Pay Attention, Carter Jones by Gary D. Schmidt

Abstract

Reviewed by: Pay Attention, Carter Jones by Gary D. Schmidt Elizabeth Bush Schmidt, Gary D. Pay Attention, Carter Jones. Clarion, 2019 [224p] Trade ed. ISBN 978-0-544-79085-8 $16.99 E-book ed. ISBN 978-1-328-52691-5 $9.99 Reviewed from galleys R Gr. 4-6 Carter’s father, Captain Jackson Jones, is on yet another overseas deployment, leaving his wife and four children to manage on their own with little communication from him. When Mr. Bowles-Fitzpatrick, butler extraordinaire, arrives at their doorstep, explaining that his previous employer, Captain Jones’ father, “has left a most generous endowment to support my continuing service to his family,” they accept without question. The butler quickly wrangles them into shape, cooking healthier meals, overseeing homework, taking the kids to cultural events, chauffeuring them to and from school in his very cool Bentley, which he even teaches sixth-grade narrator Carter to drive. Carter’s social capital rises even further when the butler organizes a cricket team, which is promptly coopted by eighth-graders, who graciously allow Carter and his buddy to join “by invitation only.” If American readers are by now inured to the baseball-as-metaphor-for-life trope, cricket and its labyrinthine rules, traditions, and jargon will come as an unexpected treat as well as an apt device for exploring the Jones family backstory, which involves a sibling’s death and Captain Jones’ domestic failures and abandonment. Readers will easily spot the Mary Poppins theme, as the wise, mysterious domestic helper arrives just in time to help both children and parents through trying times; the book is [End Page 221] also peppered with literary callouts to everyone from the Brontës to prominent contemporary YA authors. Beyond that, though, is a story with weight and heart, and Schmidt fans will be glad to see him back on the pitch. Copyright © 2019 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois