A very short, very sweet novel, about a very simple subject: When a child's single parent falls in love with a new person.
Jolene's father died when she was so young, she remembers little about him. Now, her mother is falling in love with Leroy, a big man in whom Jolene can easily spot all his flaws, but is blind to all his good qualities. She dislikes him so much, she refuses to call him anything other than "Mister." The last thing in the world she wants is for him to marry her mother - which, of course, is where the story is leading. In a book on this subject for elementary readers, we know that Leroy will win Jolene over by the end of the tale. It is a lovely, gentle tale.
(A note of interest: Kimberly Willis Holt is white, and so am I. I've read many books for young readers with black characters. This one was quite unusual, in that racism played no part in the book at all. There were no white characters, and none of the black characters ever mentioned anything about racism, though the book is set in 1940. There was one line where Jolene mentions her great-grandparents getting married back in the days of slavery. That was it.) ( )

This is a nice little story about a girl's coming to terms with her mother remarrying after her father's death. This could be a good story to help children in similar circumstances because it does a good job of letting the reader in on the little girl's thoughts. We can see she's feeling unsure and afraid about the future - not fully understanding what this new marriage will mean for her family and her place in it. A particularly strong scene in the book is when the girl lets her fear and jealousy get the best of her and destroys a gift that was meant for her mother from her mother's fiance. Her pain and regret is palpable. The story does have a happy ending, though. I did only give the book three stars because I thought the resolution came too easily which I found unrealistic. I think a child going through similar emotions would have a much tougher time than the character in the book. I would have liked to see a slightly longer book with more depth to the protagonist's journey. ( )

Set in a small town in 1940's Louisiana, a little girl name Jolene Johnson is trying to stop her mother from courting a man she only calls "Mister". Jolene lost her father and is not looking for a new one in Leroy Redfield (Mister's actual name). Although she doesn't even remember her father, she still believes her mother and grandpa are doing just fine without a "daddy" in the family. By the end of the book Jolene has found a way to accept Mister and in return she gains a new understanding of a family. The theme of family and it being blended or not looking traditional definitely reminded me of the book Bud Not Buddy. He was hell bent on finding blood family and found something deeper in his journey. Jolene was hell bent on her family consisting of only blood and found something different with time. Jolene's emotional growth in her perception of family is awesome to read about. I feel like her story is the story of a lot of the kids that I work with on a daily basis as an inner city school teacher. Their mom has a "boyfriend" and they express to me how they think their family is just fine without their mom dating. Its always an adjustment adding a new member of any kind to a family and i'm proud of the character Jolene for letting her heart open up and eventually accept this man who loved her and her mom so much. ( )

Mister and Me is an amazing book set in the 1940s. It is about this young girl named Jolene who lives in Southern Louisiana. Jolene lost her father when she was young girl. Her mother started seeing another man named Leroy. She doesnt like Leroy at first but then she learns to love and accept him. This is an amazing book explaining the change that happens in someones life when they lose their parent and have to accept somebody else in as their step parent. ( )

Jolene is a young girl living in southern Louisiana. She lives with her single mother and grandfather until her mother starts dating a man named Leroy. Jolene doesn't like Leroy at first, but soon learns to love him and accept him into her family.
This is a sweet story about the difficulty of blending a family. Jolene has ideas about what her family looks like, she loves her father and feels like her mother remarrying is a betrayal to him. She's afraid of change and has many ideas about who Leroy is and what he'll do to her family. But ultimately she realizes he is kind and that her family may look different now, but it might be better. ( )