Rating: 
Summary: Wonderfully Entertaining!
Review: A friend borrowed me this book and I was reluctant to pick it up and read it because I had never heard anything about it. It's a GREAT book. An especially good book to read in the summer because it takes place in the summer and most of it reminded me of how an "old fashioned" summer used to be and the great memories - cold lemonade, fishing (what a super fishing story!), etc. Just a very entertaining book - didn't want it to end!
Rating:
Summary: I loved this book -- a very memorable book
Review: Even after a month has passed, I still find myself thinking of this book, and when I was reading it, I couldn't put it down. Devoto tells a story of childhood in the South (northern Alabama) in the early 1950s, where fear of polio and segregation were pervasive realities. 8-year-old Tab (Tabatha) is friends with a boy whose mother, fearful of polio, makes him stay in the basement while she's at work. Tab's other friend is Maudie May, a 13-year-old "colored" girl whose younger twin brothers (known only as the Brothers) tag along around, kept in check by their strong-as-iron older sister. It is a time when children really were free to spend their summers with little adult supervision during the day. As a result Tab and her friends have some amazing and funny adventures, including an unforgettable episode on the Tennessee River in a rickety rowboat they've borrowed. I laughed out loud at a number of points in this book, both from the funny situations and the funny commentary by Tab.This book is a keeper.
Rating:
Summary: I loved this book -- a very memorable book
Review: Even after a month has passed, I still find myself thinking of this book, and when I was reading it, I couldn't put it down. Devoto tells a story of childhood in the South (northern Alabama) in the early 1950s, where fear of polio and segregation were pervasive realities. 8-year-old Tab (Tabatha) is friends with a boy whose mother, fearful of polio, makes him stay in the basement while she's at work. Tab's other friend is Maudie May, a 13-year-old "colored" girl whose younger twin brothers (known only as the Brothers) tag along around, kept in check by their strong-as-iron older sister. It is a time when children really were free to spend their summers with little adult supervision during the day. As a result Tab and her friends have some amazing and funny adventures, including an unforgettable episode on the Tennessee River in a rickety rowboat they've borrowed. I laughed out loud at a number of points in this book, both from the funny situations and the funny commentary by Tab. This book is a keeper.
Rating:
Summary: What a summer should be
Review: I loved this story. Southern Fiction is my favorite genre and this is one of the finest. Tab and her cronies and a Kudzu fort and all the adventures a summer should contain. I loved the football game and the fishing tale. The bittersweet storyline of polio and bootlegging added to the tale. I especially enjoyed seeing all this from a little girl's perspective. I can't wait to read her second novel.
Rating:
Summary: An exceptionally good book.
Review: Just reading this book brings back the feeling of long summer days just made for enjoying with your friends. Tabitha "Tab" Rutland lives in Bainbridge, Alabama and is 10 years old when this book takes place in the early 1950's. She's a tomboy who loves going to movies (particularly Roy Rogers) and playing with her best friend, Maudie May, "the lightest brown colored person" she knows. They have a kudzu-covered play fort where they spend a great deal of their time, along with Maudie May's 2 younger brothers. Their fort happens to overlook the local bootlegger's money drop which provides an education in itself. They also overhear a conversation which puts them in danger and exposes one of the long-held secrets of the town. One of the interesting side stories is Tab's mother who just doesn't quite fit in. After all, she's the "Yankee" from Tennessee! There are many fascinating people surrounding Tab. Little John, the boy next door, whose mother is so afraid he will contact polio that she keeps him in the basement to protect him. Of course, Tab and Maudie May have to something about that! Mrs. Grace Poovey, the town matriarch and her driver Mr Ben, Mr. Jake the bootlegger, the Ladies Help League are all parts of a wonderful story. Even tho it's the middle of winter, I could almost close my eyes and feel the soft summer breezes. This is a really good book.
Rating: 
Summary: Evocative, touching, and humorous.
Review: One can agree with some of the criticisms levelled in other reviews, but still call this a very enjoyable look at a specific period in time - the mid-1950s before the Salk and Sabin vaccines removed the specter of polio from our daily lives. So it's not To Kill A Mockingbird: What is? It is very funny and well-written. My congratulations to Ms. Devoto for a fine first novel.
Rating:
Summary: Childhood memories brought back
Review: This book reminded me a lot of my childhood. Long summer days, Roy Rogers, the polio scare, hideouts, and long-lost childhood friends. It is the story of Tab Rutland who lives in a small Alabama town in 1954. The 1954 polio scare is on, and all of the swimming pools are closed in the town. So with her new friend, Maudie (who is the daughter of the neighbor's African-American maid) they set about to build a fort in a kudzu vine thicket which they nickname Fort Polio. They then begin a summer spying on the local moonshine maker, taking a fishing trip to get money for school supplies for Maudie, Tab's friendship with her neighbor's son, John (who is brilliant in his own right), in addition to other adventures. Meanwhile, Tab's mother is blackballed by the venerable Ladies Help League and especially by the head of the League, Mrs. Grace Poovey. But the summer ends--and what happens to Mrs. Poovey? And--what happens to Maudie and why does she have to leave town? This is a wonderful coming-of-age novel set in the 1950s and those have grown up in this time period will enjoy this book immensely.
Rating:
Summary: Childhood memories brought back
Review: This book reminded me a lot of my childhood. Long summer days, Roy Rogers, the polio scare, hideouts, and long-lost childhood friends. It is the story of Tab Rutland who lives in a small Alabama town in 1954. The 1954 polio scare is on, and all of the swimming pools are closed in the town. So with her new friend, Maudie (who is the daughter of the neighbor's African-American maid) they set about to build a fort in a kudzu vine thicket which they nickname Fort Polio. They then begin a summer spying on the local moonshine maker, taking a fishing trip to get money for school supplies for Maudie, Tab's friendship with her neighbor's son, John (who is brilliant in his own right), in addition to other adventures. Meanwhile, Tab's mother is blackballed by the venerable Ladies Help League and especially by the head of the League, Mrs. Grace Poovey. But the summer ends--and what happens to Mrs. Poovey? And--what happens to Maudie and why does she have to leave town? This is a wonderful coming-of-age novel set in the 1950s and those have grown up in this time period will enjoy this book immensely.
Rating:
Summary: Good but gets to be long
Review: This book starts out good but then after the first hunderd pages it gets boring. There is not much of a point.
Rating: 
Summary: NEAR INSULIN SHOCK..
Review: This book was a gift from a 'southern' friend in an effort to explain the 'southern psyche?!' Good, lord, I thought I'd die of hackneyed plot development and platitude! The truly interesting aspects were never persued nor explained -- the mother--southern woman personified and yet left to hang -- the ill-fated father -- zip! Ultimately a mawkish effort at 'southern literature' that leaves the reader unfulfilled and the genre stagnant. I am shocked to learn this thing has been compared to Harper Lee and Truman Capote! Are people just not reading anymore, are they just stupid, or what? After a brief while; you just don't give a damn and want to finish the thing. If this is the present/future of 'southern letters,' I'm even more glad the North won the Civil War!
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