The Mighty Quinn

April 15, 2013
When free-spirited Neally Ray Stand-well arrives in Quinn Andrews-Lee’s fifth-grade class, it’s the start of a friendship that will change Quinn’s life. Quinn is being picked on by a bully named Matt, and his two good friends are slowly being pulled into Matt’s circle. Quinn’s family supports him, but it’s Neally who shows Quinn how to stand up to and deflect Matt’s taunts. A number of the kids’ exchanges center around the conservative teachings of Matt’s minister father versus Neally’s more liberal understanding of God and spirituality. As Quinn spends more time with Neally and her family, he develops a close relationship with Neally’s father, who suggests that Matt may have it tougher than Quinn and Neally think. Although the story suffers from a slow pace and drawn-out conversations, Parnell neatly weaves ideas about social justice and acceptance into her first middle-grade novel. Neally is a shade too confident to be believed, but her lack of conformity and faith in her own beliefs are welcome. The DeYoes’ cartoon spot illustrations bring a cheerful touch to this thought-provoking read. Ages 8–12.

April 1, 2013
A new classmate helps fifth-grader Quinn Andrews-Lee re-evaluate longtime friendships and stand up to a bully. Neally Ray Standwell's "cosmos green" eyes can see inside people, Quinn thinks. She recognizes that Matt Barker is a bully and a bigot and understands his schoolmates' fears. When Matt trips her, she stays silent, but later in the term, when Matt claims that Quinn gave him a black eye, she figures out how to prove the truth. For her first middle-grade novel, set in Hillsboro, Ore., where she lives, Parnell creates interesting child and adult characters and confronts them with serious issues, including child abuse, care for the environment, ethics and even skin color. Matt's and Neally's families demonstrate the contrast between values taken from religious beliefs and those coming from a sense of social justice. Quinn's own parents don't go to church. They willingly explain their reasoning to their son in one of a series of serious conversations adults have with children here, often humorously interrupted by the realities of family and school life. Some of what's going on in this lengthy story may glide over child readers' heads, in spite of discussion questions included at the end, but it will certainly provide food for thought. It's something of a soapbox, but it's one of the few books for the audience that discusses the possibility of not practicing a religion. (Fiction. 9-12)

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