10 year-old Raymie discovers the old adage that when one door closes, another opens, as she makes two new friends in her efforts to win a contest that will get her picture in the paper to impress her Dad and hopefully bring him back home from the arms of his new girlfriend. As she goes about reaching for her goal to become Little Miss Central Florida Tire (or something like that), she feels her soul expand and contract as her friendships develop and help her discover her values, and in the process, herself. This Kate DiCamilla (think, “Because of Winn-Dixie”) treasure includes another great performance by Jenna Lamia (think, “The Help”). ( )

I know this is going to be a minority opinion, but I found this a little boring. My expectations were really high, so I was surprised it took me so long to read. I didn't feel a lot of motivation to go back to it when I put it down. Maybe because there wasn't much of a plot and the whole thing felt pretty bleak. I felt really bad for Raymie, Louisiana, and Beverly. Each girl is deeply troubled by her family situation and each is dealing with it in her own way (Raymie trying to win the pageant to get her father's attention, Beverly wanting to sabotage the pageant to work through her anger, and Louisisana fixating on getting her cat Archie back).

I'll also say the whole thing felt a little weird to me, which is to say at the end of the book a lot of motifs still felt random. So much toe flexing. So much soul shrinking and growing. So much quirkiness from the Elefantes. And there were so many older ladies with some sort of significance - Ida Nee, Mrs. Sylvester, Mrs. Borkowski, Ruthie, Florence Nightingale, Isabelle, Alice Nebbley, Clara Wingtip. They all represent something to Raymie, but it was a bit of jumble. Especially in a book for young readers. My book club kids often express frustration when they can't keep all the characters straight and that's how I felt reading this book.

And, this is a finicky thing, but a student would not refer to her school librarian by their first name. Edward Option was confused in my head with Edgar the lifesaving dummy. It's not a big deal, but this is just another way the book felt like a jumble to me.

I keep saying the word jumble. I guess that's how I feel about this book. I suppose I will need to read it again before I really make my mind up about it. I always admire DiCamillo's craftsmanship as a writer. I just didn't hook into this story and these characters. ( )

Raymie Clarke has come to realize that everything, absolutely everything, depends on her. And she has a plan. If Raymie can win the Little Miss Central Florida Tire competition, then her father, who left town two days ago with a dental hygienist, will see Raymie's picture in the paper and (maybe) come home. To win, not only does Raymie have to do good deeds and learn how to twirl a baton; she also has to contend with the wispy, frequently fainting Louisiana Elefante, who has a show-business background, and the fiery, stubborn Beverly Tapinski, who's determined to sabotage the contest. But as the competition approaches, loneliness, loss, and unanswerable questions draw the three girls into an unlikely friendship -- and challenge each of them to come to the rescue in unexpected ways.

Book two is titled "Louisiana’s Way Home." Book 3 is titled "Beverly, Right Here."

Kate DiCamillo is one of my favorite authors. She is creative and not very "typical" in her novels. My daughter read this and she enjoyed it. I don't think anyone, especially chlldren, can go wrong with reading a book by DiCamillo. ( )