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Summary
Summary
An amazing secret has tumbled off a freight train into Carter, Georgia, and Owen Jester is the only person who knows about it. If he can simply manage to evade his grandfather's snappish housekeeper, organize his two best friends, and keep his nosy neighbor, Viola, at bay, he just might be in for the summer of a lifetime. With her trademark wit and easy charm, Barbara O'Connor spins a fantastic fable of friends, enemies, and superbly slimy bullfrogs.
This title has Common Core connections.
Author Notes
Barbara O'Connor is the author of numerous acclaimed books for children, including Fame and Glory in Freedom, Georgia ; Me and Rupert Goody ; Greetings from Nowhere and How to Steal a Dog . She has been awarded the Parents' Choice Gold and Silver Awards, the Massachusetts Book Award, and the Dolly Gray Award, among many honors. As a child, she loved dogs, salamanders, tap dancing, school, and even homework. Her favorite days were when the bookmobile came to town. She was born and raised in Greenville, South Carolina, and now lives in Duxbury, Massachusetts, a historic seaside village not far from Plymouth Rock.
Reviews (6)
Publisher's Weekly Review
"Owen Jester tiptoed across the gleaming linoleum floor and slipped the frog into the soup." This opening line, like much of O'Connor's storytelling, strikes with lightning-fast characterization. Owen is a lovable troublemaker, whose prank involves his new catch, Tooley, "the biggest, greenest, slimiest, most beautiful bullfrog ever to be seen in Carter, Georgia." The main plot is Owen's discovery of the Water Wonder 4000, a two-person submarine that has fallen from a passing train. A gentle, old-fashioned adventure unfolds, as Owen and his friends scheme to keep the sub under the radar of adults-and neighborhood know-it-all Viola. As with O'Connor's The Small Adventures of Popeye and Elvis, this is the sweet stuff that children's summer days are made of (or used to be)-crafting grandiose plans, dodging adults' watchful eyes, and navigating the choppy waters of friendship. A rift occurs as Owen is torn between his Viola-hating friends and this helpful girl whose "irritating voice slithered up... and circled around Owen." O'Connor's funny, triumphant tale reveals the wisdom of listening to one's inner voice over the noise of one's peers. Ages 8-12. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
One night, right before falling asleep, Owen Jester hears the familiar clatter of the train passing on the tracks below his grandfather's house. Then another sound: a thud. With the help of his two best friends, Travis and Stumpy, Owen finds the best salvage ever: a submarine built for two, a Water Wonder 400, just perfect for launching in nearby Graham Pond. Earlier, Owen had captured a product of that pond, one Tooley Graham, "the biggest, greenest, slimiest, most beautiful bullfrog ever to be seen in Carter, Georgia." Although Owen wrestles with his plan to keep Tooley caged, there's little question that he will eventually release his prize. And little question as well that Travis and Stumpy can be of use retrieving, entering, and navigating the sub; for that, Owen needs to know how it works, and the best candidate for help is his neighbor, the irritating, nosey, but whip-smart Viola. Making one's own decisions is a tough proposition, but O'Connor downplays the drama in this quiet story, allowing readers and Owen the time and space necessary to evaluate his actions. betty carter (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
Owen Jester has captured the biggest, greenest, slimiest, most beautiful bullfrog ever to be seen in Carter, Georgia. He has named it Tooley Graham, and he has built a swell cage for it in his bedroom. Owen is very happy. But Tooley is not. In fact, according to Owen's snoopy, know-it-all neighbor, Viola, the frog is downright sad. But this is not Owen's fantastic secret. That arrives the night he hears something fall off a passing train, and when he discovers what it is, he has a genuine, bona fide fantastic secret, which may not be revealed here. Suffice it to say, it launches an adventure involving Owen, his two best friends, and (shudder) Viola. O'Connor's latest with her signature southern setting is diverting, though it lacks suspense, and at times the characters seem less strongly realized than in her other works. Nevertheless, the story is smoothly written, the secret is ingenious and believable, and who can resist a frog named Tooley Graham?--Cart, Michael Copyright 2010 Booklist
New York Review of Books Review
