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"What else is on your 'Bad Things' list?" Carlie urged. "Nothing. I've just got the appendectomy so far." "Well, write down two broken legs," Carlie suggested. "I wouldn't exactly call them the fun event of the year." She paused. "If it was me, I'd make that number two and three, wouldn't you, Thomas J? Number two, right leg. Number three, left." After all, when your own father drives over your legs, you really should account for both of them. Harvey has other lists, too, lists of people he is afraid of and of gifts he got that he didn't want. Carlie has it figured that his problem, like her own and Thomas J's, is that he is a pinball. Pinballs don't get to settle where they want. But under the influence of their foster parents and each other, Carlie's cynicism is eclipsed by her determination to bring Harvey out of his despondency; and the earnest Thomas J begins to find his own identity. Even Carlie is willing to conclude that the three are not pinballs, after all. Betsy Byars' upbeat story of children disappointed by their parents is often funny and always poignant.
Pinballs ANNOTATION Three lonely foster children learn to care about themselves and about each other. FROM THE PUBLISHER You can't always decide where life will take you—especially when you're a kid. Carlie knows she's got no say in what happens to her. Stuck in a foster home with two other kids, Harvey and Thomas J, she's just a pinball being bounced from bumper to bumper. As soon as you get settled, somebody puts another coin in the machine and off you go again. But against her will and her better judgment, Carlie and the boys become friends. And all three of them start to see that they can take control of their own Iives. Carlie knows she's got no say in what happens to her. Stuck in a foster home with two other kids, Harvey and Thomas J, she's just a pinball being bounced from bumper to bumper. As soon as you get settled, somebody puts another coin in the machine and off you go again. But against her will and her beter judgement, Carlie and the boys become friends. And all three of them start to see that they can take control of their own lives. Notable Children's Book of 1977 (ALA)
1977 Children's Book Award (CSA)
Best Books of 1977 (SLJ)
Notable 1977 Children's Trade Books in Social Studies (NCSS/CBC)
Children's Books of 1977 (Library of Congress)
International Year of the Child Special Hans Christian Andersen Honors List (IBBY)
1980 William Allen White Award (Kansas)
1980 Mark Twain Award (Missouri Library Association)
1980 California Young Readers Award
1982 Golden Archer Award (Wisconsin)
1978-79 Georgia Children's Book Award
1980 Charlie May Simon Children's Books Award (Arkansas)
FROM THE CRITICS Jim Trelease A hopeful, loving, and very witty book. No wonder 58,000 school children in Georgia voted it their favorite.
Chicago Tribune A former winner of the Newbery Award scores again with a story that has poignancy, perception, and humor.
Children's Literature - Mary Quattlebaum Byars tackles the tough issues of child abandonment and abuse through a close look at three foster children who have to keep moving like pinballs and never get to settle. Byars' skillful storytelling never downplays the pain inherent in these situations at the same time that she presents resilient characters who eventually connect with one another and with their caretakers. 1996 (orig.
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