User:Shymermaid/sandbox

Plot
Criss Cross is about a group of friends during their summer break in small town where much isn't happening. In the book we get a narrative perspective from each character in the book. The first character is Debbie, who is dying for something dramatic to happen in her life. Hector a boy who also is looking for something he feels is missing in his life, one night with his sister Rowanne go to a cafe, where he sees a man playing the guitar and takes interest in wanting to play as well, which leads to Hector attending guitar lessons. Debbie, Lenny, Hector, and Phil meet up to sit in Lenny dad’s truck and listen to the radio station criss cross and this becomes a hangout habit for the group every Saturday. Patty, Debbie’s friend soon joins whenever she is able to. When Saturday comes around again Hector and Phil give up the back two seats for Debbie and Patty so they can sit while they stand to hear the radio because the car doesn’t have enough space for all friends.Hector spins her around like they were dancing to switch seats and Debbie then realizes just how mature Hector has become and she begins to guess curious of boys more. Debbie and Patty are changing their clothes from what their mother's brought and want them to wear to what they think is cool to wear inside a bush. While they are changing Debbie loses her necklace as she watches a chipmunk take her necklace into its mouth and run off. Debbie meets up with Phil and Lenny in the truck while Lenny is chewing tobacco and the smell of what Lenny’s chewing has Debbie covering her nose. While they all sit in the car we learn just how smart Lenny is but he ends up getting involved in mechanical once he discovered his skill for it. Hector attends his guitar classes in the basement of a church, where he meets Meadow, a girl he begins to crush on, Dan Persik, a football player that Debbie has a crush on, Robin, Meadows friend, Russell Kebbesward, Pastor Don and Mary. With what Hector has learned to play he starts to make his own songs. Patty and Debbie have a conversation in the dark about life and their curious to how it works whether it's planned out or based off actions. Debbie brings up Dan Persik asking whether she thinks he could like her back and Patty simply replies no,it wasn't meant to be. When the following Saturday comes around again this time only Lenny and Debbie show up. It becomes awkward between the two so Lenny suggest he can teach Debbie how to drive. Debbie hesitates at first but then let's Lenny teach her. Lenny and Debbie enjoy the moment and Lenny is shown to enjoy the way Debbie smiles while she is learning. Hector aware that he isn't a handsome football player like Dan is,tries to think of something he could do to impress Meadow. He finds a ravine which he thinks would be a romantic place to take Meadow. He scans the place and sees trash laying around and begins to clean the place up.

After a rainy day Russell went to throw out the trash and while doing so he saw necklace, picking it up and taking it inside thinking that maybe it belonged to his younger sister Annette. When Russell got a closer look at the necklace inside his house he read the necklace name Debbie. Russell knew a lot of Debbie's and thought it would be best to turn it in the Lost and Found in school. On Tuesday evening Debbie and Patty were at a Tastee-Freez sitting on a bench eating when they spotted Hector along with Meadow and Dan Persik, but the girls didn't reorganize Meadow as they've never seen her before. Debbie was well aware of this girl as she could tell Hector had a crush on her but so did Dan making Debbie feel hopeless. After the guitar group finishes playing and eating Russell starts to pack his things up his swings his jacket and out flies the necklace he was holding. It falls by Hector but Hector is busy talking talking to Meadow, Dan saw it land and picked it up reading it, Debbie. He began to wonder why Russell had a necklace with the name Debbie on it but Dan quickly thought of Debbie Pelbry who he knew had a crush on him and thought he would have some fun with necklace by giving it to her, to watch her blush. When Dan saw Debbie at school as they were emptying out their lockers preparing for summer, he reached for the necklace it was gone. Without realizing Dan had lost the necklace while he was walking lost in thought as it slipped out from a hole in his jeans. Debbie once helped an elderly lady named Mrs. Burning, and since that Debbie goes to Mrs. Burning weekly to help her out with house chores. It being Saturday the group meets up but run into a problem when the car won't turn on. Hector, Phil, and Lenny pushed the car since the girls weren't as strong as the boys were. Patty kept eye out for anyone who was coming and Debbie was driving the car. When car turns on Lenny sighs in relief not sure if he was at fault for leaving the light on in the car, but the group surround the car and listen to the radio.

