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    Pay Attention, Carter Jones
    Pay Attention, Carter Jones
    Pay Attention, Carter Jones
    Audiobook5 hours

    Pay Attention, Carter Jones

    Written by Gary D. Schmidt

    Narrated by Christopher Gebauer

    4.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    Bestselling author Gary D. Schmidt tells a coming-of-age story with the light touch of The Wednesday Wars, the heart of Okay for Now, and the unique presence of a wise and witty butler. Carter Jones is astonished early one morning when he finds a real English butler, bowler hat and all, on the doorstep-one who stays to help the Jones family, which is a little bit broken. In addition to figuring out middle school, Carter has to adjust to the unwelcome presence of this new know-it-all adult in his life and navigate the butler's notions of decorum. And ultimately, when his burden of grief and anger from the past can no longer be ignored, Carter learns that a burden becomes lighter when it is shared. Sparkling with humor, this insightful and compassionate story will resonate with readers who have confronted secrets of their own.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateFeb 5, 2019
    ISBN9781980010555
    Author

    Gary D. Schmidt

    Gary D. Schmidt is the bestselling author of The Labors of Hercules Beal; Just Like That; National Book Award finalist Okay for Now; Pay Attention, Carter Jones; Orbiting Jupiter; the Newbery Honor and Printz Honor Book Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy; and the Newbery Honor Book The Wednesday Wars. He is also contributor to and co-editor of the acclaimed short story collection A Little Bit Super, co-edited by Leah Henderson. He lives in rural Michigan.

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    Reviews for Pay Attention, Carter Jones

