Raymie Nightingale, is a wonderful book about the friendship of three girls who meet during baton twirling lessons, all there for seemingly very different reasons…
Raymie, the main character, is trying to win the Little Miss Central Florida Tire competition to get her picture in the paper, so her dad, who two days earlier had ran away with a dental hygienist, will (hopefully) come back. Louisiana Elefante, a very gentle girl with frequent fainting spells and whose family is in the show-business is also trying to win that contest, hoping that she can stop stealing food with her grandmother, as they are very poor, and ”never be terrified again”. The third girl in the class, Beverly Tapinski already knows how to perfectly twirl a baton but her mother is forcing her to compete. Her mother actually forces her to compete in every single contest she can against her will but she Beverly has a plan. She wants to sabotage the contest.
To participate in the contest, Raymie has to state good deeds she has done. As Raymie can’t remember any, she decides to go read a book to elderly people. She finds a suitable library book, Florence Nightingale. When she goes to read it to the elderly people, she loses her book in an elderly lady’s room and asks the help of her two baton twirling friends. The three girls bond and have several other adventures together, now known as the ”three rancheros”.
This is a wonderful book about one summer and three girls, each going through personal difficulties, but that form an incredible trio, and form an incredible friendship.
Rating: (5 / 5)
Release Date: 2016
Author: Kate DiCamillo
Publishing House: Candlewick Press