The Silver Spoon of Solomon Snow by Kaye Umansky

This was one of the books that I picked up at our book fair. I put off reading it for a while, not prepared for another bad Lemony Snicket imitation. Although I don't think kids will jump on this book, it wasn't as bad as I feared. Umansky has a fairly pleasant writing style and doesn't try to bog it down with the quirky observations that no one but Snicket can seem to pull off.

Ten-year-old Solomon Snow lives a pretty paltry existence. We find out in the opening scene that Solomon was abandoned and the home of the washer woman and her drunk husband. Content, and not very bright, his parents live their life hand to mouth, literally, slurping their pottage straight out of the bowl without even a spoon to call their own. Soon after finding out about his abandonment Solly meets Prudence, whose family has its own world of problems, and they embark on a journey to find more than what's offered to them in their little village.

Of course, Umansky plans a series of these books, but as of now, there are only two books. It isn't something that I would bump to the top of my To Read pile, but if I got my hands on the second one, I would certainly read it to find out what becomes of Solly, Prudence, and others they meet on their journey.