Maw Books

Maw Books – book reviews, book recommendations, book lists, author interviews and more!

I hope that everybody had a great Thanksgiving holiday if you are here in the states!  I had a fantastic time sluffing all of my blog responsibilities and not posting a thing!  (That’s not to say that I wasn’t working hard on a new reading challenge that I’m helping to host – I’ll be posting more about it tomorrow).  We had a great time hanging out at home, sitting down to dinner with my brother and sister’s family, and then decorating the house for Christmas.  And then the long four day weekend turned into a week long holiday where I sluffed blog posting even more for the rest of the week! I must admit it was kind of nice to ignore the blog for a bit (we painted the bathroom, put up new curtains, assembled a new bed and today we are heading out to the annual Festival of Trees – my favorite Christmas event of the year).  I told myself this year that I wouldn’t get stressed over the blog and the lack of posting this week proved that I am indeed capable of not stressing!  But alas, I have TONS of books waiting to be reviewed before the end of the year, so I suppose I’ll get back into the swing of things.

Over the long  holiday weekend, I read Thanksgiving at the Inn by Tim Whitney which is a sweet story that tugs at your heart strings and is a book which will appeal to those from ages 9 to 99.  To tell you the truth, I’m a bit regretful that the word Thanksgiving is used in the title and that it is partially being marketed as a holiday book.  Although, the events of the book culminate with a Thanksgiving meal, it certainly is a story that should know no seasons.  I’m not aware of that many Thanksgiving books (Christmas seems to take that slot) so I would recommend picking this one up when you’re in the mood for some holiday reading next year but I would also recommend that it be picked up regardless of what the calender says.

Twelve-year-old Heath is living at home with his moody father who doesn’t pay enough positive attention to him after his mother left them both.  Recently suspended from school – his father is unwilling to listen to Heath and hear his side of the story – and following the death of his grandfather whom he doesn’t know at all, Heath and his father are in a position to inherit a fortune.  His grandfather and father were not on good terms (a path that he’s following with his own father) and taking a chance to reach out after death, Heath’s grandfather left a few stipulations in his will blocking their path to simply taking the money and running.  They must move in and run the bed-and-breakfast that his grandfather owned and it’s only its odd band of tenants that will determine if they’ve done a good enough job and deemed “worthy” of the money.   Ultimately, it’s a story of relationships, family, discovery and forgiveness.

The strengths in this book are the characters.  From the ones who live in the bed-and-breakfast, to those Heath meets in the new town and to his father and grandfather.  They are each memorable and are developed fully in such a short amount of time.  This is one of those books where when you think back on it, you think less of the plot and more about the character:  their back story, quirks, how they relate to each other, their friendships.   The plot is quiet but yet you are pulled along in wanting to know what happens to Heath and his father.  Are they able to pull together and salvage their relationship before it’s too late?

The one thing that did bother me about the book is that I’m not sure if juvenile readers would pick it up on their own.  I actually think that it’s more of a book for adults although it’s technically classified for readers age 9-12.  Case in point, I’ve noted bloggers who never review middle grade fiction, reviewing this book on their blogs.  It’s not to say that younger readers wouldn’t enjoy the book, but I’m just not convinced it’s one that I’d recommend to the child over recommending it to their parents.  In fact, I’d recommend a parent read it with their child or as a family.

Another reason, I mention that a  juvenile reader may not pick this book up on their own is the title, the cover, the back cover, and the inside layout.  Basically, the entire book design isn’t set up to appeal to a young reader.  Thanksgiving at the Inn, while a descriptive title doesn’t have me jumping up or down, the cover isn’t dynamic enough for a young reader to take note of it on the shelf.  And well, the back cover feels totally geared for adults.  With the tagline: a story of family and forgiveness, it’s followed by nine blurbs.  Kids don’t care about blurbs from elementary school principles, CEO’s, executives or authors.   I’ve never seen a middle grade fiction book have only blurbs on the back cover which are clearly written for adults, so this striked me as odd.  The inside layout leaves a bit to be desired as well.  I found the type to be too large but this didn’t bother me as much as the very small margins.  I could be wrong but my gut feeling is that those small margins will scare kids off.

SO the point?  I think that the book was actually written with an adult audience in mind but when push came to shove it has a twelve-year-old protagonist so it’s classified as middle grade fiction which kind of left the marketing in limbo.  Add in the holiday aspect as well.   Of course, I have NO idea if that’s how it actually played out but that’s at least how it feels to me.   So the consensus?  I think Mom or Dad would pick this book up and then encourage their kids to read it.   And you know what?  That’s not really a bad thing.  Like I mentioned earlier, it’s a book for all ages.  And one that will leave you feeling all warm and fuzzy inside – kind of like a Hallmark movie.  Overall, it was a pleasant read that shouldn’t be relegated to just a seasonal read.

Links of interest:  Tom Whitney website, more book blogger reviews.
Genre:  Middle Grade Fiction, approx ages 9-12.
Publisher: Bancroft Press.  October 1, 2009.
Hardcover, 223 pages. ISBN 1890862649
Thanksgiving at the Inn is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

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