And now Miguel

I enjoyed this book a lot. The coming-of-age story was beautifully told, and Krumgold did a wonderful job of depicting the Mexican community. Having spent my childhood in East Los Angeles right about the time period the book came out, and having had a lot of hispanic friends, I see the characters;

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their traits and their surroundings, as having been drawn very true to life as it was at that time.

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Surprisingly timeless read - not dated much. I especially love Miguel's voice (captured perfectly with its second-language constructions!) and his serious observations. Big life lessons in such a small book. Enjoyable and perhaps even lasting.

I was forced to read this book. It was the worst, most boring book that I ever read. It's about a sheepherder boy who is oh poor me, oh poor me at the beginning. I do not recommend it at all!

In this story of Latin-American families, the young protagonist Miguel searches for his identity by striving to convince his family that he is old enough to go on the dangerous and exciting trip up the mountains. Author Joseph Krumgold is a master at creating the world from the eyes of a child. He

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is one of only three authors who have succeeded in winning two Newbery Medals; the author also won the Newbery Medal in 1960 with Onion John. This is one of several Newbery Medal books with the same theme; the boy becomes a man. Unfortunately, there are no Newbery books with the theme; a girl becomes a woman!

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Miguel wants desperately to go with the men on the long sheep drive in the summer, but his father thinks he is too young. Miguel does everything he can to prove himself to his father, but his father's answer is still no. Finally, Miguel resorts to praying to the saint, begging the saint to find a

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way for Miguel to go on the drive. Miguel does not anticipate the consequences of his prayer. His father changes his mind, allowing Miguel to go, but at what cost, for what reasons?This book is a thoughtful look at a boy growing to become a man, suddenly seeing things that were once clearly black or white have become a frightening gray.

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Nice, gentle story about waiting to grow up.

You can't help but like Miguel - a younger son in a family of older, capable brothers and a large family that herds sheep. He wants so much to be thought of as a man - as capable as the brothers he looks up to. The writing is simple and the setting is almost another character.

Miguel is a 12-year-old boy in a family with a long history of sheep raising in New Mexico. He longs more than anything else to be taken with the adult men in the family to herd the sheep up into the mountains for the summer months, when he's out of school and it's too hot for the sheep at home.

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His father however thinks he is still too young. On the day that honors the patron saint of sheep farmers, Miguel asks the saint to make it so he goes into the mountains. Soon after, his father tells him he will be joining them, but when Miguel finds out why his father changed his mind, he is horrified that his wish to the saint caused this to happen.
One of those old fashioned Newbery winners that probably wouldn't hold the interest of today's kids much, but it isn't a bad book. But it is slow moving, and has almost no focus on friendship, and only minimal focus on family. The themes are a boy longing to be considered a man, and what faith and prayer can accomplish and what they can't. And maybe a touch of "be careful what you wish for."
(Side note: The original publication's cover and illustrations by Jean Charlot seem to bend over backwards to make this look like the most boring book on earth.)

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Lovely coming-of-age tale told from the perspective of a 12 year old Hispanic boy living in rural New Mexico. I appreciated how the culture was portrayed without getting too detailed, so it didn't slow down the story.