    4.5/5

    76 ratings9 reviews

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    • 4/5
      I love it!
      I think the parts about cricket was hard to understand just because I don’t know how to play that game but it was still a great read.
    • 5/5
      This book could have been really heavy with all the issues Carter is facing, but the culture clash of middle school tween and British butler of the highest standards was quite funny. It was also inspiring and heart warming. And there's a rare featuring of cricket for the fans of that game. The narrator's voice was perfect for both Carter and the butler. Highly recommended.
    • 4/5
      Surprisingly refreshing juvenile fiction novel layered in grief but with a positive message. Shades of Mary Poppins. And cricket!!! Cricket rules dealt out to an American audience in nice, bite-sized chunks.
    • 5/5
      I thought about Mary Poppins and Mr. Belvidere when reading this book. It was a quick read and the book sucked me right in! Carter's life is splintering. His mom is beyond stressed trying to manage her four kids by herself. His dad is deployed. When a Butler shows up at his house ready to help the family, he gets this new figure in his life that helps hime navigate, stay focused, and heal. This British man has strong opinions of what it is to be a gentleman and soon Carter is getting some life lessons about that and internalizing them.
    • 5/5
      Carter's late grandfather's butler shows up at Carter's door and stays to help the family. He teaches Carter and his schoolmates to play cricket as he teaches Carter life lessons along the way. I loved this book! It was not what I expected. I laughed (Carter had a way of describing life.) I cried. I was enthralled. I couldn't put this down. I was so glad that Carter had an adult male to help him when trauma happened. I liked that the Butler knew what to say and when to say it. I also liked how The Butler got the whole school involved in cricket. It was fun to watch how they go from no knowledge to being able to play an abridged game. This book is the bomb! I would like to see Carter's story of his life in 20 years.
    • 4/5
      In the midst of a chaotic household of females, Carter mourns his dead brother and feels confusion over his father who is deployed overseas. Then a butler named Mr. Bowles-Fitzpatrick arrives at the door to assist the family. From the stately butler, Carter learns what it means to be a gentleman and a cricket player. The fast-paced dialogue is humorous and snappy, and the Butler has the funniest lines. Then you encounter a line so poignant it hits you "in the glutes and the stomach and the face."
    • 4/5
      Definitely the best cricket book I have ever read!
    • 5/5
      My goal was to read 20 books over the summer, even knowing I was traveling a great deal. At this point, I've read around 15-ish. Pay Attention Carter Jones is the best novel I've read all summer. I have loved several of the novels, but this realistic novel, rises above them all. "If it hadn't been the first ay of school, and if my mother hadn't been crying her eyes out the night before, and if the fuel pump on the Jeep had been doing what a fuel pump on a Jeep is supposed to be doing, and if it hadn't been raining like n Australian tropical thunderstorm....and if the very last quart of one percent milk hadn't gone sour and clumped up, then probably my mother would never had let the Butler into our house.But that's what the day had been like so far, and it was only 7:15 in the morning.7:15 in the morning on the first day of school, when the Butler rang our doorbell.I answered it." - pg. 1Life changes. Carter Jones is going into 6th grade at Longfellow Middle School. Annie is starting fifth grade, Charlie fourth grade, and Emily to second grade. It's a rough morning trying to get everyone ready for school, fed, and packed with lunches and school supplies. In walks the gift of the Butler. He Immediately helps by getting milk, supplying matching yellow socks, cleaning up vomit from the dog, suggesting what Carter should do to help, and providing transportation to school. He does all of this in a perfectly gentlemanly butler-ish, British way. Thus, Carter and the girls begin learning how to "make good choices and to remember who [they] are."Carter's grandfather has passed away and has left an endowment to support the family. Part of the endowment is Mr. Bowles-Fitzpatrick, who arrives at the perfect time. The family is struggling. Their father has been stationed far away and hasn't been home in a long time. They are also dealing with a tragedy in the family and the lack of funds to take care of problems as they arise, such as fixing the Jeep that just broke down. Carter Jones isn't too sure about this guy. The Butler is making him walk the dog multiple times a day, beginning right after school. The sisters also have a new schedule, which allows their mom to deal with the problems that have been occurring. Not only is there a new schedule but there's also new food. Carter decides a small rebellion is in order. Quickly the Butler establishes who is in charge and that Carter needs to make better choices. These encounters are amusing and I laughed out loud many times. The novel is structured around the sport of Cricket. The Butler believes it is a civilized game and Master Jones must learn it. They walk up to the Longfellow Minutemen Football Field and pound stakes into the pristine ground in front of the 8th grade cross-country athletes. Carter is appalled and does not want to be seen. With them is their neighbor Billy Colt who is embarrassed as well. As always the Butler is right. The eighth graders end of joining them and a cricket team becomes the normal Saturday activity, which means these two 6th graders--Billy and Carter--are spending time with 8th graders. As the novel progresses, you learn what has happened and what is happening with Carter's family. Meaning is derived from the structure--as the plot parallels the information you learn about Cricket. Sidenote--I still don't understand the game. There is also an extended metaphor in Carter's life--the Australian tropical thunderstorm. The Australian tropical thunderstorm also occurs in a regular flashback between Carter and his father. The relationship between the Butler and Carter as well as the Butler and every single character is heartwarming. He's the anchor (I should use a Cricket metaphor but---well, I don't get the game, so I get to pick my metaphor), allowing characters to find who they truly are and how they are going to face the challenges of life--above all, we must keep the bails up! Carter can't keep the "bails up" if he's not paying attention. This is what he learns--his relationships, his choices, his handling of life all revolve around these lessons. The novel is outstanding; it's heart-warming; it's a positive look at humanity; and, it's beautiful. Read it!
    • 4/5
      4.25 - 4.5 Stars for Pay Attention, Carter JonesYou are gonna love Gary Schmidt's21st Century male version of Mary Poppins...umbrella and all. He speaks the Queens English --and he insists on proper decorum at all times. Meet Carter Jones' new Butler -- or "gentlemen's gentlemen" as he would say. Do you know the game of cricket? You will after reading Pay Attention Carter Jones. Each chapter heading is decorated with a word associated with cricket. It is printed in an attractive, italicized font, that while a bit difficult for older readers, youngsters will have no problem. It was a creative way to include definitions and complicated rules without muttering-up the story. For example, if I say, "bunny," you picture a cute, flop-eared, animal. Right? Wrong. "A Bunny is an unskilled batsman - who consequently appears as a rabbit caught in headlights." I appreciated the extra effort to familiarize readers with a game many readers know nothing about. But then the author included page after page of cricket into the body of the story. A wicket, true ticket, sticky wicket. Ugh! It is a swampy-mess readers must slog through to get to the heart of the story. In the midst of all the cricket there is a well-written, witty, deeply moving narrative told through the eyes of young master Jones.The story opens on what appears to be a disastrous first day of school. Everything is going wrong in the Jones house when there's a knock at the door. Standing in the pouring rain with an umbrella as big as a satellite dish is a man dressed in a "funeral suit" and wearing a bowler. The sixth-grader thinks to himself 'no one has worn a bowler since the horse and buggy days.' After several attempts to shoo the man away and with his Mom "going crazy," Carter accepts his offer of help. We see immediately the cultural divide the butler intends to bridge. From the way he speaks -- using the "Queens English," to his proper manners, and his love of cricket. All will be introduced to the Jones family and through them to the entire middle school. Carter learned that the Butler had worked for his Grandfather for many years. He made arrangements that upon his passing, the Butler's services would be provided to the Jones' family. So Mr. Bowles-Fitzpatrick and his huge, purple, "eggplant-looking," Bentley were here to stay. With his father on yet another deployment, his Mother definitely needed the help. The story is told from Cater's sixth-grade perspective. This gives the reader insight into his feelings and how kids react to grown-up problems. Because there's a deeper story going on inside Carter. He's dealing with his father's absence and a secret he's been keeping since their last camping trip together. Mr. Bowles-Fitzpatrick is a delightful character that fills a void in the Jones family. Not just the absence of a father figure for the children, or a help-mate for the mother, but a deeper, more meaningful role that eases the family forward without Mr. Jones. This is a quick read. (I read it in about two hours.) It is well-written and thoroughly entertaining. Middle-schoolers will enjoy the dialogue and lunch-time shenanigans. There is a heartfelt story hiding amid all the cricket. If you can get through it, you will love this book. It's worth it. Happy Reading, RJ*Thank you to HMHKids and Amazon for providing a courtesy copy of this book in exchange for my honest, unbiased opinion.