12/30/2023 0 Comments Ellen raskin newberry awardThe family meets together periodically for a night of reading from the family journals about Capri, a ritual they call 'Caprification'. It's been written about in a journal passed down the family. The Figgs believe that when you die, you go to a place they call Capri. But, Uncle Florence is sick, and getting sicker. Everyone else is ridiculous, embarrassing and needs to just stop so that Mona can stop feeling embarrassed to go out in public. The only person Mona feels close to is her Uncle Florence. Raskin makes hints about what she is supposed to be learning, and she gives us subtle clues here and there, but by that point, I was so fed up with Mona's whining and general annoying-ness that I didn't care. Just the really annoying, get over yourself already type. I think it's supposed to be about her struggle to find her place in life, and accept her family as they are but it always just felt like angst to me, and not the good, realistic kind. The majority of the book focuses on Mona and her angst. Can we move on please?!- Or something like that anyway. Sometimes I'd look at the book and want to shout at the author- Enough already! I get it! They are weird. Her uncle Truman, the human pretzel and sign maker (but horrible speller). Her mom, Sister Figg Newton (Newton being her married name) tap dances. Rather than make her quirky, I'd say she's just a teenager.) It got to be a little bit too much for me. (She's just bitter about life and everything in it. Every single character has something weird, wacky, crazy, or unbelievable about them. I thought that Raskin was trying too hard with this novel, and as a result she missed the mark just about everywhere. She is decidedly normal, hates her family's weirdness, and is terribly embarrassed by what she believes the people of her town, Pineapple say about all those crazy Figgs. Sigh.įiggs and Phantoms is about a family, The Figgs, who are all wildy quirky, except the youngest daughter/niece, Mona. I started this book, not really knowing what to expect about the story itself, but looking forward to it, because I had so enjoyed The Westing Game. So, I was actually quite excited to read Figgs and Phantoms.Īlas. It was wonderfully complex and the characters were simply delightful. I read The Westing Game several years ago, and I really enjoyed it. Four years later, she won the Newbery Award for The Westing Game. This book was originally reviewed on my blog, Books from Bleh to Basically Amazing.įiggs and Phantoms by Ellen Raskin won the Nebery Honor in 1975. With so many other wonderfully magical books available to kids today, this one should be far down the list of choices, despite being a Newbery. Additionally, younger kids may not get silly names and puns (will they laugh at her uncles named Remus and Romulus?).Īdults may pick up the book due to the Newbery Honor Medal on the front, but may very well be taken aback by the language and topics covered. There is a definite psychedelic tinge to the story, and topics such as sex, pornography, and racial slurs are mentioned (the N word is used). While that sounds all fantastic and magical, the book itself is dated. Florence is determined to find him and goes on a journey of literature, music, and self-discovery. But when he suddenly departs for what the family believes to be their afterlife on a place called Capri. The only person she feels that understands her is her Uncle Florence (Italy, of course). Each page is a treat to look at.Ī reissue of the 1974 Newbery Honor winner, Figgs and Phantoms tells the story (dubbed “a mysterious romance or a romantic mystery”) of Mona Lisa Figg Newton, a misfit living in fictional Pineapple, with her crazy family, both the Figgs and the Newtons. This edition has lovely illustrations from Raskin. But she was such a good writer, she should have trusted herself more. It's almost as if Raskin was ashamed to tell a straight story about how children deal with loss. Too bad about the contrived names and the punning. There are allusions to songs that were on the "Hit Parade" in the 1930s and 1940s and laudatory references to the works of Joseph Conrad - not that Conrad was a bad writer, necessarily, but how many people outside of graduate literature classes read Conrad anymore? I'm not sure most undergrads read Conrad-except for Heart of Darkness and that seems old, old, old now. Raskin's fond of making little inside jokes and puns on pop culture, but most of the pop culture references are sadly outdated. I wish Raskin hadn't bothered with the silly names "Figgs" and "Newtons." It detracts from the story, which is very profound, bordering on the philosophical-about a girl's coming to terms with the death of her favorite uncle.
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