29 September 2016 FULL OF BEANS by Jennifer L. Holm, Random House, August 2016, 208p., ISBN: 978-0-553-51036-2

“White ones and red ones

And some you can’t disguise

Twisted truth and half the news

Can’t hide it in your eyes”

--Thompson Twins, “Lies” (1982)

“Everyone shouted, ‘Hip, hip, hooray for Beans!’

“Then people were congratulating me and slapping me on the back. The radio was turned up loud. Cuban music started playing, and someone brought out snacks. It was an impromptu celebration, and I was the guest of honor.

“One by one, people came up to compliment me. Winky pushed his way through the crowd and slapped me on the back.

“‘I hear that my favorite worker saved the day!’ he said. ‘How’s it feel to be a hero?’

“‘’Scuse me,’ I said, and fought my way outside. I walked behind the firehouse. And threw up.”

FULL OF BEANS is a prequel to Jennifer L. Holm’s Newbery Honor book TURTLE IN PARADISE. It’s a Great Depression-era tale about a kid in Key West who is the “man of the family,” now that his father has departed for New Jersey in search of work. The story is, in part, a retelling of the Aesop fable, “The Boy Who Cried Wolf.”

As with TURTLE IN PARADISE, FULL OF BEANS is full of laugh-out-loud situations. But there is an equally sobering side to the tale. Beans is contemptuous of the frequency with which adults lie to kids. But when he has an opportunity to make a lot of easy money, he too is deceitful, ignoring right and wrong in favor of grabbing for the almighty buck.

All of Key West might think Beans is a hero, but he knows that’s a big fat lie.

The story begins with Winky having offered Beans a way to earn money by collecting empty cans. But when Beans collects the cans, Winky pays less than he’d promised. Beans realizes that it’s every man for himself, and that making money can be really tough work.

Beans then falls into a well-paying but unethical job, as an accomplice to a local bootlegger. As with the boy in the Aesop fable, Beans’s deceits on behalf of the bootlegger lead to unforeseen tragedy. To his credit, Beans is horrified by his own short-sightedness and, throughout the remainder of the story, he successfully seeks ways to make amends.

FULL OF BEANS contains a fascinating slice of history: During the Great Depression, Key West went broke. FDR’s people decided that the solution was to transform the island into a tourist destination. The sprucing up of Key West--which really happened--underlies this story.

Because FULL OF BEANS takes place before TURTLE IN PARADISE, it makes sense to have readers read them in chronological order, based on the story: BEANS first, and TURTLE second. So the question is: Is FULL OF BEANS so good that readers will be motivated to continue on and read TURTLE IN PARADISE?

I believe it is.

Richie Partington, MLIS

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