...And Now Miguel by Joseph Krumgold won the Newbery Award in 1954. And much like the 1953 winner that I just reviewed it is a coming of age story about a young shepherd boy. Maybe shepherd boy stories were common in the 1950s.
Miguel comes from a family of shepherds and his greatest wish is to join his father, uncles, and older brothers in the mountain where they take their sheep to graze each summer. Throughout the book, Miguel struggles with what we have all gone through as adolescents--he is no longer content to be a kid but he is not yet old enough to join the adult world. He finds himself constantly in between, not one thing or another:
"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, it is the opposite. Everything 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."
It's a wholesome story about a boy who loves his family and wants to find his place in it. I was surprised at the use of the word "jackass" in the book, but maybe it wasn't as offensive in 1954. In the end, Miguel learns to be careful what you wish (and pray to your patron saint) for.
You have motivated me to read the Newbery books as well. I am always looking for something new to read. Alexander is going to read them too (not that he knows it).
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