Saving Sweetness

Summary:

Saving Sweetness is the story about a little girl who feels trapped in an orphanage with the meanest lady ever, Mrs. Sump. Sweetness hates it there and hates that Mrs. Sump makes her scrub the floor with toothbrushes, so one day she escapes. Once Mrs. Sump finds out that Sweetness is missing, she goes to the local saloon to find the sheriff. Mrs. Sump sends the sheriff out to look for Sweetness. Afraid that Sweetness will run into Coyote Pete, a local bandit, the sheriff goes looking for her in the desert. Although he is supposed to be rescuing Sweetness, the sheriff is the one who runs into a bunch of problems and actually gets saved multiple times by Sweetness herself. She saves him from thirst, from freezing and from Coyote show more Pete, but every time Sweetness still runs away. The sheriff finally figures out that Sweetness has no intention of being saved unless someone is willing to adopt her. All Sweetness wants is for someone to love and care for her and she has no intention of going back to the orphanage or Mrs. Sump. Finally the sheriff thinks about adopting her and Sweetness is ecstatic. She even convinces the sheriff to adopt the other seven orphans. So while Sweetness, her new dad and siblings live happily ever after, Mrs. Sump watches over Coyote Pete while he scrubs her floors.

Comments (opinions/arguments):
This short picture book is really quite a cute story! Taking place in Texas, the author does a great job at adding a southern dialect/accent to the dialogue, by using words such as, “somethin’, accounta’, seein’, costin’, havin’, lessen, gots, ain’t and etc. It really reflects the different culture that the author is trying to convey in the story. The illustrations are really unique as well. It’s a funky mix of cute cartoon drawings and actually pictures of old homes and buildings used almost like clipart. But more than the dialect and the illustrations, the message of the story is the cutest. The author did such a wonderful job at portraying a story about orphanage into something lighthearted, fun and humorous. I just love how the sheriff, whose been sent to rescue and bring little Sweetness back to the orphanage, actually ends up getting rescued by her instead. The entire story is a role reversal because the child ends up rescuing the adult when it’s actually the child who really needs rescuing from being an orphan. This story is meant to be humorous as to tread lightly on the lifestyle of being an orphan. Although being an orphan isn’t exactly how any child wants to grow up, sometimes it takes the child to teach adults to grow up. This story is really touching because in the end the sheriff adopts Sweetness and all the other children at the orphanage. In the end all of the children end up together in one big happy family and I hope it sends the message to other orphans out there that one day there day will come. show less

When cute-as-a-button Sweetness - the youngest orphan at slave-driving Mrs. Sump's home for unwanted children - runs away, the local sheriff sets out to track her down, concerned that she might come to harm. With outlaws like Coyote Peter roaming around, you never know what might happen! Unfortunately, the sheriff (who is also the narrator) isn't quite as prepared as he thinks he is, and Sweetness has to rescue him a number of times, coming to his aid with water, food, and a timely intervention in his confrontation with Coyote Pete.

Told in a highly colloquial style, Saving Sweetness is an amusing tale whose humor rests on its role reversal - it is the child who must rescue the adult, and who must shepherd him to an understanding of how show more he could really rescue her - and on its narrator's generally clueless misreading of his role in the story. The sheriff remains convinced, throughout, that he is indeed saving Sweetness, something that young readers will undoubtedly find funny, as they witness the way that the actions of the two protagonists, as well as the illustrations, belie this. The artwork itself is very interesting, combining painted elements with old photographs. All in all, Saving Sweetness is an engaging tale, one I would recommend to young readers who enjoy silly stories, and/or orphan tales with happy endings. I'll have to see if I can track down the sequel, Raising Sweetness, to see what happens next with this spunky young heroine! show less

Saving Sweetness

A shining example of what a picture book should be: wherein the text tells us one story, but the pictures tell us quite a different story. Indeed, the fun and humor in this tale come from the “secret” shared by the reader and the main character, Sweetness, but to which the narrator is oblivious. This book would be an excellent model for teaching high school students about the essential elements of a story and how they are interrelated and purposeful: setting, voice, point of view, characterization, plot, conflict, climax, denouement, irony (especially irony!) – all of these are contained in the 29 pages of this amazing little book!

Sweetness, an orphan with a hard-knock life, strikes out into the desert on her own, leaving it up to the sheriff to rescue her from the perils of the climate and notorious outlaw Coyote Pete. The trouble is, that’s not the kind of rescue Sweetness has in mind, and she just won’t stay saved! What’s a sheriff to do?

Set in the Texas desert, this story of one girl’s fierce independence and one sheriff’s stubborn call to duty is a delight. Told from the sheriff’s own voice, the storytelling is vivid, helped along by brilliant illustrations from G. Brian Karas, who traveled all over the American southwest taking photographs to include in his composite pictures (gouache, acrylic, pencil, and cyanotype photographs). Stanley’s show more bright characters show us that tough and gentle can go hand-in-hand, and that bad guys will always get what’s coming to them--even if it’s not how we first imagine it. Great for an older reader to read to a younger listener. show less

I loved this wonderfully illustrated book and the tale of spunky, intelligent Sweetness who resides in an orphanage. Rather than complain, she sets in action a plan for escape. Mrs. Stump is the nasty rotten lady who runs the orphanage. Sweetness sees through her and wants a better life.

funny & suspenseful story of orphan Sweetness in old-time Texas. The little darlin' won't scrub one more orphanage floor with a toothbrush. She's bustin' out.

Just as cute as the other reviewers say.  Im glad to read it, and glad I was able to check out the sequel at the same time.  Not that it needs a sequel, but so fun...."