This is a deceptive little book. It's brief length makes it seem as if it will be a very quick read. In fact, it's possible to read it in very little time. To my way of thinking, that isn't exactly advisable. While the central plot is very straightforward, that of a girl proving her worth to a great-grandfather who values only males, it is much more than that. It's a story of cultural traditions, traditions that are being lost in the name of "progress." The very narration is steeped in those traditions. It isn't a narrative style common to American novels so it was a fascinating change of pace from my previous selections. I look forward to making time in my schedule to watch the film version so I can see how the film makers represent both the culture and the tone of the novel on screen.
Take Gary Paulsen's The Cook Camp. Add a dash of John D. Fitzgerald's The Great Brain and Robert Newton Peck's Soup with maybe just a hint of Sid Fleischman's McBroom. All these things combined make up something like My Near-Death Adventures. It's funny to be sure and I'm quite fond of Stan's tendency to unknowingly verbalize his thoughts. The real selling point for this book, in my opinion, is the images. Advertisements, postcards, humorous photos, all vintage. Usually those things alone are enough to entertain me. These images have the added appeal of having been altered as part of Stan's scrapbook to illustrate some part of his exaggerated story.
Most of us have this idea of adoption as a sort of perfect completion. A couple chooses a child to become a part of their family and love makes them complete. The child, grateful to be chosen, is just like a natural born child. This novel blows that notion out of the water. The simple fact is no adoption is easy. Especially international adoption. The process of bonding with an adopted child is difficult and may never fully succeed (an experience confirmed by a few of my childhood friends who were adopted themselves). Half a World Away puts us into the life of Jaden, a Romanian boy adopted at age 8 with a serious attachment disorder. He hordes food, destroys possessions, and secretly believes his adopted parents (whom he mentally calls by their first names) dislike him and would prefer to be rid of him. When his parents decide to adopt another child, this brings to the forefront many of Jaden's issues and forces him to consider his own value and the notion of love. Kadohata takes us deep into Jaden's emotional world, allowing us to live his life along with him and make connections with him. We struggle to understand his parents and the world around him just as Jaden does. This is an emotionally complex story but one that will have us viewing our own families in a new light.
Here's a book that wasn't really at all what I expected. While I appreciate the need for books that look at bullying and which acknowledge that telling an adult isn't always a practical solution for kids, I'm not sure I'm okay with the solutions Raine came up with either. Plotting against and threatening to socially ruin a bully don't seem like methods one would want to advocate. Additionally, Raine takes some pretty significant safety risks and never once considers asking for help. The final chapters do acknowledge the dangers of those decisions but I'm not sure that's enough to make up for my concerns. I'd also have liked to have seen more of the turmoil between Raine and her mother. That wasn't addressed enough for my tastes.
What a fun book! While the mystery is not overly complex, it is solidly constructed much like your standard cop show. While Zengo and O'Malley are in stereotypical roles (the overly eager and impulsive rookie and the slightly jaded old-timer) the novelty of the world Krosoczka has built keeps the characters from feeling stale. And of course there is the vaguely menacing specter of Pandini looming over the plot. He reminded me of Daredevil's Kingpin. His reputation is built on good intentions but something darker drives him. All in all, this is a solid introduction to a middle grade series.
The thing about most novels is you only get one or two perspectives on the story. While our hero is facing adversity and meeting with a variety of other characters, some only for a moment, life goes on around him. But what does that mean for the people he meets? It's refreshing to read books like this one which acknowledge that every individual has a story. These stories all intertwine to create a larger plot. In this case of this novel, each small story in some way involves the middle finger gesture. More than that, though, they are connected by the idea of self-discovery. Every character in this book makes some discovery about himself/herself. These discoveries may be affirming or depressing. Either way, the character ends this one day enlightened in some small way. It's a pretty interesting slice of life.
In historical fiction, it's important to capture both the events and the sense of the corresponding era. This is a task that this novel more than accomplishes. The Tate family jumps out from the page, as real as your own neighbor. Their adventures and foibles are entertaining and humorous, much like the tales in Christopher Paul Curtis's The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963. At the same time there is an underlying current of worry and dissatisfaction throughout the novel. Calpurnia simply does not fit into societal expectations. A chance encounter with her grandfather opens up the world for her in a way that virtually guarantees that she won't be satisfied with the life of domesticity that her mother has planned for her. It is both surprising and satisfying that her discontent remains at the conclusion of the novel, a likely result given that there were precious few opportunities for girls at the turn of the century. This book is an absolute delight.