Mrs. Burning grandson Peter was staying with her for a week to help around the house which is when he met Debbie. While Peter and Debbie were asking each other questions Mrs. Burning came down but she didn't look so well. Peter and Debbie found out that Mrs. Burning is diabetic and she was starting to go pale. They needed to get her to the hospital. Peter went around looking for someone but couldn't find anyone. Debbie remembered about Mrs. Burning car. The car was old but Debbie remembered about the time with the boys, Patty and herself had to get a car to start. Debbie and Peter did as she remembered and got the car to start. Debbie and Peter got Mrs. Burning safely to the hospital. Hector, Patty, Phil and Lenny were at the Seldem Days event where they ate and danced together. Hectoring spotted Meadow but also saw Dan Persik with her and they both were holding hands. Hector's mood went down but made a song from the seeing Meadow with Dan. Debbie and Peter spoke about being somewhere interesting other their own town. This lead to Debbie and Peter getting on a bus and getting off on the farthest stop and a day off just enjoyment. They spent the day together, ending it with Debbie and Peter heading back home holding hands, and sharing nothing but everything at the same time. Two days later Peter went back to California and all she had left was an address on a piece of paper that left Debbie thinking about soulmates. While running across the street in flip-flops Hector lost one of them. He waited as the cars drove by and a car ran over his flip-flop. When he went to recover his flip-flop he spotted a necklace with the name Debbie but it was all kinds of messed up. He thought of giving it to Debbie Pelbry as a joke at the block party. At the block party Hector laid on his back on the grass, thinking how difficult love really is and playing his guitar. Debbie came and sat by Hector and joined in on singing along with him until he sat up. He went into his pocket and took out the necklace. Debbie looked at her necklace in the bad shape that it was in. She wasn't going to wear it but Hector said she should as it tells its own story with its disfigurement. While Hector was putting the necklace on Debbie he became aware of her hair, neck, and skin and Debbie became aware of his hands and closeness. The two stopped and looked at each other for the first time, really looking at each other but their moment was missed by a second. A moment later Hector started playing his guitar as he sang along with Debbie. Soon after the others joined too, first Phil, then Rownanne, Lenny, Patty, and a few others all lost in their thoughts as they listened.

Characters

 * Debbie Pelbry- In her early teens and is a curious about life and its future and romance


 * Helen Pelbry- Mother Debbie


 * Hector- Early teens, can play the guitar and friends with Debbie, Lenny, and Phil


 * Rowanne- Hector’s older sister


 * Liz- Friend of Rowanne and Hector’s older sister


 * Skip or called Chip/Flip- A boy who has interest in Rowanne and wants to date her


 * Chrisanne- Debbie’s close friend


 * Tesey- Debbie and Chrisanne’s neighbor


 * Cupcake- Debbie’s dog


 * Phil- In early teens and friend of Debbie, Hector, and Lenny


 * Patty- In early teens and friend of Debbie, Lenny, Hector, and Phil


 * Debbie’s Father (no specific name given)


 * Annette Kebbesward- Russell’s younger sister


 * Lenny- a 14 year old boy and a friend of Debbie, Hector, and Phil


 * Pastor Dan- The minister who teaches Hector to play the guitar


 * Mary- Takes guitar lessons with Hector


 * Mr.Schimpf- Takes guitar lessons with Hector along with Mary


 * Robin- a girl who takes guitar lessons with Hector and Meadow's friend


 * Meadow-a girl who takes guitar lessons with Hector and Robin's friend


 * Dan Persik- Football player who is also taking guitar lessons with Hector


 * Russell Kebbesward- a boy who takes guitar class with Hector


 * Annette Kebbesward- Russell’s younger sister


 * Lenny- In early teens and friend of Debbie, Phil and Hector


 * Lean- Lenny’s father


 * Mrs.Bruning- Debbie’s German American neighbor


 * Peter Bruning- Grandson of Mr.Bruning


 * Man with no legs- A vet who lost his legs at war

Critical Reception
Many critics found Criss Cross to be an excellent novel to read with no plot at all and some humor about a young group of friends growing up as Matt Berman says, " it is a deeply lovely book, profoundly observant and wise about the little things in life that most books, children's or adult, ignore, or perhaps don't even notice." While some readers loved and enjoyed that the novel had no plot others weren't a fan of it as Jennifer Stevenson said, "I was excited to read this Newbery winner, but my enthusiasm waned early on. There isn’t a plot or much of anything actually happening in the story, just random experiences."

Awards
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newbery_Medal