I didn't love this one. There were too many coincidences and I'm not sure all the mental health situations were handled in a way that the intended audience would understand.

LOVED IT. Part mystery, part adventure and part coming of age, "Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe" by Jo Hackl was a page-turner that I could not put down! The main character, Cricket, captured my heart in the first chapter. The desire for a stable home is universal and she is on a mission to figure out life.

I appreciate that the author crafts Cricket’s character as a strong, young woman despite her having to deal with the loss of her father and family instability. This story was intriguing and well written, including the descriptions of the scenery especially being a Mississippian myself. The author’s vibrant descriptions and eccentric characters reminded me of Walter Anderson, a local artist.

Often I am unimpressed with books written for middle school readers. This book was refreshingly unique. From the first paragraphs I was drawn into the dialects and culture of the south. For my students in the Midwest, this is important cultural exposure. I learned lessons about nature that paired well with my childhood obsession with "My Side of the Mountain". I wrote down the advice that Daddy shared when explaining the importance of "Woods Time". He said, "I think I needed to learn what the woods had to teach me. When you're around other people, it's easy to get caught up in everything and everybody around you. Out in the woods, it's just you. And if you're going to last any time out in the woods, you'd better get comfortable with whoever it is you are." In an age when middle school students are developing addictions to their phones and technology, hearing the importance of taking a break and spending time in nature is timely. I purchased this book for my library and will promote it in book talks. Thank you so much for allowing me to preview this title.

Just finished Cricket's story. I enjoyed the treatment of mental health and the effort to destigmatize it. Cricket saw her mother as a person of many facets and learned that she, too, is more than what others think of her.

After two deaths and the disappearance of her mentally ill mom, Cricket's life is upended, and she pines for the day when her mother returns from her ongoing search for The Bird Room. Her father had introduced Cricket to an abandoned town in the Mississippi piney woods, and he had taught her how to live off the land, so when the opportunity presents itself, she hikes into the woods and takes up residence in a tree house i the ghost town. Unusual characters like flighty Aunt Belinda, a cricket named Charlene, and Miss V, the story's pillar of strength, along with clues, riddles, and the Mississippi artist Walter Anderson all add to the local flavor of this coming of age story.

I enjoy stories with strong female characters. Cricket is one resourceful young woman. She's from a wildly dysfunctional family, yet manages to create her own path and survive. I think grades 5th grade and up will enjoy this tale. It's a fascinating well-told story and has a nice air of mystery running through it that I enjoyed. Loved the setting and plot.

THe plot of this one is sort of all over the place. It starts out with survival, the protagonist learning to take care of herself. THen it turns into a treasure hunt. It's an exploration of mental illness, art, and family all at once

This is the story of how life can be so unstable and yet, kids will be more resilient than expected. Cricket’s lost her dad, her mom clearly suffers from bipolar disorder which leaves Cricket’s world rocking each and every time she goes from one extreme to the other and yet Cricket’s love for her family is evident and she wants nothing more than what all kids want – someone to love her and take care of her.

I found the setting of this story to be extremely unique and yet realistic at the same time – the ghost town with cement sidewalks through weeds and trees, the woods where spending any amount of extended time takes preparation and skill and a friendly, yet mysterious home which might just hold the answers Cricket needs.

While Cricket collects the clues to better understand her mama’s secret room obsession, Cricket learns more about what it means to be family and how to best take care of herself, even when the answer still hurts. I really enjoyed the ending in this book and how Cricket became a self-advocate even though the decisions she made were difficult.

Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe is the charmingly told story of a young girl, named Cricket, who is struggling with some major life changes. The death of her father, and her absence of her mentally ill mother, leads her on a journey to bring her mother back, and connect with her father at the same time. Despite the heaviness of the story's themes, the writing is light and refreshing, reminding the reader that in the midst of great emotional turmoil, one can remain true to oneself. Bringing about change in others, however, is often a fruitless task. This novel can be enjoyed by middle grade students to adults. I believe my fourth graders would enjoy it, but many of the larger themes may pass them by, due to lack of life experience.

