All Rise for the Honorable Perry T. Cook By: Leslie Connor

Plot:

From Leslie Connor, award-winning author of Waiting for Normal and Crunch, comes a soaring and heartfelt story about love, forgiveness, and how innocence makes us all rise up. All Rise for the Honorable Perry T. Cook is a powerful story, perfect for fans of Wonder and When You Reach Me.

Eleven-year-old Perry was born and raised by his mom at the Blue River Co-ed Correctional Facility in tiny Surprise, Nebraska. His mom is a resident on Cell Block C, and so far Warden Daugherty has made it possible for them to be together. That is, until a new district attorney discovers the truth—and Perry is removed from the facility and forced into a foster home.

When Perry moves to the “outside” world, he feels trapped. Desperate to be reunited with his mom, Perry goes on a quest for answers about her past crime. As he gets closer to the truth, he will discover that love makes people resilient no matter where they come from . . . but can he find a way to tell everyone what home truly means?

Review:

I cried through this entire story, there are so many tear stains on the pages of this library book. I expected it to be well written based on the buzz around it, but I had no idea that I would end up crying so much. After the first chapter I knew that it was going to be an emotional journey so I had to read the last chapter to make sure there was a happy ending.

***SPOILERS***

There was.

Perry was so innocent and optimistic and just let things roll right over him that would normally drive an adult crazy. His ability to cope with things was remarkable and I wish I had his skills. Just when I was starting to think he was too good, though, Connor allowed him to get mad. He had been bothered by things throughout the book, but he was able to accept that there was nothing that he could do about them.

I do wish that he had a bit more fight in him, but the book acknowledged that was an area he could grow in. I also wish that the pay off at the end was a bit better. I found myself reacting like one of the characters and I wished things had been fair. I at least wanted the DA to have more negative backlash against him. It would have also been nice to learn more about Perry’s father.

There was so much love between the characters. It was beautiful.

4/5