This book will be published on April 16, 2019. I read the advance reading copy and undoubtedly there will be differences between the version I read, and the published edition.
That being said, an amazon summary, "When Caitlyn Breen enters the tiny Mitchell School in rural Mitchell, Vermont, she is a complete outsider: the seventh grade has just ten other kids, and they've known each other since kindergarten. Her classmates are in for a shock of their own: Paulie Fink--the class clown, oddball, troublemaker, and evil genius--is gone this year.
As stories of Paulie's hijinks unfold, his legend builds, until they realize there's only one way to fill the Paulie-sized hole in their class. They'll find their next great Paulie Fink through a reality-show style competition, to be judged by the only objective person around: Caitlyn, who never even met Paulie Fink. Who was this kid, anyway--prankster, performance artist, philosopher, or fool? Caitlyn's quest to understand Paulie is about to teach her more about herself than she ever imagined.
Told via multiple voices, interviews, and other documents, The Next Great Paulie Fink is a lighthearted yet surprisingly touching exploration of how we build up and tear down our own myths...about others, our communities, and ourselves." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE
First, this story is told through a mix of interviews (and a few other documents) and Caitlyn's perspective. I found the blend to be very interesting and refreshing, especially as the kids compete to become the next great Paulie Fink.
Alright, so Caitlyn's mom got a new job and uproots Caitlyn from a city in New York (not NYC) to go live in Mitchell, Vermont. To say the least, Caitlyn is NOT happy about the move. She's already got a notion of how people are divided into social groups in schools, and is determined to be on top. What she encounters in school is a lot, lot different. The small town of Mitchell has one school that's run out of old mansion. Her class size is 11...for her whole grade. While the school is small, it's got it's own set of quirks, like the seventh graders all sit with a mini (kindergartner) for lunch. Caitlyn starts out at a bit of a loss, as her first day of entering the classroom, her classmates were cheering for Paulie, only to get Caitlyn instead.
Paulie Fink is a notorious class clown and troublemaker, but his jokes/pranks never hurt anyone or are mean in any way. Caitlyn begins to hear loads of stories about the legendary Paulie Fink, until her classmates decide that they need a new Paulie Fink, and set her up as the judge/contest planner since she's never known Paulie Fink and cannot be biased about the decision making process.
There's also a big soccer game with a rival school that they want to play on their field... however, the field is overrun and the science teacher has decided to use goats to clear the field... which the seventh graders help take care of.
There's also a hilarious zucchini day moment, which was probably one of my most favorite moments in a book in a long time. Definitely was grinning from ear to ear reading through the scene.
That's enough summary.
This book was very, very heartfelt. It deals with the serious issues of loss, but not the sense of loss with death. It's the grieving process for the old life, the familiarity, and the comforts of knowing what to expect. Kind of like a very good story about coming out of your shell. However, if you think that only applies to Caitlyn, you as mistaken, as you also get to see the other seventh graders come to terms with Paulie Fink being gone without explanation.
I loved this book. I would have loved to attend this school and be able to learn in their ways. I really loved the perceived social rules that Caitlyn knew from her old school slowly be deconstructed by her new school and classmates. I also loved the honesty of Caitlyn's voice, and how she ultimately did not shy away from her previous behavior.
I think this would be a very good book for anyone going through a period in their life where they kind of need to let go of something and embrace change. It goes through why it's scary, but it also is very insightful at pointing out all of the new and good stuff brought about by change, and the not so good stuff too.
When I looked at the amazon summary, it mentioned another book by this author, and I'll probably be reading that sometime this summer. It's always nice to fall in love with a new to me author's works.
Happy reading!
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