“Raymie Nightingale” is the first book of the three-part series that was published in 2016.
In the book “Raymie Nightingale,” 10-year-old Raymie Clarke lives in Florida with her two best friends, Louisiana and Beverly. Raymie has a lot of dreams and aspirations for her life, but she has one thing that she really wants to accomplish. She wants to win the Miss Central Florida Tire Competition to get her picture in the newspaper, so it will make her father want to come home. Her father had been gone for some time, but she never really knew why he left. However, all she wanted was for him to come back because they used to be so close. Raymie plans to enter the baton twirling contest, but she has a lot of practice to do if she wants to win. However, Beverly thought it was not a good idea and pointless for Raymie to do the contest, so she decided to sabotage it. Although things changed, they ended up working it all out for the better of their friendship.
A key part of “Raymie Nightingale” is the formation of the girls’ friendship. The three girls, Raymie, Louisiana, and Beverly, like to call themselves the “Three Rancheros.” They originally met at a baton twirling class taught by Ida Nee in her backyard. They all had the same goal, which was winning the Miss Central Florida Tire Competition for baton twirling, but they were all doing it for different reasons. Raymie wanted her father to return, Louisiana needed the prize money, and Beverly wanted to sabotage the competition. This adds suspense to the story because all three girls are competing in the same competition. They all have very different backgrounds and family structures, but that allows their bond to grow and to help each other through difficult times. Therefore, the development of their friendship led to all of the major events in the book, making it very important for the plot.
Another huge aspect of the book is the resolution and how they realised their friendship was so much more than a baton twirling competition. This all happened when Louisiana was in a shopping cart during one of their adventures, and she ended up falling into a lake. Raymie used the skills she had learned to dive into the lake and save Louisiana. This event allows Raymie to realise the purpose behind helping others and how her focus was taken away from the abandonment by her father. This allows their relationship to grow through hard times and adversity. This makes the book a learning experience, and it shows that people should take pride in their friendships. Moreover, the resolution of the story makes it more interesting and educational.
All in all, “Raymie Nightingale” would be rated a ⅘ because it was a very interesting book as the characters learned many lessons. This book would also be recommended to anyone interested in reading a new book.
