The Noonday Friends

Read for Newbery Club in Children's Books group. My comments can serve as review:

At first I was not too sure I'd like it because it's another MG story about 'issues.' But Marshall, her little brother, is a charmer. When he and Franny played their after-school games I laughed and almost cried; what a wonderful big sister she is!

But why isn't the big brother helping take care of the little one? Because it's the early 1960s?
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Well, I'm done with Noonday Friends and I loved it. I have no idea whether I would have as a child. We were poor, but not that poor, and my dad worked, between his job and his mother's farm and other rural 'gig' work, probably 70 hours a week. None of us were creative, or social... this would have been just too show more foreign to me; I'd have had no point of access.

Now, though, I can recognize that it's one of the first and best 'issues' books. But it is indeed about so much more than just MG friendships. Just like A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, it's about the setting as much as anything. Greenwich Village of 1965 is almost a character in its own right. And Mr. Davis, and Marshall, and Mr. Hourney, and even bit players like Tulio, all come alive. Well, except for that Jim. I do not understand him at all. And I do not know why Stoltz made him be twins with Franny, as that doesn't seem to add to the story.

I noticed that the edition scanned to openlibrary has a bunch of checkouts - at least a couple every year from 1966 to 1979. I don't know if it was on recommended reading lists, but I suspect at least some of those readers enjoyed it.
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Kaylee, in the group, has written up an excellent exploration of the book, including ideas about Jim. I'll have to reread this someday, referring back to her comments. show less

There is a lot to like about this 1966 Newbery Honor book. It is a simple tale of youth seen through the eyes of 11 year old Franny Davis.

This is a book of values. A child of poverty, living in a tiny apartment in Greenich Village, New York, Franny has keen insights into her family. Her father is loving, but not the bread winner he needs to be. He is a fast talking, amiable artist who loves his family, but cannot hold a job.

Her mother has dreams of an education, but toils long hours as a laborer. Her twin brother is a wonderful soul who is angry and walking down a slow path where choices are shaky and troublesome. Her precocious baby brother is five and wise enough to know that the family is hurting and struggling.

Her noon day show more friendship is confined to small amounts of time during lunch. Through this relationship and that of her family, Franny learns that while money for every day necessities would be great, the true value is in those whom you love and love you right back. show less

A "noonday friend" is one you only see at lunch during school, because you spend your after school hours watching younger siblings and helping your parents. Franny believes this is the only kind of friend she will ever have, and Simone is the one. But this book goes beyond the girls' friendship, and into the lessons learned from their families, older and younger, and gently teaches us about what's important. Enjoyable.

With a copyright date of 1965, this had to be one of the first almost-teenage-girl-with-family-troubles books. This is now an out-and-out genre; I can’t tell you how many of these I saw at the library conference last week. Franny’s problems seem small compared to those of girls nowadays: Franny is worried that her friend won’t like her best and that her dad can’t keep a job (not because he has deeper problems like anger issues or drinking on the job issues…he’s just a bit dreamy). Because of the copyright, I felt pretty confident going in that everything would work out in the end and, of course, everything did. It’s a good solid story, with good solid characters. I wonder what contemporary readers would think of this book.

A young girl struggles to negotiate school and friendship while coming to terms with the near-poverty in which her family is living.
A sweet little story with some memorable characters.

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