Me and the Pumpkin Queen

Me and the Pumpkin Queen

By Marlane Kennedy

4 ratings 4 reviews 6 followers
Interest LevelReading LevelReading A-ZATOSWord Count
n/aGrades 3 - 5n/a4.824812

Mildred's Guide to Growing a Giant Pumpkin

1. Get the right seeds. These days, no one grows a Pumpkin Show winner without Howard Dill's Atlantic Giant seeds.

2. Convince your dad that having a pumpkin patch in your backyard is a good idea.

3. Make sure that your dogs stay far, far away from your seedlings.

4. Don't let your busybody aunt interfere with your "pumpkin obsession," no matter how much she wishes you were interested in boys or clothes or anything other than pumpkins.

5. Find a best friend who can help out in a pinch.

6. Never, ever, ever give up.

Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Published on 8/1/2009
Binding: Paperback
Number of pages: 192

Book Reviews (4)

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I love this book! My mom actually grew up there and my grandma still lives there so we go to Pumpkin Show every year. And it's true, they have pumpkin everything! 🥧🍝🍩🍔. Get this, my grandma actually owns a candy store there and they make pumpkin fudge and pumpkin peanut brittle every year for Pumpkin Show. The book is amazing!! Such a heartfelt story! I love when she says "I try to imagine what the road trip would be like if I was constantly puking on poor Aunt Arlene." or something like that.😂😂 Like I said this is a truly amazing book!! I love it!😍😍😍😍

An exciting yet sweet story lies in the soft pages of Me and the Pumpkin Queen. The main person in the book, Mildred was told by her mother before her tragic death at a pumpkin festival that she herself would like to grow the biggest pumpkin. Her mother died when she was only two, but Mildred's dream still lasts. Pumpkins are Mildred's only interest, but her Aunt Arlene wants her to like things like buying new clothes, and painting her nails, and other really girly stuff. Her best friend Jacob tries to help her and teaches Mildred to play chess along the way. Mildred has attempted growing pumpkins many times before. Now, Mildred is going into fifth grade. Is this the year? Or will it just be like every other?

Mildred, the main character of Me and the Pumpkin Queen is a girl who lives with her father. Her mother died when she was little. Before she died, Mildred would go to the Pumpkin fair with her every year. At the pumpkin fair they have a "heaviest pumpkin" contest. They were looking at the pumpkins and her mom told her that one day she would like to grow one herself. But like i said, her mom dies. So Mildred tries to grow one herself. She has tried a few times, but can this be her year? With some help from her friend Jacob, she manages to grow one. But is it big enough to win the contest????

Mildred's mom died when she was a toddler. Her mom wanted to try to grow a giant pumpkin and enter it into the Giant Pumpkin Contest at the Pumpkin festival, but never got the chance to. So Mildred has been trying to grow one for years, but every year something bad happens and her pumpkin never makes it to the festival. Her aunt thinks that Mildred is unhealthily obsessed, and that she should stop, but Mildred refuses to. With the support of her dad and her best friend Jacob, this year Mildred hopes to win the prize. What I thought of it: Let's start with the cover. It looks like it was made for a toddler book. It really annoyed me. Not to mention the fact that on the cover, Mildred looked nothing liked she was described, even though they didn't say much about the way she looked. In the book, Mildred says she has bangs, but on the cover she doesn't seem to have bangs. Also, on the cover, Mildred looked like she was about 7 or 8 years old. I found Mildred pretty annoying overall. In the beginning of the book, she was 10, then after a little while she turned 11, and then at the very end of the book she turned 12. The entire book, she sounded as if she were 7. A few times, she said things that a 7-year-old wouldn't necessarily say, but she still sounded really young. I didn't like the way it was written. I found the way Mildred talked very annoying. It was even more annoying when she said something, but (based on the other things she said) it didn't sound like something she would say. Jacob was my favorite character. I thought he was pretty cool, and not at all annoying. I liked Mildred's dad as well. Despite all of it's flaws it was an all right book.

If it was sooner I would have rated five stars