In my quest to read all of the books that have earned the Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction, this month I’ll be talking about the 2017 winner, Full of Beans, by Jennifer L. Holm.
In Full of Beans, a middle grade novel, ten-year-old Beans Curry lives in 1934 Key West, Florida, when Key West is a bankrupt town full of trash, but few jobs. Beans’ father leaves town in search of work, his mother takes in laundry, and Beans and his younger brother do whatever odd jobs they can find.
Life’s not all bad. Beans and his gang are the reigning marble champs, they enjoy Cuban food, and Beans goes to the movies to watch the new child actors whenever he gets a chance. However, when he decides to take a job for a shady townsperson, he reaps consequences he wasn’t expecting.
Instead of writing a traditional review of each of the Scott O’Dell Award winning books, I write about the historical facts and the writing craft lessons that I’ve learned. I find that even in books I don’t enjoy, there are often things I can learn.
History lesson—Depression-era Key West
During the Depression, Key West was so broke it had quit picking up trash and there were piles of trash around town causing a terrible odor. The main employers had left. Jobs were scarce. The federal government had decided to either close the town or make it a tourist mecca.
The New Deal employees came in to clean up the trash and paint the houses. Actually, the federal government paid for the supplies, but most of the labor was supplied by volunteer labor, including that of the kids of Key West.
Key West did become a tourist mecca, and it was largely because a marketing campaign.
Writing lesson—Flawed, yet likable protagonist
I think Beans is kind of the neighborhood tough guy. He’s street smart and he’ll take advantage of others to get ahead. Yet he loves his parents and his siblings. He’s a leader and loyal to his friends. He seems to be able to read adults and know if they’ve good or bad intentions. And he has dreams and a conscience.
Holm does a good job showing all these different aspects to Beans, making him a rounded, likable kid even though he makes some unlikable choices. In fact, in the first scene, Beans knows he’s being taken advantage of by an adult, but he goes along with it so he can take care of his hungry younger brother.
This made me enjoy spending time with Beans even if I didn’t like all his choices.
What kids books have you read set in Florida or during the Depression? What books have you read where the protagonists may not be the greatest role models, yet you still enjoyed spending time with them?