Hokey Pokey in Mock Newbery 2026

Oct 25, 2012 Monica Edinger rated it it was amazing

Also at my blog.

The border year for me was 6th grade. The idea of adulthood was anathema, but it was coming. Ten going on eleven, I veered back and forth, sometimes playing longstanding fantasy games with my younger sister and other times meanly and harshly dismissing them and her. One day I was happily playing with dolls and the next I couldn't imagine ever doing so again and was out chasing and being chased by boys. Whether I liked it or not I was growing up.

It is this complicated time in life Also at my blog.

The border year for me was 6th grade. The idea of adulthood was anathema, but it was coming. Ten going on eleven, I veered back and forth, sometimes playing longstanding fantasy games with my younger sister and other times meanly and harshly dismissing them and her. One day I was happily playing with dolls and the next I couldn't imagine ever doing so again and was out chasing and being chased by boys. Whether I liked it or not I was growing up.

It is this complicated time in life that Jerry Spinelli has captured brilliantly in his forthcoming Hokey Pokey. This isn't the Spinelli of Stargirl or Wringer; it harkens back to the storytelling style, lush language, and powerful voices of Maniac Magee and Milkweed. That said, Hokey Pokey is its own original and unique thing, one wild and crazy book and I loved it.

It is a fable set in an alternate place, somewhere called Hokey Pokey, a world of children. Toddlers, little ones on trikes, slightly older ones chasing around on bikes, and some of those really big kids that all the others look up to inhabit this land. One of these is Jack and Hokey Pokey is both his story and that of everykid. It is a work of nostalgia, but one as much for a young person just leaving childhood as it is for Spinelli or any other adult reader. That is, while he has set the tale in a childhood that is sprinkled with elements from his own 1950s youth it is so piercingly authentic that I am certain that it will resonate with anyone looking back regardless of when they were a child.

Written in the breathless NOW of the present tense, full of lush language, the book pushes the reader relentlessly along. Jack is confused. Things are changing for him and he doesn't like it. He tries various tactics from ignoring what is happening to him to being mean to those around him to vainly grabbing at things as they slip away. He tries to stop it in every way he can, but there are tinges of what might be good about this movement to somewhere else and by the end of the book Jack, as everykid and everyadult will and does, embraces it. I see this as a book that will be just perfect for the certain child-becoming-a-teen who is as confused and bothered as I was, as Jack is in this book. Someone who absolutely doesn't want to grow-up, but is.

I can't wait to see what those kids grappling with the border time will think of this original and remarkable book.

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Apr 25, 2014 Cat rated it liked it

I feel generous giving this book three stars. I'm not sure who the audience is supposed to be. I think of the kids I know and it's hard to imagine them reading this. I made myself finish it and the longer I read the better I liked it but the first 150 pages were hard to get through. ...more

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Apr 08, 2013 Susan Dunn rated it liked it

Shelves: j-fiction, audio-books

Huh. I didn't love this, and think it's one better read than listened to, as the world of Hokey Pokey requires a lot of attention to detail. It's kind of hard to explain too - Hokey Pokey is a world with no adults. Kids run around a play all day. Jack has lived in Hokey Pokey as long as he can remember, but all of a sudden things are beginning to change and he doesn't know why. First of all his beloved bike is stolen - by a girl no less. And the childhood games he used to enjoy just aren't as fu ...more

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Mar 13, 2013 Dest rated it did not like it

Shelves: friendship, middle-grade, tween

This was an interesting read, but I would never recommend it to a kid, and I'd doubt I'd have read it at all if the author weren't Jerry Spinelli. It seems more like a book written for adults (or maybe nostalgic teens) who want to dwell in a romanticized and stylized version of childhood. The language was creative, the plot a little dull, the setting cool. My one-star rating comes down to this: the reality of growing up is never as poetic and symbolic as it is in Hokey Pokey. Some readers will r ...more

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Dec 23, 2013 Shari (Shira) rated it liked it

Shelves: childrensbooks

Hokey Pokey is like Never Never Land, a paradise for kids. There are no adults around and the kids are free to splash in mud puddles, play on the teeter totter, and eat snow cones for lunch. One day, the undeclared leader of Hokey Pokey, Jack, wakes up and find that things are "different" for him. Could it mean that he is growing up? This book was hard to get into, but I'm glad that I hung in there. I found it nostalgic. The kids in Hokey Pokey did things that I did as a child. Kids today do not ...more

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Mar 03, 2013 Ann rated it really liked it

Shelves: upper-elementary, middle-school

I agree with everyone so far, that it takes a bit of doing to get your bearings and a sense of what the
heck this world is all about! And we are grown ups! I have to wonder whether kids will stick with this long
enough to "get it." I imagine having it read out loud would be a powerful experience, and would help bring
About an easier recognition of the landscape and the characters. Uniquely and magically, Spinelli! ...more

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Jan 15, 2013 Kris Springer rated it liked it

Shelves: 2014-newbery-reads

I'm always going to admire creativity, so that's why I gave it 3 stars. Didn't give this one a higher rating because I don't think it's written for children--I think it's written for grownups. I could see some kids reading it and thinking about its meaning but can't see them loving it. But this may be my failing as a reader. Nevertheless, as I said, I admire Spinelli's gift with words & language and his understanding of how kids play, and how they begin to grow up. This one would be worth discus ...more

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