The setting for Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe by Jo Hackl is a ghost town smack dab in the middle of Mississippi with bodock* tours and a personal library collection featuring Mississippi writer Willie Morris’s book North Toward Home. Even before I read the author’s notes, one of the unusual characters called up a familiar image of famed Mississippi native artist Walter Anderson.

The first line promises a good read. “Turns out, it’s easier than you might think to sneak out of town smuggling a live cricket, three pocketfuls of jerky, and two bags of half-paid-for merchandise from Thelma’s Cash ‘n’ Carry grocery store.”

Three events in rapid succession – the death of Cricket’s grandmother, the disappearance of her mother, and the death of her father – send her on the trail of a mysterious bird room her mother described. She believes that finding it is the secret to having her mother return to stay. Survival in nature, unexplained clues, and an inscrutable riddle keep her looking, sustained by the hope that her mother will keep two promises she made before she disappeared. Cricket has eleven days before her mother’s promised return while her only help in the wild comes from her cricket, a strange hermit woman she calls Miss V., and a poetry loving dog. I liked Cricket’s perception when she sees Miss V.’s progress as they dig together. “It’s downright embarrassing to get outworked by somebody six times your age. I guess you can’t always tell strong from the outside.”

I read this delightful middle grade novel that has its book birthday tomorrow on July 10 in an advance reading copy from Net Galley. Not to give too much away, I can tell you the promise of a good read in its first line is more trustworthy than the ones Cricket’s mama made. Mississippians will find themselves right at home in this story, and if you’re not from here, you will get a delightful and accurate depiction.

*Also if you’re not from here, the bodock is also known as the osage orange and is sometimes characterized as a tree and sometimes as a shrub.

Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe took quite awhile for me to get into. It had a nice mix of mystery and adventure. While I loved Cricket, the main character, I felt that the book was just okay.

I know this book will draw comparisons to Three Times Lucky, but for me the story didn't gel the way TTL did. The mystery aspects were a little too random and the events a little too unrealistic (stumbling across a relative of her father who can cure a snake bite) for me to enjoy it fully. I did enjoy the survival elements and would give this to kids who aren't afraid of some sad aspects of a story, since the reunion with Cricket's mother was a real gutpunch.

When Cricket finds herself alone in a supermarket she knows exactly where to go.. The woods. This adventure takes her on many fact finding adventures. Ultimately Cricket finds her place in the world and learns to trust herself and love who she is. This was a great book. I know my 6th graders will love it next year! I recommend this for everyone!

Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe
by Jo Watson Hackl
Random House Children's
Random House Books for Young Readers
Children's Fiction
Pub Date 10 Jul 2018
I am reviewing a copy of Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe through Random House Publishers and Netgalley:
Cricket’s Mom has told her all her life about a secret room that was painted by a mysterious artist. Her Mother has run off and her Daddy died but Cricket thinks that secret room might be the answer to getting her to come back home. The problem is she's not even sure if it exists and if it does exist if she can even find it.
The only clue Cricket has is a coin from a ghost town that has been grown over in the woods. She heads off with her Daddy's guidebook and a coat full of snacks she stole from the Cash And Carry. Cricket runs away to the woods to find the room but surviving the woods is not easy. Cricket camps out in an old tree house in the woods where she meets the last residence of the ghost town, encounters a poetry loving dog and discovers that sometimes getting a little lost is the only way to find your way.
I give Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe five out of five stars!
Happy Reading!

Cricket is a little girl her dad has died and her mother abandoned her. She lives with her aunt not by blood, Cricket finds out her aunt is going to ship her off to another relative. But her mother is going to be in town in 11 days so she can’t leave until she sees her.
This book was compared to “Three Times Lucky”. I can see the comparison, however there is so much sad in Cricket’s story and not enough humor. I did enjoy the ending and would read any more books about Cricket, but this felt like a long prologue to Cricket’s story.

