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Summary
Summary
Will a spelling bee be the answer to all of Bird's problems? All her life, all Bird has ever wanted is to be noticed in her small town and to get to Disney World. As it turns out, Bird just might have a chance to realize at least one of her goals because of a state spelling bee, and she might get to make a friend along the way - a boy named Harlem Tate who has just moved to Freedom. Harlem seems like a kindred spirit - someone like Bird, whom people don't usually take the time to find the good in. (Unless it's someone like MissDelphine, who always makes Bird feel special.) But as much as Bird tries to get his attention, Harlem is not easily won over. Then Harlem agrees to be her partner in the spelling bee, and if they study hard enough, the two might just win everything Bird's always wanted.In Barbara O'Connor's funny new novel, a spunky young girl discovers that sometimes all it takes to feel famous is a little recognition from true friends.   Fame and Glory in Freedom, Georgia is a 2004 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.
Author Notes
Barbara O'Connor is the author of numerous acclaimed books for children, including Me and Rupert Goody , Greetings from Nowhere and How to Steal a Dog . She has been awarded the Parents' Choice Gold and Silver Awards, the Massachusetts Book Award, and the Dolly Gray Award, among many honors. As a child, she loved dogs, salamanders, tap dancing, school, and even homework. Her favorite days were when the bookmobile came to town. She was born and raised in Greenville, South Carolina, and now lives in Duxbury, Massachusetts, a historic seaside village not far from Plymouth Rock.
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 4-6-Bird's classmates make fun of her clothes, as well as of the new boy, Harlem, giving the sixth grader reason to try to make friends with him. She and her neighbor Miss Delphine take a pie over to the apartment above the tattoo parlor where he lives with Mr. Moody, who collects cans for a living. Harlem's mother has sent her son to live with his father, whom he cannot recall ever meeting, because her latest husband does not like him. Bird is unable to reach Harlem until she convinces him to be her partner in the school spelling bee. She dreams of winning a trip to Disney World and of gaining "fame and glory." Through numerous practice sessions, the two build a friendship but, unbeknownst to Bird, Harlem has poor eyesight, and during the contest he cannot see words printed on an easel. These memorable characters find ways to work through their shortcomings, use their talents, and help one another. Written in the first person, the book is down-to-earth and satisfying. Readers dealing with acceptance issues will find solace in this story of friendship.-Jean Gaffney, Dayton and Montgomery County Public Library, Miamisburg, OH (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Sixth-grader Burdette "Bird" Weaver joins the ranks of O'Connor's (Me and Rupert Goody; Moonpie and Ivy) unflappable and memorable smalltown narrators. When Harlem Tate moves to Freedom, Ga., and winds up in Bird's class, she wants to make friends with him "before somebody poisons his mind with lies" about her. She confides her wish during one of her daily visits to her neighbor, Miss Delphine, who "can look right through [a person's] mean spirit and find something the rest of us overlooked." After a few false starts with Harlem, one day Bird sees her chance: a spelling bee. Her teacher has said they must enter the contest with a partner, and Bird sets her sights on the mysterious new boy. O'Connor constructs the first-person narrative in such a way that readers can see why it may be challenging for Bird to make friends; but the girl's conversations with empathetic Miss Delphine also bring out Bird's humor and big heart beneath her rough edges. Slowly, Bird's dreams of "fame and glory" (winning a trip to Disney World as top prize in the spelling contest) become secondary to the real-life highs and lows of being a true friend. Her missteps along the way will be as recognizable to readers as the universal rewards of friendship. Ages 8-12. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
(Intermediate) Burdette ""Bird"" Weaver's upbeat narrative voice can't conceal her loneliness. The sixth-grade outcast may not have any friends her own age, but she has dreams. Big dreams. ""Just one short day of fame and glory in Freedom, Georgia, would be fine with me.... Just enough to show folks my true self that they been missing all these years."" She also wants to go to Disney World. As luck would have it, a school spelling bee offers Bird ""the ticket to [her] two goals in life""...plus one more. In the market for a friend and spelling bee partner, Bird sets her sights on ""silent, glaring"" Harlem Tate, a first-rate speller and fellow social pariah at school. It's hard to crack Harlem's stony fa+ade, but Bird is nothing if not persistent. As the two diligently study the dictionary in preparation for the spelling bee, Bird is determined to find out why Harlem moved to town and why on earth he's living with Mr. Moody, ""a crazy old man who...lives over a tattoo parlor and looks for cans on the side of the road."" An idiosyncratic group of characters play out this touching and well-paced story about friendship, family, and connection. Bird's quest doesn't turn out the way she envisions, but along the way she finds--and comes to appreciate--more long-lasting and satisfying rewards. Making and being a true friend is worth all the fame and glory in the world (Disney World included). (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
When Bird decides to make a friend of Harlem Tate, the big new boy in sixth grade who looks mean and acts dumb, she gets whopped upside the head with a dose of reality. Bird has two goals in life: one, to make the pea-flicking kids notice her; and two, to go to Disney World. With her bowed, skinny legs, toothpick arms, stringy hair, and weird outfits, that first goal isn't likely, but when she convinces Harlem to be her partner for the spelling bee, the prize trip to Disney World might be within reach. Harlem lives with can-collecting Mr. Moody above Ray's Tattoo Parlor, where they practice spelling. Surprisingly, Harlem is a talented speller, but blows the contest by running off the stage. Bird's friend, Miss Delphine, the beautiful young woman next door who cares for her invalid father, persuades Bird to remain Harlem's friend and unearth his problem. Bird's original voice has charm, grit, and spunkiness that, combined with small town sensibilities, unique characters, and humor, spell out a winner. (Fiction. 8-12) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Gr. 4-6. Not the most popular kid in sixth grade, Bird feels a kinship with Harlem, a new boy in her class who is shunned because he looks mean and acts dumb. With the help of her kindly neighbor, Miss Delphine, Bird starts a campaign to befriend Harlem. The process begins haltingly, but Bird is triumphant when he agrees to be her partner in the school spelling bee. Bird soon learns that becoming Harlem's friend requires work and courage, but it also brings surprising revelations and unexpected payoffs. Told from Bird's point of view, the narrative unfolds in a finely tuned voice that alternates between hope and disappointment, stubbornness and vulnerability, self-awareness and kindness. This short novel beautifully portrays Bird's strongest emotions: her love for Miss Delphine and her longing for Harlem's friendship. On a practical note, O'Connor's account of the positive changes in Harlem's life that result from his getting eyeglasses may reassure some children who need glasses but are reluctant to wear them. From the author of Moon Pie and Ivy (2001) and Me and Rupert Goody (1999), this is an involving story with a small-town southern setting and a sympathetic heroine. --Carolyn Phelan Copyright 2003 Booklist