Pay Attention, Carter Jones

Schmidt, Gary.  Pay Attention, Carter Jones.  2019, Clarion Books, a Division of Houghton-Mifflin Harcourt.

Carter is your average, ordinary, every day kid whose father is deployed overseas.  On the first day of 7th grade, Carter answers to doorbell to find a Butler standing on the front porch, saying that he has been sent to help them by a provision in Carter's grandfather's will.

With clinical efficiency, the Butler moves into the Jones house and helps to straighten out not only the physical house, but also the residents of the house.  Soon, all 4 Jones children are pulling together as a team and finding that they can truly can conquer the world together.

But, when Butler decides that he is going to teach Carter and his friends how to play Cricket - life takes unexpected turns as Carter finds himself at the center of the newly formed (as in formed on the field that day) Cricket Team for the school, which is led by the Cross Country Coach and Butler.  But what happens when an American School suddenly becomes obsessed with Cricket, and the Football Team becomes a mere afterthought?

The Jones family is thrown for a loop when they receive an e-mail from their father, telling them that he will not be coming home from his deployment - that he has found another family and is going to stay with them.

Can the Jones family use the lessons they have learned from Butler and Cricket to pull together and become even stronger in the wake of this devastation?

Will the Cricket Team be allowed to play their first game on the football field before the biggest football game of the season?  Will anybody even care if they do?



Author Web Site: http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/schmidt/about.html

The publisher recommends this book for children in grades 4-7.

Note from Bettina:
I thoroughly enjoyed the book, and the undercurrents running through the book.  Mr. Schmidt handles a very tough subject with humor and love.  Speaking as a child of divorce (Well over 30 years removed from that divorce, mind you.)  I can honestly say that he does an excellent job of catching many of the feelings and mixed emotions that I dealt with as a very confused and addelepated adolescent.  I like to think that most kids now are as supportive of their friends in similar situations as Carter's friends.  I'd like to state that the character Butler states a truism every child of divorce can relate to "It does eventually catch up to you." 

"Make good decisions and remember who you are!"  -Butler