Last Stop on Market Street

by Matt De La Peña

De La Peña, M. (2015). Last stop on Market Street. New York, NY: G. P. Putnam's Sons.

As CJ and his grandmother leave church one Sunday morning, the young boy is full of questions...Why do they have to wait for the bus in the rain?  Why don't they have a car?  Why do they always have to go here after church?  Rather than scold CJ for his endless questions and envy of others, Nana continues to gently point out all the things they can appreciate that make their lives special.  While on the bus, CJ encounters many different types of people, truly reflective of a typical urban setting; a blind man with a dog, a tattooed man looking at his phone, an older woman with a jar of butterflies, teens with an IPod and a man with a guitar.  When they finally reach their stop, the last one on Market Street, as they walk down crumbling sidewalks and past graffiti covered buildings and boarded up stores, CJ inquires as to why "it's always so dirty over here?"  Nana joyfully replies that, "Sometimes when you're surrounded by dirt, you're a better witness for what's beautiful."  We come to discover that their destination is a soup kitchen, and when CJ sees the familiar, smiling faces, he exclaims that he is glad they came.  This Newbery Award winner and Caldecott and Coretta Scott King Honor book is a wonderful tribute to life in the city, encouraging kindness, appreciation, and volunteering.  

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