I loved Pay Attention, Carter Jones (Clarion Books, 2019) by Gary D. Schmidt so much.
The book lives up to the opening line: “If it hadn’t been the first day of school, and if my mother hadn’t been crying her eyes out the night before, and if the fuel pump on the Jeep had been doing what a fuel pump on a Jeep is supposed to be doing, and if it hadn’t been raining like an Australian tropical thunderstorm – and I’ve been in one, so I know what it’s like – and if the very last quart of one percent milk hadn’t gone sour and clumped up, then probably my mother would never have let the Butler into our house.”
How could anyone not read on? Told from the viewpoint of 6th-grader Carter, the story is full of humor and grief. Read to find out why Mr. Bowles-Fitzpatrick–a British gentleman’s gentleman–has come. And what the real family problems are. Plus you’ll get to learn about cricket.
This is definitely a read-again-book. Don’t miss it!
Here’s an interview with Gary about the book–how it came to be and more. If you’ve never read anything by him before, you’ve missed out. Read his bio and check out this award winning author’s books.