As I read Raymie Nightingale, I didn't think it was going to get me, but by the last couple chapters I was swallowing back tears. It's a simple, quirky tale of loss, fear, and friendship. The main character, Raymie, searches for a way to make it into the paper after her father leaves town, hoping to bring him back. What starts as a comical story of three strangers at a baton-twirling class turns into a heartbreaking yet uplifting story of three friends searching for ways to make sense of the world. 
 I enjoyed the whole book, but I was mostly thrilled with the ending. (view spoiler)[Raymie making into the paper for saving a life rather than for winning a child beauty pageant was way more fitting. And for some reason I didn't see it was coming until it happened. Cue emotions. (hide spoiler)] 
 Some issues I had: 
 -I didn't really get a sense of time (1975). It's specified by the Miss Florida Tire pageant, but the writing doesn't necessarily set it in that time period. It would've been nice to get a clearer picture of life in 1975, especially for the kids reading who never even experienced the 20th century. 
 -I would've welcomed a few more competent adults outside of Mrs. Sylvester and Nurse Ruthie. Raymie's mother is absent in her grief over being left, Beverly's mother is abusive, and Louisiana's grandmother is eccentric to the extreme. Both Raymie's and Beverly's dads left their families. I understand DiCamillo's intention to highlight various family issues, but the complete absence of parenting irked me a bit. These poor girls need to catch a break! I guess the break was meeting each other. Okay, I concede...another "revelation while reviewing" moment.