The Universe of Fair

July 9, 2012
Eleven-year-old Miller’s favorite day of the year is Fair Friday, the opening day of his Connecticut town’s annual fair. This year, the science whiz is trying to prove that he is responsible enough to go to the fair with his best friend, Lewis, not with a parent—a struggle for independence that middle-grade readers will doubtlessly
relate to. But even before Fair Friday
arrives, things start to go wrong: Miller accidentally serves his father’s pie (which was intended to be entered in a baking contest at the fair) as an afterschool snack. Then, due to parental work and illness, Miller gets stuck taking his six-year-old sister and her two friends to the fair. Ghost sightings, lost first-graders, and Miller’s attempts to get his father’s mostly eaten pie into the contest make for a very different Fair Friday than Miller expected. Bulion (The Trouble with Rules) captures the boisterous, chaotic nature of the fair, as well as its primacy in the grade-school social calendar. Dormer’s characteristically sketchy and childlike illustrations match the upbeat mood of this entertaining story. Ages 8–12.

July 15, 2012
In 11 1/2-year-old Miller's town, the fair is the central event of the kid year. He's been saving and planning for months, and finally, it's fair time. He and best pal Lewis plan a day of rides, games and fair food and work hard to make his parents believe that he is responsible enough to go without them. But then best-made plans go sadly awry. He accidentally feeds most of his father's pie entry to his 6-year-old sister and her friends. Then his parents suddenly can't take him and won't let him go alone. Miller, despairing, rounds up his sister and her two friends and brings them to the fair, believing he can still manage some time for fun. Miller can fret with the best of worriers. As the day slips away, with no rides, no fabulous fair food and most of his money going to care for the little ones, concern for their safety washes over him as he begins to fully understand the true meaning of responsibility. Accompanied by Dormer's slightly surreal black-and-white illustrations, this winsome effort not only lovingly celebrates the color and magic of the fair, but endearingly depicts the inner landscape of a maturing child encountering his first taste of the adult world. A cheerful and totally entertaining look at fairs, friendship and the value of family. (Fiction. 8-12)

COPYRIGHT(2012) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

November 1, 2012

Gr 4-7-Miller's family is deeply entrenched in the annual town fair, and Miller has been planning and saving for months for a day of games and rides and fair food while his parents volunteer at events. The 11-year-old has always been under vigilant adult supervision, and this year, he fervently hopes to have some freedom to explore. However, he inadvertently feeds his dad's entry for the pie contest to his sister and friends, his mother has a work emergency that forces his dad to double up on his duties, and Miller finds himself babysitting his sister and two other children. He takes them all to the fair, hoping for some windows for fun and quickly learns what is involved in being responsible for the safety of three active youngsters. Thankfully, his sudden experience with responsibility reaps him some rewards in the end. Dormer's occasional drawings add a sense of quirky humor to the story. Bulion's book is simply told, in realistic kid language. The author has a sense of how a child thinks and processes the world, and this insight comes across clearly in her story. Readers get a detailed view into a typical day at the fair-the sights, the sounds, the smells. The book is not filled with daring adventures, faraway lands, or animals in clothes, but it is a bird's-eye view into the experience of being an 11-year-old.Corrina Austin, Locke's Public School, St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada

Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2012
Grades 3-5 Eleven-and-a-half-year-old Miller's family lives for the Holmsbury Fair. His parents volunteer, and this year Miller will enter his clay model of The Theory of Everything. Miller aims to finally explore the fair on his own, but first he must demonstrate responsibility to his overprotective mother. His efforts go awry, starting when he accidentally serves his dad's fair-entry pie as a snack to his sister and her two friends. Attempts to come clean falter, and Miller submits the mostly eaten pie with deep misgivings. Misadventures continue and he spends a frantic Friday herding three first-graders through a crowded fair, wondering if string theory can explain ghosts, and worrying about his dad's reaction to the pie. Bulion captures the excitement of a small town fair, providing a unique setting for a book about responsibility, Einstein's theory of everything, and family. Penelope, the younger sister, feels particularly real, as does Miller's frustration with her. Cartoon sketches every few pages add humor. A fun read for children who love fairs and for those with a scientific bent.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2013
Eleven-and-a-half-year-old Miller's utterly believable wish to explore his town's fair on his own is thwarted first by adults and then by responsibility for his younger sister and her friends. A mistakenly eaten pie and a possible ghost add mild suspense, but the preteen's smallest concerns are the most identifiable and add the most humor. Rudimentary line drawings feel younger than the novel's characters.

(Copyright 2013 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)