14yo Jimmy lives a fairly happy life in Harlem with Mama Jean, a family friend. His mother is dead and his father has been in and out of prison. When Crab - his father - shows up out of the blue one day to take Jimmy on a cross-country trip, Jimmy struggles with missing his home and Mama Jean, and trying to reconcile the man in the car with his ideas about what his father would and should be like. Crab has - and still does - make questionable life choices, but can Jimmy be strong enough to give him what he seeks - forgiveness?
This one feels a little dark for a Newbery Honor Book, but it's a good one, nonetheless. Myers does a nice job of making all the characters feel real - Jimmy reads just right for a 14yo, and I love that he's a PoC teen who faces hardships but isn't all-angst-all-the-time. Myers is also good at creating an atmosphere of unease and feeding it without letting it get overbearing. ( )

Crab and his 14 year old boy take a trip across America. Crab's been in jail, his boy, Jimmy, doesn't know him, he's been in New York, living with Mama Jean. A little late for bonding, and as the story progresses, we learn a little about Crab's life and Jimmy's struggle to take this all in.

Crab's sick, real sick, and he gets money any way he can. Jimmy helps, Jimmy's confused, It's real, all the way from Chicago to the conjure man in Arkansas. ( )

Left me feeling like it wasn't complete. ( )

Left me feeling like it wasn't complete. ( )

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