What I've Read This Week

What I've Read This Week . . .

The Luck of the Buttons by Anne Ylvisaker -- Middle Grades Historical Fiction

Tugs Button is not expected to make anything of her life. She comes from a perfectly ordinary, if not unlucky, family in rural Iowa. It's 1929 and 12 year old Tug is at an in-between stage. She doesn't know where she fits in with her family or with the other girls in her neighborhood. When she makes friends with the wealthier, but also tomboyish, Aggie and a slick stranger comes to town, Tug's life begins to change and just maybe, she can change her luck after all. I liked this book but didn't love it. I expected more from it being an Independent Booksellers' choice. I hoped it would be one of those unforgettable books but instead I felt it was merely average. The mystery was so obvious even the target age child could figure it out right away and it was resolved a little too quickly and easily. I had hoped Tug's burgeoning interest in photography would be made more of and factor into the plot in a larger way with more insight into why she loves it, how much it means to her and how it has impacted her life. I did like the quirky secondary characters and the local color a lot. I would recommend this to advanced second grade readers through third grade or beginning fourth grade.