Author: Emily Blejwas
Genre: historical fiction
Similar books: The Marvels by Brian Selznick
Pay Attention, Carter Jones by Gary D. Schmidt
Rating:
 |
| compelling |
Summary (provided by publisher): Justin doesn't know anything these days. Like how to walk down the halls without getting stared at. Or what to say to Jenni. Or how Phuc is already a physics genius in seventh grade. Or why Benny H. wanders around Wicapi talking to old ghosts. He doesn't know why his mom suddenly loves church or if his older brother, Murphy, will ever play baseball again. Or if the North Stars have a shot at the playoffs. Justin doesn't know how people can act like everything's fine when it's so obviously not. And most of all, he doesn't know what really happened the night his dad died on the train tracks. And that sucks.
But life goes on. And as it does, Justin discovers that some things are just unknowable. He learns that time and space and memory are grander and weirder than he ever thought, and that small moments can hold big things, if you're paying attention. Just like his math teacher said, even when you think you have all the information, there will be more. There is always more.
My opinion: At face value, this book has a couple of strikes against it. It has an historical setting which can be a hard sell for middle grade readers. And it doesn't have a strong central plot. The conflict is largely internal, Justin trying to figure out why his dad died and trying to understand things in the world around him. Largely, though, it's reminiscent of Catcher in the Rye. It's mostly just Justin thinking about things and realizing that life is more complex that he'd previously understood. It's about truly seeing things in life around you instead of just accepting the simple explanations. There's some subtle messaging about war, trauma, and cultural conflict but doesn't settle on any distinct message. This means that different readers may come away from it with different messages or gather new ideas on repeat reads.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley.
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