Raymie Nightingale

Raymie Clarke has come to realize that everything, absolutely everything, depends on her. And she has a plan. If Raymie can win the Little Miss Central Florida Tire competition, then her father, who left town two days ago with a dental hygienist, will see Raymie's picture in the paper and (maybe) come home. To win, not only does Raymie have to do good deeds and learn how to twirl a baton; she also has to contend with the wispy, frequently fainting Louisiana Elefante, who has a show-business background, and the fiery, stubborn Beverly Tapinski, who's determined to sabotage the contest. But as the competition approaches, loneliness, loss, and unanswerable questions draw the three girls into an unlikely friendship -- and challenge each of show more them to come to the rescue in unexpected ways. show less

Book on CD narrated by Jenna Lamia.

Raymie Clarke has decided to join (and win) the Little Miss Central Florida Tire competition. She believes if she wins her father, who recently left home with a dental hygienist, will return. Her first step is to learn to twirl a baton, and at her first lesson she meets her competition: Louisiana Elefante (who claims a show-business background) and Beverly Tapinski (who says she is there simply to sabotage the contest).

This is a lovely coming-of-age tale suitable for the middle-school crowd, where three girls with different circumstances form a bond of friendship. Raymie is a bright, curious, determined girl. And she has a relatively stable home life, despite her father’s recent departure. But show more Louisiana and Beverly have challenges at home that Raymie barely understands. I loved how accepting they all were of one another, and how they supported and helped each other despite their differences. I won’t give away the results of the Little Miss Central Florida Tire competition, but in the things that matter, they are all winners.

Jenna Lamia does a fine job of narrating the audiobook. I particularly liked how she voiced Louisiana. show less

Struggling to cope with the grief and loss attendant on her father's decision to abandon his wife and daughter and run off with another woman, young Raymie Clarke has a plan. She will win the Little Miss Central Florida Tire 1975 competition, get her name in the papers, and remind her father of her existence, thereby (hopefully) bringing him home. In the process of pursuing this unlikely goal, Raymie becomes friends with two other girls - the truculent but secretly tenderhearted Beverly Tapinski, who longs to escape their small town and live with her policeman father in New York, and who is planning to sabotage the competition; and the loving and too-good-for-this-world Louisiana Elefante, a starving orphan living with her grandmother, show more perpetually on the run from child welfare, who wants to win the competition in order to save her beloved cat Archie from the animal shelter to which they were forced to surrender him, when no longer able to feed him. As the three girls become better acquainted, they find solace for their various troubles with one another, and strength to try and do something about them.

Having recently begun an exploration of the work of Kate DiCamillo, two-time winner of the Newbery Medal, for The Tale of Despereaux and Flora and Ulysses, I was excited to get to Raymie Nightingale, her latest work, published earlier this year (2016). As with some of her other realistic titles for children - Because of Winn Dixie, The Tiger Rising - DiCamillo explores the reality of absent parents here, as all three of her characters are missing one or both parents, either through death or abandonment. I thought her depiction of Raymie's internal emotional struggles - her expanding and contracting soul, her occasional feeling of epiphany, of love for the world and those around her - was sensitively done, often immensely poignant. The conclusion is hopeful, leaving the reader with the sense that, although none of the challenges the three friends confront have changed or disappeared, they will manage to get through them somehow, drawing strength from their friendship. Recommended to anyone who has enjoyed DiCamillo's previous works, or is looking for quality middle-grade fiction. show less

DiCamillo is one of my favorite authors. Consistent with her ability to create loving and lovable characters who poignantly struggle with difficulties early in life, once again this Newbery Medal Award winning author created yet another magical, marvelous story of love, loss, hardship, and the ability to face the storms of life with face toward the wind, knowing the umbrella is inverted, yet praying for the sunshine. All of her characters have fortitude and the ability to pick themselves up and start over again.

Worthy of another Newbery Medal, I'll be surprised (and disappointed) if this book does not receive the award.

Raymie Clarke is hurting badly by the absence of her father. Rumor has it that he ran away with the local dental show more hygienist. Longing to hear from him, Raymie decides to take twirling lessons from the older Ida Nee who has a history of winning contests. Raymie sets her goal on winning the Little Miss Central Florida Tire competition. She firmly believes that if only she can win and then be featured in the newspaper, her father will see her accomplishment and photo and will return!

On the first day of lessons, Raymie meets Louisiana Elefante, who hails from a family of high wire accrobats, no longer alive, leaving Louisiana with her impoverished granny. Eating one can of tuna after another, Louisiana needs the prize money that accompanies the title of Little Miss Central Florida Tire, not only to help grannie out of poverty, but to be able to feed and reclaim her cat that was given away to a rescue society.

