The Road to Paris (Coretta Scott King Author Honor Books) (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-7–For eight-year-old Paris Richmond, home was such a funny word. Because she and her older brother had moved from one foster home to another so often, it had come to mean not a place but a person. Malcolm was the one constant in her life. When they run away from an abusive home, they seek refuge with their grandmother, who returns them to the foster-care system. It is then that the siblings are placed in separate homes. Though Paris desperately misses Malcolm during her year with the Lincoln family, she gradually comes to trust them and even her own instincts. She gains coping skills through a newfound religious faith and the talent to share it through music. Her ability to keep God in her pocket allows her to overcome fears and difficulty. Her convictions allow her to endure inexcusable prejudice and malice as well as recognize the beauty and kindness around her. A poignant and plausible story, Paris is well crafted and simply but elegantly told. Even secondary characters are well drawn and recognizable as they grow, mature, and propel readers to a satisfying, hopeful, though not pat conclusion. Readers will pull for a successful life for Paris and Malcolm as they reunite with their mother and her new husband. They are also confident that Paris now knows what and where home really is.–Maria B. Salvadore, formerly at Washington DC Public Library
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Gr. 4-7. In clear, short chapters, Grimes tells a beautiful story of family, friendship, and faith from the viewpoint of a child in search of home in a harsh world. Nine-year-old Paris' closest bond is with her older brother, Malcolm, who protects her when their alcoholic mother has no use for them and when they flee their abusive foster home. Then Paris is placed in a loving foster family, but the price is separation from Malcolm. What is more, as a biracial kid in a mainly white neighborhood, it's difficult for her to find a friend, and the racism is ugly. Her foster brother tells her to keep God in her pocket, something she never forgets, even when she must leave because her birth mother wants "to give this family thing another go." The big upheavals are quietly told; and although God is Paris' support, the religion is not didactic. The foster family is kind but never idealized, just as Paris' birth mother is not demonized. In one hilarious scene, Paris tricks the self-important therapist, and it is the human story behind the case file that readers will remember. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Putnam Juvenile; 1 edition (October 5, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399245375
• ISBN-13: 978-0399245374
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #234,933 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The long and winding road, October 8, 2006

By	E. R. Bird "Ramseelbird" (Manhattan, NY) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Here's a fun way to determine whether or not a book will make for a good discussion in either a classroom or a bookclub. First, read the book. Two possible choices now lay before you. If you finish the title and find yourself 100% perfectly clear on why every character performed as they did, that is not a good book for discussion. If, however, you do as I did with "The Road To Paris" and after finishing the book suddenly find yourself thinking and rethinking the book's ending in a vain attempt to determine whether it was happy or sad, then THAT, my friend, THAT book has incredible promise. All the great classic books, from "The Giver" to "Charlotte's Web" have that quality. Now "The Road To Paris" has it too, and I would not hesitate to thwap it soundly on the head with the CLASSIC stick. This is a good book. A good book that manages to talk about a serious, even depressing subject without dragging the reader down into the realms of misery. No small feat, to say the least.

"Ask Paris if a phone call can be deadly. She'll tell you. She learned the truth of it last night." For years, Paris and her older brother Malcolm have only had one another to count on. Though they've been taken from foster home to foster home, Paris can still remember and be hurt by the memory of their alcoholic mother. So when Malcolm and Paris escape the latest abusive home to stay with their grandmother, she's unprepared for the horror of being separated from Malcolm after all these years. Paris has been sent to live with the Lincolns, a kind family who've dealt with foster kids before. It takes a great deal of love and understanding on their part to break through Paris's wary shell so as to convince her that she is finally safe. But when a phone call comes from her real mother telling her she can come live with her again, Paris must decide what "home" really is.

Reviewers seldom comment on the length of a children's book, unless they happen to be dealing with a 700+ page fantasy tome (or, as the book industry calls them, "the norm"). I, however, would like to point out that "The Road To Paris" stands at a handsome 153 pages. From this length, we may understand that Nikki Grimes does not stand for overwrought flowery speech. Her language is remarkably beautiful, as much in what she doesn't say as in what she does. When, for example, you read right at the beginning that, "In the world of Paris Richmond, normal was rare, and rich", those words weigh heavy on the page. Descriptions abound and they aren't there to merely fill up space but to give the narrative itself a three-dimensional quality. There is a moment where Paris sees for the first time in her life her neighborhood buried until a thick covering of white powdery snow. "Paris thought it was a shame to disturb all that perfection, but she planted her bots into the snow, one step after another, creating a trail of fat footsteps even the man in the moon could see..."

Ms. Grimes also has the remarkable ability to preach without sounding preachy, if that makes any sense at all. In this book, Paris finds God. Early into her foster care stay with the Lincolns, her new foster brother David tells her that he combats fear by keeping "God in my pocket." Later, as Paris grows emotionally strong, she holds fast to her belief that God is with her, even in the most unpleasant of circumstances. Some authors wouldn't be able to write any of this without making the book into some kind of didactic sermon. Instead, Grimes balances out the good with the bad, allowing the reader the chance to decide for themselves whether or not Paris's faith with help or hurt her in the future.