Seventeen-year-old Cassel is at a definite disadvantage. We meet him as he's teetering on an icy rooftop at his boarding school, wearing only boxer shorts and with no memory of how he got there. But his real problem is that he comes from a family of "curse workers" and mobsters, and is haunted by nightmares about a white cat and a murdered friend. The action is occasionally confusing, but parts of the book, the first in a new series for Black, have the polish of a noir thriller. SCHOOL! Adventures at the Harvey N. Trouble Elementary School. Written by Kate McMullan. Inspired and illustrated by George Booth. Feiwel & Friends. $12.99. (Ages 6 to 9) "School!" almost reels in a tornado of silly wordplay and fast-paced events, with students like Dewey Haveto and little Izzy Normal in a chorus of confusion. Booth's comical portraits look like cameos of his beloved New Yorker cartoons - the janitors Iquit and Quitoo, tossing their brooms aside, could have just stepped off one of those crowded country porches. THANKING THE MOON Celebrating the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival. Written and illustrated by Grace Lin. Knopf. $16.99. (Ages 4 to 8) Glowing lanterns give cheerful punctuation to this evocative introduction to the Chinese harvest festival - this year, on Sept 22. According to notes in the back, "children, allowed to stay up late, parade with lanterns in the moonlight. The paper lanterns are usually round like the moon or have the shape of animals, like rabbits (a white rabbit is said to live on the moon)." Lin's deeply tinted gouaches make a nighttime picnic of mooncakes and round green fruits look especially magical. SPORK Written by Kyo Maclear. Illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault. Kids Can Press. $16.95. (Ages 3 to 7) Arsenault's expressive drawings of an unhappy spork are instantly winning. With all the advantages of spoon and fork, how could this fellow remain unloved? But he just doesn't fit in. (Some glowering forks, whispering and pointing, look like the mean kids in a school hallway.) The spork tries founding himself off with a hat, then makes himself "more forkish" with a crown - until he becomes the perfect foil for just the right small chubby hand. THE FANTASTIC SECRET OF OWEN JESTER By Barbara O'Connor. Frances Foster/Farrar, Strong & Giroux. $15.99. (Ages 8 to 12) Owen Jester should be having the time of his life: he's captured the "biggest, greenest, slimiest" bullfrog in Carter, Ga, and not only that, a mysterious crate that fell off a train nearby yielded an incredible find. But how to get the "Water Wonder 4000" down to the pond? And can his best friends stand the brainy know-it-all girl next door long enough to get her to help? O'Connor has perfect pitch in this comic adventure, which ends with a happy resolution everyone, even the frog, can live with. INSTRUCTIONS Written by Neil Gaiman. Illustrated by Charles Vess. Harper/HarperCollins Publishers. $14.99. (All ages) Like a more impish version of Dr. Seuss's "Oh, the Places You'll Go!" Gaiman's book offers riddling advice that could be for young or old. The stern voice giving instructions also teases ("the 12 months sit about a fire, warming their feet, exchanging tales. They may do favors for you, if you are polite"), while Vess's fairy-tale landscape is an apt setting for the words of wisdom: "Trust the wolves, but do not tell them where you are going" ; "Do not be jealous of your sister." JULIE JUST
School Library Journal Review
Gr 4-7-Owen Jester believes his summer is off to a great start when he captures the biggest, best bullfrog in Carter, GA. He names it Tooley Graham and builds a cage for it in his bedroom. When Tooley starts to look a bit sick, Owen's know-it-all neighbor, Viola, insists that he put the frog back into the pond or it will die. One night, Owen hears something fall off a train passing the tracks in the woods behind his house. The boy and his two friends discover a two-person submarine known as a Water Wonder 4000 hidden in the brush. Owen tries to keep this fantastic secret hidden from his family, and especially from nosey Viola, at least until he can take the sub for a ride. But when Viola discovers the secret, Owen must include her in the plans. Barbara O'Connor's entertaining, sometimes humorous summer adventure (Farrar, 2010) about friendship and discovery is narrated by Noah Galvin. He does a superb job of creating unique voices for each character, making this a fantastic listening adventure.-Amy Joslyn, Fairport Public Library, NY (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
"The short, sad life of Tooley Graham was over," doesn't sound like a happy conclusion but is pitch perfect in this short, simple and endearing middle-grade novel that follows on the heels of The Small Adeventure of Popeye and Elvis (2009). Owen Jester is focused on several things during his summer vacation: finding a way to keep his trapped "pet" bullfrog alive and happy, locating what fell off a train with a loud crash! one night and keeping annoying next-door neighbor Violawho knows everythingout of their business as he schemes with his two best friends, Stumpy and Travis. The discovery of a sleek, red two-person submarine in the brush alongside the tracks changes everything. Can three young, girl-hating boys and a willing and very ableand tolerant--girl move a submarine to Graham Pond? If they manage that, will they ever be able to pilot it? In the heat of a languid Georgia summer vacation, in the dreams of irrepressible youth, anything is possible. O'Connor has spun a lovely read that perfectly captures the schemes and plans of school-age kids in the long days of summer. (Fiction. 8-11)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
