The Mighty Miss Malone by Christopher Paul Curtis 303 pages

The Mighty Miss Malone is by the author of Bud, Not Buddy and The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963.  This was such a great book.  It is just a slice of life story about a family that barely gets by during a time when hardly anyone was doing much more than just getting by.  Deza Malone is the youngest member of the Malone family.  She was such a believable and lovable character.  She was sassy and funny, but such a good kid, I was pulling for her the whole book.  Even when tragedy strikes, this little family just keeps on going.  Making the best of the worst and trying to keep on track.  Deza, who is 12-years-old, discovers that while they are "a family on a a journey to a place called Wonderful", that journey may be a difficult one and Wonderful may be something she didn't expect.
I kept waiting to be driven to tears.  There was certainly plenty in this book that could have moved me there, but Curtis did such a fantastic job of making these characters resilient and charismatic, I just enjoyed the ride.  No tears, just a sense of okay, maybe this is all going to be alright now.  I loved it!
This is a nominee for the Mark Twain award this year and would be great for kids 4th grade and up.