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    On the Road to Mr. Mineo's
    On the Road to Mr. Mineo's
    On the Road to Mr. Mineo's
    Ebook143 pages1 hour

    On the Road to Mr. Mineo's

    By Barbara O'Connor

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    Summer days drift by slowly in Meadville, South Carolina--that is, until Sherman the one-legged pigeon flies into town and causes a ruckus. First Stella, who's been begging for a dog, spots him on top of a garage roof and decides she wants him for a pet. Then there's Ethel and Amos, an old couple who sees the pigeon in their barn keeping company with a little brown dog that barks all night. The pigeon lands smack in the middle of Mutt Raynard's head, but he's the town liar, so no one believes him. And when Stella's brother Levi and his scabby-kneed, germ-infested friends notice the pigeon, they join the chase, too. Meanwhile, across town, Mr. Mineo has one less homing pigeon than he used to...

    Barbara O'Connor has delivered another ingeniously crafted story full of southern charm, kid-sized adventures, and quirky, unforgettable characters.

    This title has Common Core connections.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMacmillan Publishers
    Release dateOct 2, 2012
    ISBN9780374356569
    Author

    Barbara O'Connor

    Barbara O’Connor was born and raised in Greenville, South Carolina. She has written many award-winning books for children, including the New York Times–bestselling Wish, Wonderland, How to Steal a Dog, Greetings from Nowhere, and Fame and Glory in Freedom, Georgia.

    Read more from Barbara O'connor

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    Reviews for On the Road to Mr. Mineo's

    4/5

    5 ratings8 reviews

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    • 5/5
      I love Barbara O'Connor's How to Steal a Dog. In fact, I read it to my 4th Grade class every year and we enjoy the quirky characters together. I received this new book on CD from Early Reviewers and I now have another favorite. I love the southern charm in her books and the witty writing style. This will be another class favorite before long.
    • 4/5
      I did not love this book when I first started reading it, but it definitely grew on me. I didn't like how disjointed it felt at the beginning because it jumped from person to person, but I did like how they all came together at the end. I could see using it as a readaloud book in a primary classroom since the story is great for the younger grades but the reading level is a little higher. It would be great to use for teaching descriptive writing because O'Connor does a great job of painting a picture with her words. It would also be a great book to use to teach making predictions because the book gives a lot of clues about what might happen next. It would be a fun book to explore in an elementary classroom.
    • 4/5
      Elliot (7yo): I liked it. It was interesting. Two children were trying to find a bird. When the two children noticed that the bird was missing, they were trying to find the bird and they made a group to find it. At the end, the bird came back. How they tried to get the bird back was very interesting and entertaining.
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed listening to this book as I was on a trip. Not sure I would have chosen it on my own, but I did enjoy the chance to listen to it. It is one that would have probably been better for me as a book.
    • 2/5
      A quick read, On the Road to Mr. Mineo's is the story of the search for a one-legged pigeon by neighborhood kids and townspeople alike. Aimed at younger readers, the book does a great job of capturing what it is like to be a kid, dealing with both bullies and best friends. As an adult reader, however, it didn't quite catch my fancy.
    • 4/5
      This is a story about a small Southern town in the midst of a lazy summer. It stars a one-legged pigeon, a girl named Stella and all the other characters who orbit around her. I would say its ideal format would be a printed book with illustrations, perfect for a youngster who is just beginning to read chapter books. It would not be painful as an adult to listen to this with a child. The narrator does an excellent job with her different voices and the timing. The story is cute, the characters well drawn and the setting is good. I could almost taste the dust in the streets and smell the rotten peaches in the abandoned orchard.I became tired of the almost staccato pacing of the sentences. I wasn't sure whether I was being talked down to or whether that was simply the author's style. The pigeon chase became annoying to me. Some of these criticisms could be the result of my mood and the lack of a child to enjoy it with.
    • 4/5
      You won't find car chases or superheroes, but you'll find a gentle story of the dreams, worries, and hopes that Sherman, a homing pigeon who has wandered from his home evokes among the townsfolk of Meadville, South Carolina. Stella wants him as a pet, and enlists her friend Gerald to help her, and a the same time thwart her brother Levi (and his scabby kneed, germ infested gang of friend) from getting him. Amos and Ethel Roper, the Meadville version of the Bickersons, argue about the one legged pigeon (and a little brown dog) who have invaded their barn and their lives. Mr Mineo and his dog Ernie spend their days searching for the wayward Sherman. Mutt Reynard, the Meadville boy who cried wolf, wants to catch him to prove to everyone he wasn't lying about a one legged pigeon landing on his head. And Luther and Edsel play checkers outside the Chinese restaurant, and watch the town children run around town on their hunt for the bird. The plot isn't complicated, but is told in such a droll, delightful way, with the characters all very real. I could see a teacher using this as a discussion book in a class. The descriptions, style of writing (with humorous descriptors repeating frequently in the text), and the winding threads of the story would be great to dissect and discuss. Received an audio version of this book via the Early Reviewer program at Library thing.
    • 4/5
      i am a big fan of Barbara O"Connor's books. Once again this book is set in one of those sleepy southern towns that are always awash with great characters. Stella and her friend Gerald are in pursuit of a one legged pigeon. But then so are others; Stella's rotten brother and his friends as well as Matt, the town liar who needs the pigeon for proof that he can tell the truth. And Mr. Mineo needs the pigeon, Sherman back.Finally there is A scruffy dog that needs a home and moves around town just as Sherman does and an older couple whose barn provides a haven for Sherman.Warm hearted, funny and in tune with kids, another great book from Ms O'Connor.I received this audio book as an EarlyReviewer selection. The audio presentation was excellent.

