Holly Hernandez and the Death of Disco by Richie Narvaez

Overall, I didn’t love this one as much as I think I normally like these books.

What would Millie do? Stand up for what she believes in? Could she say something that might change the character’s mind? So many possibilities. I would have been more interested in seeing Millie struggle with neighbors she actually liked and admired for having these prejudices. There were “good” and “bad” people who held these views (due to fear, etc.) I think a more nuanced approach would have been stronger. While I agree that such prejudice was NOT a good thing (and the ensuing camps were an atrocity!), these attitudes were a very real part of history following Pearl Harbor. At one point, they demonstrate their evilness by their prejudice against the Japanese. I felt she (and pretty much all of her family, with the exception of the niece) were portrayed in a very one-dimensional way. I don’t think the book took us beyond 1942.) THINGS THAT BOTHERED ME…ġ) The neighbor-lady (mother of Icky) kind of bothered me. It takes place in 1941-42 and the story wraps up very nicely in its own way. Most books about World War II think they have to take us to the end of the war. 🙂ĥ) I like that the book doesn’t end in 1945. And each time she did this, I’d get to say the name McGonigle in my head. The best scene is when Millie gets introduced to a very wonderful book! (“What’s a hobbit, anyway?”)Ĥ) McGonigle is such a fun name to say! One of Millie’s quirks is that she writes her last name in the sand or the mud. So, she decides to get her older friend to get a library card. I loved the little reference to the Secret Garden and how Mary Lennox isn’t the most likeable character at the start of her story!Ģ) I did like that the story did follow various relationships Millie has… with her younger brother and sister, with her mother, and with a new friend.ģ) I love the library scenes! Millie is obsessed with finding books about dying and death, but the librarian won’t let her take out adult books yet.

However, she does have a character arc and I really liked watching her grow. “Doesn’t that taste muddy and disgusting?” WHAT I LIKED ABOUT THIS BOOK…ġ) Millie is not a particularly likeable child at the beginning of the story. I had seen him and the other Portuguese octopus fishermen do that a hundred times, but it still made me shudder. George lifted the slimy creature to his mouth and bit it right between the eyes.

Holly Hernandez and the Death of Disco by Richie Narvaez