This funny little book is about Cricket, who lives with her aunt and her cousins. Cricket's dad died suddenly and her mother, who struggles with mental health issues left. Cricket's aunt doesn't love having Cricket around, so when she accidentally leaves Cricket at the grocery store one day, Cricket seizes the opportunity to search for a place her mother saw once and talked about her whole life. Cricket believes if she finds this room, that her mother will come back to her. Cricket ends up going on her adventure with a cricket that she names Charlene. Charlene is surprisingly good company and is very helpful. The characters in this one are interesting and flawed and funny at times, which helps with heaviness of some of the issues like the death of a parent, mental illness, and having a family that loves and supports you . This would be a great one to connect to "Three times Lucky" by Sheila Turnage.

Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe but Jo Watson Hackl was an amazing read about a girl named Cricket who has been abandoned on more than one occasion. She has grown up with a mother who has mental health issues, her father who’s job requires him to travel for extended periods of time for work, a grandmother who has recently passed away, and an aunt who has her own problems. Cricket’s father taught her how to survive in the outdoors and introduced her to an abandoned town where they explore. When Cricket’s aunt “accidentally” leaves Cricket behind in the grocery store Cricket takes the opportunity to run away to this town. While she is there she becomes more self-aware and she comes to understand her situation better. She uncovers a mystery and solves it. She makes new friends. Overall, the time she spends in the abandoned town helps her to grow into a young woman. And while the story is realistic enough that it doesn’t wrap everything up in a nice pretty package at the end you can see that Cricket will be ok. She is a strong, young woman. This story was intriguing and well written, including the descriptions of the scenery. I couldn’t put it down.

As a fan of "survival" type books as a child (like Hatchet) and a huge fan of Three Times Lucky now, this middle grade fiction book was a nice mix of adventure, mystery, family drama, and finding yourself.

Another tremendous piece of realistic fiction about a girl dealing with parental loss and family instability. Cricket is an introspective protagonist, a girl who manages to make sense of what most would consider an overwhelmingly challenging family life, and her story is somehow equal parts sad and hopeful. Her resiliency is really the thread that will pull readers through her hardest moments.

She has an unwavering belief in her mother's ability to overcome her struggles with mental health related issues seemingly related to fairly severe depression, and to return for her. She spends much of the story in the woods of an old ghost town that she sort of ran away to after being forgotten at the grocery store by her Aunt Belinda.

Additionally, there is a Disney-esque sidekick cricket that accompanies her on her journey after they meet in the grocery store in a scene that brought to mind Because Of Winn Dixie. Thankfully, Cricket names her miniature friend Charlene, which avoids the problematic likelihood of confusing the two characters.

Cricket is in a race against time to solve a mystery left behind by her mother before the day her mother hinted that she would return to finish an elaborate headstone for her own mother, and Cricket is clearly up to the challenge, though it certainly involves a fair amount of perilous situations. Through all this, she does happen to meet the final essential character to the plot, an unusual older woman, Mrs. V, living at the edge of the woods just when Cricket needs her most.

Strangely, this reclusive woman who has only a poetry loving dog for companionship, turns out to be the most caring, reliable adult Cricket has to help her. The story unfolds nicely with Mrs. V around, with Cricket managing to work out a lot of internal conflict while under her care. By the time the big day of reckoning rolls around, readers will be undoubtedly hopeful that Cricket might just get the kind of happy ending a child deserves, even if it isn't the resolution she'd originally imagined for herself.

Endnotes indicate that this book has several unexpected connections to real Mississippi history involving an actual ghost town and the life of the painter, Walter Anderson. I was wildly impressed. This would be well received by fans of Sharon Creech, Deborah Wiles, or Barbara O'Connor, as well as many other talented authors of the genre. Great book to read aloud and discuss in a classroom.