    Book preview

    On the Road to Mr. Mineo's - Barbara O'Connor

    CHAPTER ONE

    Where the Story Begins

    Highway 14 stretches on for miles and miles through the South Carolina countryside.

    The land is flat.

    The dirt is red.

    There are mountains to the west. An ocean to the east.

    Every few miles there is a gas station. A billboard. A Waffle House.

    In the summer, cars whiz up the highway with suitcases strapped on the roofs and bicycles hanging off the backs. Eighteen-wheelers rumble along, hauling lumber and paper and concrete sewer pipes.

    The cars and the eighteen-wheelers drive right by a small green sign with an arrow pointing to the left. The sign reads MEADVILLE.

    Pecan trees line the main street of Meadville, shading the sidewalks and dropping pecans for boys to throw at stop signs.

    On summer afternoons, waves of steamy heat hover above the asphalt roads.

    Tollie Sanborn sits on the curb in front of the barbershop in his white barber coat with combs in the pocket.

    Elwin Dayton changes a flat tire on his beat-up car with flames painted on the hood.

    Marlene Roseman skips to swimming lessons, her flip-flops slapping on the sidewalk.

    When the sun goes down and the moon comes up, the street is empty. The shops are closed and dark. The streetlights flicker on. A stray cat roams the alleys, sniffing at Dumpsters overflowing with rotten lettuce and soggy cardboard boxes.

    Just past the post office is a narrow street called Waxhaw Lane. At the end of Waxhaw Lane is a green house with muddy shoes on the porch and an empty doghouse in the front yard.

    On one side of the door of the green house is a window. The window is open. The room inside is dark.

    A curly-haired girl named Stella sits in the window and whispers into the night:

    Moo goo gai pan

    Moo goo gai pan

    Moo goo gai pan

    The words drift through the screen and float across the street and hover under the streetlights, dancing with the moths.

    Stella is supposed to be saying her prayers, but instead she is just whispering words, like moo goo gai pan.

    Across the street from the green house is a big white house with blue-striped awnings over the windows and rocking chairs on the porch. A giant hickory-nut tree casts shadows that move in the warm breeze like fingers wiggling over the dandelions on the dry brown lawn. The roots of the tree lift up patches of cement under the sidewalk out front.

    The next morning, Stella will race across the street and up the gravel driveway of the big white house. She will climb the wooden ladder to the flat roof of the garage to wait for Gerald Baxter.

    Stella and Gerald will sit in lawn chairs on the roof and play cards on an overturned trash can. They will watch Stella’s older brother, Levi, and his friends C.J. and Jiggs ride their rickety homemade skateboards up and down the street.

    They will eat saltine crackers with peanut butter and toss scraps down to Gerald’s gray-faced dog sleeping in the ivy below.

    They will listen to the kids on Waxhaw Lane playing in somebody’s sprinkler or choosing teams for kickball. Stella will want to join them, but Gerald won’t. Stella might go anyway, leaving Gerald pouting on the roof. But most likely she will heave a sigh and stay up there on the roof, playing cards with Gerald.

    They will watch the lazy days of summer stretch out before them like the highway out by the Waffle House.

    As the sun sinks lower in the sky and disappears behind the shiny white steeple of Rocky Creek Baptist Church, the lightning bugs will come out one by one, twinkling across the yards on Waxhaw Lane.

    Gerald’s mother will turn on the back-porch light, sending a soft yellow glow across the yard. Stella’s mother will holler at Levi for leaving his skateboard in the driveway again.

    Stella and Gerald will put the cards inside the little shed at the back of the garage roof and climb down the

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