Until I read this book the only Nikki Grimes title I'd ever read was her Coretta Scott King Award-winning, "Bronx Masquerade". Honestly, I didn't like "Bronx Masquerade" very much. I thought the characters used too much contemporary slang that would grow outdated very quickly, thereby making an otherwise well-written book a relic before its time. "The Road To Paris", in contrast, could not be more different. First of all, it's difficult to say when exactly this book takes place. It could be in the past or it could be next week. It features a foster care system that performs in a believable fashion, sometimes making a situation better (for Paris) and sometimes making a situation worse (for Malcolm). The language doesn't have a drop of soon-to-be-outdated slang anywhere, and nobody goes about yammering into the latest cell phone or iProduct. I hate to drag out that overused word "timeless" to describe "The Road To Paris" but the book leaves me with very little choice in the matter. How else am I going to describe a story that feels this real and, I know, will continue to do so for years to come?

Name five children's chapter books written by and about African-Americans in the year 2006. Go on. Name `em. If you can't do it, and I know that you can't, then we have a problem. Nikki Grimes is an amazing writer but publishers would do very well to know that she can't do it alone and she needs some company. If "The Road To Paris" doesn't find itself included on every single Best Children's Books of the Year list for 2006 then you'll know something is terribly awry. One of the smartest titles to come out this year, to say nothing of its bravery. I won't tell you the ending of this book, for obvious reasons, but a co-worker of mine recently commented that adults and children will have very different reactions to Paris's final decision. Consider this a great title for discussion and contemplation. A book worth remembering for a long time to come.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Road to Paris, October 24, 2006

By	Chris Shanley-Dillman - See all my reviews

Eight-year-old Paris Richmond barely remembers the white father who gave her blond hair; he left when she was four. The story goes that he hated owning up to a child with dark skin. Paris' ten-year-old brother, Malcolm, hadn't fared much better. His dad left when Malcolm was just a baby. But being father-less didn't mean that they ever accepted their mom's latest husband as any kind of substitute, so when he walks out, Paris and Malcolm are actually glad. Their mom, on the other hand, slips into depression and turns to alcohol for comfort. Things get so bad that their mom often abandons them to spend hours at the bar. That's when Child Services steps in, and Paris and Malcolm are shipped out to a foster home.

But life is hardly pleasant at the Boone house, and Paris knows it will never be home. After getting locked in the closet for days on end, punished for crimes the Boone daughter did, and then beaten black and blue, Malcolm and Paris know they have to get out of there. They run to the only family they have left, their grandmother.

Unfortunately, their grandmother is hardly glad to see them. According to her, she's raised her kids and now she's done. She contacts Child Services and new foster homes are considered---but this time they separate Paris and Malcolm.

Malcolm is Paris' strength, hope, protection and only source of love, and it tears her to pieces when they send him to a boys' home. Paris ends up in the suburbs, with a family by the name of Lincoln. Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln have two boys of their own, plus a teenage girl fostering with them. She enters the old but comfortable house with trepidation; she holds no hope for her present or her future. But within a few weeks, she knows she's not with people like her mom or the Boones'. She has her own small, but cozy bedroom, and no one beats her or locks her in the closet. The Lincolns never coddle her, yet they make her feel welcome, accepted and safe with their acts of kindness. And when she goes to their church for the first time, she discovers amazing joy in the music, and happily joins the choir. She even uncovers faith in God that helps her through the anger she feels for her mom.

Even though she constantly misses her brother, she begins to feel she can call this place a home. She even made a friend at school. But then she gets a phone call from her mom---and her mom wants her back.

Ms. Nikki Grimes is an award-winning author, and her talent shows in her newest story, THE ROAD TO PARIS. Her life-like characters speak from the heart, and her expressive and colorful descriptions are perfectly presented through eight-year-old eyes. The story line moves smoothly and engagingly. Ms. Grimes is sure to see more writing awards in her future.

--- Reviewed by Chris Shanley-Dillman, author of Finding My Light and The Black Pond
--- Courtesy of www.kidsreads.com

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars It was good, but it could have been better, March 26, 2007

By	D. Goodpasture "www.betzalelstudio.com" (USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I was slightly disappointed. After reading the great reviews I picked up this book. It got off to a very suspenseful start and then kind of stagnated. I felt like the author was going somewhere with it but then didn't. Paris' background is interesting. She is described as African-American, but with blonde hair; that in and of itself is unusual. The author, however, only touches on it briefly in her general description of Paris. I was left wondering if this young girl felt ostracized by both races and if she felt any kind of identity crisis. I also thought it a bit odd that she rarely thought about her Caucasian father who walked out on her family. I was also left wondering about her older half-brother and protector, Malcolm and if he ever had any awkward feelings about his mixed race sister. Since he was older and would have had more memories of Paris' father I wondered how he felt and if he harbored more resentment for their mother than Paris.

I also got the impression that the author tried to omit any references that might date this story; however, I found it dated by the absence of technology. Unfortunately, the foster care system is just as flawed today as it was then. I'm considering giving this book to a student of mine who is dealing with some similar issues.