Pay Attention, Carter Jones by Gary D. Schmidt - ESSENTIAL

Pay Attention, Carter Jones by Gary D. Schmidt, 217 pages. Clarion Books (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), 2019. $17.

Language: G (0 swears); Mature Content: G; Violence: G.

BUYING ADVISORY: EL - ESSENTIAL  

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

Carter Jones is a young man who has lost a lot, but in the midst of his despair a traditional English butler shows up at his door. The Butler, Mr. Bowles-Fitzpatrick, starts by putting the household in order and then teaches Carter Jones how to play cricket (among other significant lessons), and ultimately helps the family heal. 

I love the formal language in this book used by The Butler and even if young readers don’t understand it all I think they will also find it delightful. It is hard not to compare this to Mary Poppins and consider it a gendered twist tale that works very well. The only complaint I have is that the descriptions of cricket at the beginning of each chapter are too long and hard to follow. 

Jen Wecker, HS English Teacher