Making a three some is spunky, devil may care hardened Beverly Tapinski whose main goal is to sabotage the competition. With a strong shell of protection and a tough vocabulary, inside Beverly Tapinski lies softness and vulnerability.

The author weaves magical tapestry with these three engaging children, none of whom have a full parental unit.

I struggle to express just how wonderful this book is. The three girls grow together and create a solidarity that engages the reader to route for and wish the best for all. The cast of adjunct characters, Ida Nee, Granny, a wonderful nurse named Ruthie, and Ms. Sylvester, the tender-hearted secretary of Raymie's father/owner of the Jim Clarke Family Insurance company bring added dimension and loving humor.

This is a five star book! I read it in a few hours and wanted to immediately start all over again. show less

This is my first DiCamillo novel, and I was very pleasantly surprised to find myself laughing out loud within the first few minutes. (In part, that's down to the perfectly pitched audiobook narration by Jenna Lamia, it has to be said.) DiCamillo has a skill with words, veering from high, Southern-flecked comedy to the sort of instant dread you only feel in childhood. Unsurprisingly, her children are extremely authentic, including the scene-stealer Louisiana Elefante, who functions as a kind of 1970s Anne of Green Gables-type: all big words, imagination, and gumption. DiCamillo walks that delicate tightrope between our finding Louisiana adorable and seeing her as psychologically scarred; it'll be interesting to see if she can make show more Louisiana more well-rounded - yet still appealing - in the sequel, where she takes the lead. show less

Kate. Ms. DiCamillo. Author extraordinaire. How do you do it? How do you take a plot about every day life, absolutely nothing special about it, and turn it into something that reeks of importance? How do you create characters so real that I could swear I've met them? How do you tell a story like you were there, witnessing it first hand, jotting down every fine detail?

That's the impression I get from Raymie Nightingale. Three girls growing up in Florida in the mid 1970's. I was there and I can say that this book is spot on. Even though my experiences were different, never took baton lessons, never went to a nursing home to do a good deed, never rescued a friend from drowning, the sense of place and people are the same. I remember the show more kind women like Mrs. Sylvester who kept a candy jar and looked out for everyone. I remember the nagging old lady next door who gave advice in her own secret language. I remember divinity candy. I remember the cranky old lady like Isabella who would never dare let you know she likes you. I remember grocery stores with names that rolled off your tongue like The Tag and Bag. Most importantly I remember the friendships. All of us bringing our own personalities and talents to the group to make it complete. I love Beverly and her no-nonsense way of getting to the point. I love Louisiana and her kind, naive sweetness. I love Raymie with her flexed toes and even temper.

I don't know how kids today react to books like this, but for me it's like sitting down with an old friend. This is not a book about dysfunctional families. This is a book about friendship. It's a book about slowing down and enjoying this thing called childhood. It's a book that reminds us that every moment of each day has significance to the bigger picture. A treat for the southern soul. show less

Kate DiCamillo is top-notch when it comes to handling difficult topics in a age-appropriate and heart-true way. Raymie Clarke's father has run off with a dental hygienist. But Raymie has a plan. She will win the Little Miss Central Florida Tire 1975 competition and he will read about it in the paper and realize what he has left behind and will come home again. To win the competition, Raymie must learn how to twirl a baton, so she is sent for lessons with Miss Ida Nee, a former baton phenom, but instead of instruction, Raymie finds 2 new best friends and fellow misfits: Beverly Tapinski and Louisiana Elefante. Beverly is a tough-talking, no-nonsense daughter of a cop (also missing from the family) and Louisiana is the daughter of circus show more performers and currently in the care of her paranoid grandmother. With characteristic humor, seriousness and sweetness, DiCamillo has the 'three Rancheros' (Louisiana is forever mixing things up) have a couple adventures and real-life challenges with a range of crazy characters (Mrs. Borkowski, an elderly, senile? neighbor who dies, Mrs. Sylvester, her father's secretary and her jar of luminescent candy corn, and Ida Nee herself who never does teach them to twirl. Raymie learns that her plan must be revised - not just to re-gain her father, but to approach life - because there are always twists and turns no one can anticipate. But she finds out she is pretty well-equipped to deal with it. Things come to a head in a serious accident, but the girls survive and prevail, friendship and futures intact. There is a beautiful sense of seeking life's purpose - even at the age of ten, and Raymie's soul often expands and shrinks in proportion to the events she experiences - at least that's how she perceives it. She is a seeker and she ends up finding just what she needs in the end. show less