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Book Review of Me and the Pumpkin Queen

Me and the Pumpkin Queen
Mama-of-Seven avatar reviewed on + 12 more book reviews


Mildred is a young girl who lives with her dad, she lost her mother to an illness and through her father's stories she learns that her mother was once the Circleville Show Pumpkin Queen in Ohio.

She dreams of being like her mother and entering in the Pumpkin Show, but not as a queen. She wants to win the giant pumpkin contest. Mildred tries and tries and is obsessed with growing that giant pumpkin. Many things interfere each year, hindering her best efforts; a dog, a tornado and other life troubles. Most people don't think she can grow a pumpkin let alone the biggest.

One day she goes with her father, a vet, to deliver a calf. She ask a farmer for a few tips, which he gives her, but she is soon discouraged when she sees the high-tech gadgets he uses to grow his pumpkin. But she never gives up.

Then there is her Aunt Arlene who is annoyed by little Mildred's over-determination with the pumpkin-growing project. Each year Mildred tries to grow a pumpkin but something always happens. Mildred's dad believes in her, and her best friend, Jacob, believes in her too.

You have to read Me and the Pumpkin Queen to see if she succeeds or accepts her loss graciously. One thing I will say there is a real Circleville Pumpkin Show, the best festival I have ever attended in my life, and they do have the largest pumpkin contest.

The festival sells everything pumpkin from candy, pies and taffy to fudge, soup and rolls. Good times and good stuff...and a great book you must read. It has an occasional hiccup but overall it is very informative, fun and by the end of the book you will want to grow your own giant pumpkin too!