Calvin v The Smell of Other People's Houses

These were two worthy selections but one definitely rose about the other.  Calvin was good.  Like my teammate Adrienne, I enjoyed being immersed in the world of Calvin and Hobbes, a familiar favourite from my childhood.  However, I wondered how many students in this generation would know about Calvin and Hobbes like we did.  Without that prior knowledge, much of the foundation of the this book is lost on the audience. I found Suzie to be the most well-developed character with the most humanity.  I enjoyed the format of the story, with it's paucity of description and script-like format, making it an easy read that allowed me to fill in the blanks as the reader.  But in the end, it was flat.  

I loved The Smell of Other People's Houses!  Granted, this book had me at the title.  I have so many memories associated with the smells of people and their homes.  But the book itself was a wonderful read. Again, it wasn't challenging, but there was a cleverness to it that engaged me throughout.  As the intersections started occurring, I was thrilled, but as more and more intersections happened, they lost their novelty and I began to become a bit skeptical.  However, it in the end, there is a richness to this book that is missing from Calvin.  Each character contributes to a deeper understanding of this little slice of the world.  And it made me cry, not because a dog or cat was hurt or dead which is what usually makes me cry, but because so many of things touched me.  They were small things but the simplicity of the presentation made them heartbreaking.  I just wanted to know more about Gran's experience because there is a huge disconnect between her early life and her later life.  This one is it for me.