A good verse novel is a thing of beauty. To be able to tell a distinct, artful story while making each word count for maximum impact is not a skill that many possess. Over the years I've read a good number of verse novels, most of them mediocre at best. Seldom does one read a verse novel and thing "poetry really was the best format for this story." Much like my very favorite verse novel (Love That Dog by Sharon Creech) poetry really is the only format for this book, and not just because it's about poetry. The very sparse poetry Holt uses in this novel really captures Kevin's anger. He's constantly on edge and that is well reflected with journal entries that at times have just two words on a line. He's stretched thin, barely contained. And I love that the found poetry pages are pages from existing books, not something specially prepared to make his poems more polished.
When we learn about things like the Vietnam War in history classes, we tend to get very few details: the basis of the conflict, it's scope in years and international involvement, and the resolution. We learn that as American troops withdrew from South Vietnam, desperate people attempted to leave with them, sometimes pressing their small children onto trucks and into helicopters in hopes of a better life. This is essentially all we learn. Novels like this one open our eyes to the realities of life in a postwar region. Continued political turmoil left Vietnam a very dangerous place to be and thousands fled, preferring the dangers of over-packed, rickety ships to the threat of their own government. Even if one could reach a refuge camp, conditions there were not much better especially as some residents of the camps were little more than children with no parental supervision. This is a fascinating look at how circumstance can take a young person used to privilege and put her into a situation where her only thoughts are to survival. The writing is somewhat stilted at times but it's a solidly educational read.
When this book first came out, I had no intention of reading it. Not only was Will Grayson, will grayson not my favorite John Green novel, Tiny Cooper wasn't my favorite character within that novel. I found him overly exuberant to the point of irritation at times. But when I was building a reading list for this challenge, this seemed like a good bridging novel, a slight mental break for evening #2. For the most part, that's exactly what this book was. It doesn't exactly break new ground in storytelling. While the level of detail may be more than what we got in the original novel it doesn't really take any new turns. What it does do, which the original did not, is give Tiny a little more depth of character. We see a little more of his vulnerability and fear, his longing and doubts. It doesn't work as a stand-alone at all but fans of Will Grayson, will grayson will get a kick out of it.
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.
