The Madman of Piney Woods (Scholastic Gold)

This book was a hard one for me. I have loved everyone of Christopher Paul Curtis’ books, but this one was hard for me to follow. It took until the last few chapters for me to really enjoy it. Then ending helped and made me feel reading the whole book was worthwhile.

Mr. Curtis is a magician with words. His books a delicacy - savor slowly- before digesting the wisdom. Although it is not a sequel to Elijah- it should be shared immediately afterward. Warning to grade 4-6 teachers -as with Elijah there are powerfully graphic images so please read the novel before sharing. Elijah of Buxton, forever my favorite, but boys who are mature enough to follow two story lines will learn deep lessons.

B liked the stories about the civil war. So much history woven nicely into the main stories. Mom liked how a love of nature, family, learning and humor shined through the narrative from the beginning. Some tough history and family events but everything intertwined nicely with the movement of the story. Beautiful!

Our 11 year old boy liked this book enough to not make excuses every day when the clock reached 'reading time'... enough said!

I am a big fan of several of Christopher Paul Curtis books, but this one was just too boring for me. A lot of it was a little too far fetched compared to his stories found in his other books. I was under the understanding that this was a continuation of mostly true story of the town of Buxton in Canada. I am an adult, so take that into consideration.

I loved this companion book to Elijah of Buxton. A tender telling of a good story, and a well-done take on black-white friendship. And a pretty good plot...so it's enjoyable on several levels. And there's nothing quite like this one.

Boy enjoyed book.

Fantastic! Old school friend and huge fan of Christopher Paul Curtis! This book did not disappoint! It was one of my reads for Black History Month.

This book is not as good as the first book and I found that it lacked the emotion and interest of the first book. That may just be my opinion, but I just don't think it lives up to my expectations. Especially after the first book was such an amazing read!