Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

I just finished Kaeti Vandorn’s Crabapple Trouble, and while I totally applaud the message, the execution was really, really odd. The world didn’t work for me as well as it wanted to, for one thing–it’s peopled by people with human bodies but fruit/vegetable heads. Except that these people GROW the fruits or vegetables that their heads are shaped like, and their produce gets eaten like any produce, so there’s a weird vibe there. If you have a carrot head and you eat carrots…see what I mean?

As far as the story itself, the idea of overcoming anxiety by finding a way to participate that works for you is a great one. The development of that story, however, felt–choppy. The idea of ‘losing your head’ was introduced abruptly in a ‘well, THAT took quite a turn’ kind of way, and the subsequent events didn’t lead nearly as smoothly or coherently into the conclusion as they kind of needed to. I’m interested to see what my kiddos think, but for me, this one fell short.