I know this book received great reviews - but I don't get it.
It was confusing at first - all the comparisons of growing up in "Hokey Pokey" terms to current times of growing up. Yes - it reminded me of things I did when I was young and treats and pleasures that only your friends at that age shared - but the analogies were too much.
It does contain some explicit language (which could have been left out or changed) - middle school reading content or higher. I feel younger readers won't understand nor connect with the analogies in the writing.
Not on my books to recommend reading.

Surprisingly, it does make sense - but only at the end. Up til then, it's really hard to go with it, to trust it, to accept the story, the setting - but this is jerry spinelli, after all.

This is a setting-driven book. I love a setting strong enough to practically become a character, or one that intertwined beautifully with character and plot. But here it takes over. The characters are strong, but the plot wouldn't fill more than a page on its own.

A creative book about kids, their bikes and friendship.

Listening length six hr

What a strange book. After struggling through the first 20 pages, I couldn't stand it in a similar way to the way I couldn't stand 'The Girl who Circumnavigated Fairyland...' - the archness and mannered style. But as I had to read it, I soldiered on and ended up quite liking it. However, it does not feel like a kid's book - the nostalgic view of childhood seems more appealing to adult readers, though only those who can be bothered to wade through Spinelli's quirky (and not in a good way) vocabulary and phrasing.

This book was really awesome and brings new meaning to the question, what if the Hokey Pokey really is what it's all about? That being said, it was a kids' book written with adults in mind. I think some kids will like it but not all.

Not really sure what to make of this book.

Inspired by the idea that children live "in their own world"

Originally posted at Random Musings of a Bibliophile.

[a:Jerry Spinelli|12696|Jerry Spinelli|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1201118632p2/12696.jpg] is a prolific and much beloved children's book author. His books have always been sort of hit or miss with me. Loser, Crash, and 2011's Jake & Lily were hits. Maniac Magee and Wringer were misses. Spinelli's new book Hokey Pokey falls in this latter category. Those are the books the Newbery committees seem to like though so what do I know? I know that I did not enjoy this book even a smidgen.

Jack may have been an interesting character to follow if the narrative had not shifted perspectives so much. Jubilee may have been an interesting foil for him, an intriguing enemy, if the book wasn't so hung up on its own cleverness. That was the obstacle for me. Hokey Pokey is one big symbol for the joy of childhood. Jack is growing up. The problem with this world is that are all these made up words and places and things going on that are left unexplained so there is a healthy chance that the reader will just be confused and not want to continue. I can see that happening with many young readers who come at this book. The whole story is a metaphor and when I finished it the only word on my mind was pretentious. Just as there are adults who enjoy pretentious meta works of literature, I'm sure you can find kids who will too. Probably not as many, but when you find them they may enjoy this. I think it will be a hard sell for most kids.


I read a copy of this provided by the publisher via NetGalley. Hokey Pokey will be available on January 8.

So... I don’t think I know many kids who would like this book. I probably wouldn’t recommend it to any children. What a trip! My copy didn’t have a description on the back, so I had no idea what I was getting into. It took me a while to figure things out, but to me, it seemed like Neverland. If I wanted to read about a place like Neverland, I would just read Peter Pan... It was interesting and well-written, but I just feel like the story has been told before, so I wasn’t personally very interested in it.