the first half of the book told from Pete’s perspective. The second half of the book, told from Gus’s point of view, provides a little more excitement, but I suspect many teen readers will put the book down before they get to that point. The brothers seem to be in their early teen years which would suggest a YA audience; however, the book reads more like a children’s or middle-grade novel. Even with the local connection, this would be a hard sell in my high school library. ( )