Sometimes I stray from my core mission of reviewing middle grade novels. This novel is almost a middle-grade novel. After all, its narrator is twelve, perfect for middle grade. But the real protagonist is thirteen or fourteen, a boy who’s already lived enough grief–and joy–for a lifetime. So I guess it’s young adult.
Gary D. Schmidt, Newbery-Award-winning Christian author, is one of my favorite middle-grade writers. In this contemporary tale set on a small farm in Maine, a family of three sets out to help a troubled kid. That kid is Joseph, who has an abusive father. Joseph’s a prickly individual, surly or silent. Under the influence of a drug someone gave him, he once tried to kill a teacher. The family, including 12-year-old Jack, accepts him anyway.
But something really sets Joseph apart from other troubled kids: he is himself a father.
He’s never seen his infant daughter. And he’s willing to risk everything to find her.
This is his heart-wrenching story. I enjoyed reading it and highly recommend it. I want to particularly point out the “voice” of Jack the narrator, which is so spare as to be Hemingway-esque. He’s doing things that show his feelings, rather than immersing the reader in talking about them. This is unusual for a first-person tale these days.
I watched a video interview of the author, a professor at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, who said the story is based on a real family on a farm in Maine. This family takes in troubled kids–and presumably asks them to milk a cow.
book review blogs
@Barrie Summy
So hard to imagine being a father at fourteen. I respect him for feeling a responsibility to the child but wonder if his insertion into the child’s life at this point is helpful. Maybe down the road.
It’s unbelievably complicated! But it’s a great book, and I hope you check it out.
Yes, mind blowing to think of a 14-year-old father, but of course, not impossible. What an admirable family to take in troubled kids.
It’s also unusual these days to have a narrator who is not the main character. Shades of the Great Gatsby.
Tweeted.
Thank you!
Topics for teens and youth today are so different from what I remember. – Margy
So true, Margy!
So glad you reviewed this book. It’s in my TBR pile. I’m looking forward to reading it.And I will watch for how the author shows Jack’s feelings. Thanks for the tip!
Wow. My girlfriend dropped out of school in gr. 11 to have a child. It was an awful time.
We do need more books that bridge the gap between MG and YA. This one sounds like a good one. I have so much admiration for foster families.
So hard.
This is a good one.