The Puttermans Are in the House
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Book Summary:
Sammy and Matty are twelve-year-old twins, and Becky is their slightly older cousin, who often feels that the twins get all the attention in the family, while she is left out. Becky's plan is to set up a YouTube channel featuring cat fashions (she's got a patient cat who lets her dress her up in outfits with props to reenact movie scenes), and then she won't need attention from her family - she'll have it from the rest of the world. Matty is a star pitcher on his baseball team, until he leaves a game in the middle of an inning and doesn't go back. He won't talk about what happened with his family - even to his twin sister, who is also on the team. He claims he hates baseball now, because it's easier than explaining how he feels. Sammy is her team's only female baseball player, and she is an Astros superfan, like the rest of her family. She is overwhelmed by loneliness when Matty quits baseball and quits talking to her, upset that their twin "telepathy" no longer works. When Hurricane Harvey strikes Houston, Sammy and Matty's house is underwater, and they lose most of their belongings. They evacuate to a shelter, and then to Becky's house, along with some extended family. Becky is preparing for her bat mitzvah, the Astros are in the World Series, and their whole family is figuring out how to work as a team - or go their separate ways. Book Review: There are a lot of things going on in this book. The point of view alternates between Sammy, Matty, and Becky, and while each character is somewhat frustrating - Sammy, because she is so emotional, Matty, because he won't talk about what's going on, and Becky, because she's self-centered - all of these traits are realistic and readers may recognize these behaviors in themselves. There's a lot of representation of topics that readers may be happy to see, including recovering from a disaster like hurricane flooding, Jewish holidays and traditions, a female baseball player, aspiring YouTubers, LGBTQ representation, hometown sports pride, and feeling left out in your family, even when people are physically crowded together. The resolution / character realizations seemed to switch on too suddenly after spending a long (too long?) time describing the struggles, but the respectful treatment of so many relatable issues at this age level offers plenty to recommend. " And the whole time Matty's with Becky, he seems happy. And somehow that makes me feel miserable. |
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