Cathleen Young

What a super sweet book! There is so much goodness wrapped up in here, and this was exactly what I needed to read this week. Did you know that Giant Pumpkin Regattas are a real thing? I didn't! When I started reading The Pumpkin War, my first instinct was to go and do research on the very thing that Billie was working so hard to win. Yes, friends, it's a real competition. Do yourself a favor and go look at some photos before you start reading this book. It makes things so much better!

Anyway, it's safe to say that I loved reading this. Billie was a character who made me smile, because she's exactly what I'd expect a competitive twelve year old to be. I loved that Young didn't just try to pull out the good parts of Billie's life. Yes, she has a loving family and a farm that does well for itself. Still, there are moments of stress and anger too. Watching Billie interact with her new baby brother, battle valiantly against Mother Nature for her prize pumpkin, and even navigate the balance between competition and friendship, was a wonderful thing. There will be a lot of young readers who see themselves in Billie, the good and the hard parts, and that's a really good thing.

My gardening loving heart was also all atwitter at the deep explanations of all the hard work that Billie and her family had to do on their farm. You can tell that Young has done the research. Billie tends bees, and extracts honey. She knows which flowers to plant, to attract bees, and what to plant to get rid of pests. In fact, she even goes through and has to hand pick cucumber beetles to save her pumpkins which, from someone who has done that, I can tell you isn't easy! Her hard work, her sweat, and the ultimate reward at the end, were all just wonderfully detailed. There's even a nod in here to not using pesticides in order to save the bees. Which, to that I say huzzah! Agreed!

I think what I loved most about this story is just the fact that it has such important messages but they aren't at all heavy handed. Billie faces jealousy and guilt. She faces annoyance, shame, and even anger. Underneath all of that though is the idea that family and friends are the basis of everything. Time and time again she finds herself helping, or being helped, by someone else. That beautiful balance is so important, so why not start teaching it to young children and start things off right? I loved it, and I love this book!… (altro)