Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Pena

From Goodreads,

"Every Sunday after church, CJ and his grandma ride the bus across town. But today, CJ wonders why they don't own a car like his friend Colby. Why doesn’t he have an iPod like the boys on the bus? How come they always have to get off in the dirty part of town? Each question is met with an encouraging answer from grandma, who helps him see the beauty—and fun—in their routine and the world around them.

This energetic ride through a bustling city highlights the wonderful perspective only grandparent and grandchild can share, and comes to life through Matt de la Pena’s vibrant text and Christian Robinson’s radiant illustrations."

Goodreads - Last Stop on Market Street

Awards:

• New York Times Book Review Notable Children's Book (2015)
• Wall Street Journal Best Children's Book (2015)
• Newbery Medal (2016)
• Caldecott Honor (2016)
• Charlotte Zolotow Award Honor (2016)
• Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Book (2016)

My boyfriend and I have decided to read all of the books on the Newbery Award list as a fun thing for us to do.  The first book we both read since starting this challenge was Last Stop on Market Street.  He read it out loud to me first.  He finished the book by saying that it was absolutely awful.  From what I had heard I agreed.  Then I decided to take the book and read it for myself, and honestly I had a totally different opinion by the time I finished the book. 

This book is about CJ and his grandma who take the bus to get where they are going.  CJ is just a young boy and he continuously asks questions while he rides the bus with his grandmother.  The entire time she answers his questions while trying to get him to find pride in himself and his community. 

This book isn't just a simple children's book.  It definitely has solid underlying messages that are important for children to learn about.  One of the most important messages that I took away from this book was to respect and take pride in your community.  CJ didn't have much pride in his community and the fact that he had to ride the bus with people who were different than him.  His grandmother continuously reminds him to enjoy the people and things around him.  I think this is good for students to read about because in today's world, nobody appreciates what they have.  Everyone is always wanting something bigger and better.  I hear my own students talk about how other towns have this or that, but I don't hear them talk about what things we have in our own town.  I don't hear them talk about the disc golf course that we have or the new escape room that just went into an old building in town.  This book really makes me want to do a community service project with my students to help build some pride and respect for our community.

This book also has an important message about diversity.  In the book we meet people who are all riding the bus with CJ and his grandmother, and they are all diverse.  There are people from different ethnicities, people with disabilities, elderly people and young people all included in this book.  There's a little bit of everything and everyone.  I think it is good to see the diversity in books because it allows children to find a character that they identify with.  We really need more diverse children's books in classroom, and this book is definitely one to help students see diversity in books.

While this was a good book with some serious themes, I think that many would be overlooked by students.  I'm not entirely sure how this book won the Newbery Award in 2016.  The award focuses on content, not length, but I still feel like this book lacked a lot for it to be a Newbery Award.  Especially considering I just finished The Girl Who Drank The Moon.  Either way, I give this book 3 stars out of 5.  It wasn't a chapter book like I was expecting and I had to read it twice just to get any messages or feeling out of it.