Missing May by Cynthia Rylant

Missing May was a terrific book. Rylant developed the characters so well that I felt like I could reach out and hug them. The book caught my attention right away with Summer being bounced from house to house. I have 2 sets of friends who have just adopted a child. One family adopted a 6 year old girl. The other family adopted a 7 year old boy. I thought that Summer’s thoughts about her mother showing her enough love so she would recognize it later in life was really deep. These children my friends have adopted are going through so much to adjust to family life. The boy pulls back at any physical contact and the girl flinches at any loud noise. These parents wanted desperately to share the love of a family with a child who had no love. I’m sure that Uncle Ob and Aunt May wanted to provide this same love. I was relieved when Summer described how she recognized love in an instant. I was glad that she did not absorb the emotional coldness she was treated with as a child being tossed about by relatives. I could not understand how uncles and aunts could do that to a child. I think about my own niece and nephews and know that I would gladly take all of them if need be. I don’t care what my situation in life is, family and love is first.
The love between Uncle Ob and Aunt May is something that I wish every child could witness. It reminded me of the stories I have heard about my husband’s granny and granddaddy. So many of my students have such troubled homes – one child told me his parents only speak to each other when they are yelling.
I thought the topics in the book (death, severe grief) were very mature for the intended audience. However, Rylant’s style made the topics very understandable and reachable for young readers. The reader does not become too attached to May because she died before the story began. However, the reader clearly sees how attached Uncle Ob and Summer were to May, which is what the reader needs to focus on.

The Van Gogh Cafe by Cynthia Rylant

When I went to pick up this book from the library, I admit that I stuck it on the bottom of my reading pile. The cover did not interest me, neither did the description of magic on the back. [I had the version with the painting on the cover – not the more interesting and contemporary cover that I have posted with this review] I am not a Van Gogh fan, nor am I a fan of magic. And I am a new reader of Cynthia Rylant, so this book was low on my interest.

Finally, I picked the book up, sighed and said to myself “Well, here it goes.” But I must stay, I am impressed. This book showed me why there is all this hype about Rylant’s use of words. I added so many “Wonderful Words” to my list. Actually, they really weren’t “wonderful words” but more like “wonderful phrases.” But, that’s more my style anyway. I have books full of phrases.

The book starts right off with the magic of the Van Gogh Café. At the beginning, Marc starts writing and his café begins to prepare its own food. He doesn’t lift a finger and yet he has perfect meals every time. And this allows him to write. I couldn’t help but wish that it could happen at my house! I wish that the piles of laundry and dishes would take care of themselves; I wish the meals would prepare themselves; I wish the furniture would dust itself (Mostly, I wish the stacks of papers would grade themselves!). I want this magic of the Van Gogh Café so I can focus on my writing. But, alas, I do not live in a fantasy book… at least I can share with Marc his good fortune.

I enjoyed the character of Clara. She is very amusing. At one point she wishes to point out to her father that he is not the one cooking at the café, that it is the magic. But she is scared if she does that then there will be no lemon meringue pies and she is “so fond of lemon meringue pies.” Clara is also very insightful. She does not want to eat the magic muffin because her father tells her to wish before she eats it. She says she has read enough fairy tales to know that wishes can be a blessing and a curse. This reminded me of the short story I read with my students this year – A Monkey’s Paw. In this story, the family wishes upon a mummified monkey’s paw for enough money to pay off their home loan. The next day they find out their son died at a work accident and the company wants to show its condolences by giving them some money – the exact amount that the family had wished for. Then the mother wishes her son back alive, and the father realizes this will too not be a blessing but a curse – their son will alive but be mutilated and deformed. So the father wishes his son back dead.

Another thing I really enjoyed about the book was the transitions between the chapters:
“Perhaps when lightning strikes…”
“Lemon meringue pies can be lovely, but they’re nothing compared to magic muffins…”
Each chapter (except the last two) ends with an ellipsis teasing the reader to dare to read on.
I thought the “star” coming back to the Van Gogh Café (where he had performed when it was a theater) was the most enchanting part of the story. I did not find it sad when Marc and Clara find the old star dead the next morning clutching his photographs. Instead, I found it proper and serene.