Christopher Paul Curtis

With love and determination befitting the "world's greatest family," twelve-year-old Deza Malone, her older brother Jimmie, and their parents endure tough times in Gary, Indiana, and later Flint, Michigan, during the Great Depression.

The Mighty Miss Malone

A Newbery Honor-winning author ("The Watsons Go to Birmingham") delivers a heart-wrenching, suspenseful novel of one unforgettable family caught up in the turbulent days of the Great Depression.

Another book I reread from my childhood. It was an amazing story of a girl during the great depression. Had a lot of insight into their world and I loved the ending. 

Maggie Hotmer

Jeni Enjaian

I am a huge fan of Christopher Paul Curtis' work. I teach one of his other novels, "The Watsons Go to Birmingham," in my 7th grade ELA class. Up until this book, I had not read one of his works that I did not enjoy and that did not expose a real, profound aspect of history, especially of the African American community. 

I kept waiting for Curtis to dig deep into the Malone family and the troubles that they endure throughout the book. However, Curtis gave the title character short shrift by creating quite a one-dimensional character. For a smart girl not to catch on to a major reveal that I realized the moment I read the letter stretched the suspense of disbelief.

Overall, I wish the book had been written better, something I never thought I would say about a Christopher Paul Curtis book.

Mahasin S Ameen

I think 12-year-old Deza Malone is supposed to come off as endearing but Curtis misses the mark with that. Deza instead comes off as extremely annoying and condescending which was extremely off-putting and made the book really difficult to enjoy, at least, the first half of the book. In the first half of the book Deza goes on, and on, and on about her idealized family and her favorite subject, herself and how perfect she is. I think it's meant to come across as a little prideful, but there's this scene where Deza is heartbroken because she got the second highest grade on a paper and her best friend (who was always number two) got the highest, and she actually expected her friend to feel bad about doing better than Deza.

After a horrific boating accident, Deza's frequently out of work father leaves the family to head for Flint, Michigan in search of work. After several months with no word, Deza's mother loses her job (it is the Great Depression after all) Deza, her brother Jimmie and their mother, Peg head off for Flint, Michigan, where Deza's father said he was going and where Peg believes her mother-in-law lives.

If you were guessing that it wasn't going to be that easy, you were right. There is no sign of father, or their grandmother, and so Deza, Jimmie and Peg stay in a camp, which is kind of just a shanty-town for several months until Jimmie runs off because of some need to feel like a man.

This is where the book starts to get interesting, Deza experiencing being a C+ student due to the racism in the school system. I think the experience is humbling to Deza but I think that more so she stops talking about the perfection that exists in her head and starts talking about the reality of the extreme poverty.

The Mighty Miss Malone

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