Those Kids from Fawn Creek

Those Kids from Fawn Creek
Erin Entrada Kelly
HarperCollins, 2022
319 pages
Grades 4-Up
Realistic Fiction

Multiple points-of-view tell the story of a seventh grade class, well, actually the whole seventh grade, which is shaken up when a new girl moves to town. Fawn Creek (better known as Yawn Creek) is a little backwater town in rural Louisiana. Not much changes or happens and the twelve seventh grade students have been together forever. When Orchid enters the class, everything changes. Orchid has lived in New York City and Paris and has enjoyed exciting adventures. Best of all, she is kind and has made friends with nearly everybody, blurring the little cliques that have long formed. Remy, former mean-girl who left her queen bee status when she moved to the bigger town next door, is threatened by what she is hearing. She gets her former best friend and new class queen bee to help her with a plan to knock Orchid down to size. Class misfits, Dorothy and Greyson are instantly enchanted by Orchid's stories. They long for a world outside of Fawn Creek and eagerly befriend Orchid, hanging on their every word. As the book progresses it is discovered that the new student is not exactly who she says she is, yet regardless of her true identity, she has changed the seventh graders in ways that they had never imagined.

Kelly's dedication says it all: "To anyone with dreams bigger than their hometowns". This latest novel by a respected Newbery recipient will give small-town kids hope for the future and suburban and urban kids a window into a different life. As a former small-town kid I could relate to the feelings of entrapment and boredom experienced by most of the characters and the excitement when someone new comes to town. I saw through Orchid's tales pretty early on and readers likely will as well, but you can't help but love her and relate to her motivations. I found myself holding my breath waiting for her to be discovered and hoping that the other kids will be kind. Most characters rose to the occasion when the chips were down and banded together as a team, embracing a positive identity from being a kid from Fawn Creek. Other characters did not show their best selves, but felt yucky about it and maybe will the next time. I love how the book ends (which is unusual for me). The characters are all better and different people, yet it is not sewn up in a neat little bow. There is an important piece that has been left dangling, which is realistic to life. Sometime we just don't get full closure, even though we want it. I did struggle with keeping the many characters straight, as I suspect young readers will as well, but a handy pictorial guide at the beginning was always on hand for reference. An emotional story that young readers will relate to and be better people after reading.