Book Review: The Terrible Thing That Happened to Barnaby Brocket

The Terrible Thing That Happened to Barnaby Brocket

John Boyne, illustrated by Oliver Jeffers
Release date: August 2, 2012

Rating 5/5

The First Line:

This is the story of Barnaby Brocket , and to understand Barnaby, first you have to understand his parents: two people who were so afraid of anyone who was different that they did a terrible thing that would have the most appalling consequences for everyone they loved.

The Plot:

Barnaby Brocket’s parents are very normal but he isn’t – ever since he was born, he’s been able to float in the air. His parents try to put up with him for as long as possible, but eventually they get tired of how abnormal their child is, and Mrs. Brocket sends him floating off into the air. Barnaby travels all over the world, trying his best to get back to his home in Australia and meeting a series of delightful people along the way.

The Characters:

Our boy Barnaby is, of course, the protagonist. The book starts with his birth so right away we’re aware that there’s something unusual about him. Barnaby is a sweet boy – he has a loving relationship with his older siblings, and adores his dog, and even tries to make friends in school even though he’s forced to walk around with a backpack full of sandbags (to weigh him down and stop him from floating around). He’s also very curious and wants to know more about everything – and he’s resourceful. No matter where in the world Barnaby ends up, he figures out a way to get out and he’s determined to return home.

The rest of the characters are just as eccentric and unique as Barnaby himself. There’s his school chum Liam who has hooks for hands, and a lovely couple of women who float around in a hot air balloon (it’s implied that they’re a romantic couple but not explicitly stated), and an aspiring artist who lives in the basement of the Empire State Building…among others. Barnaby manages to make friends with all these people (and more!) and no matter how long he’s with them, he makes a lasting impression on them.

Meanwhile, his parents are the worst and it’s actually heartbreaking when his mother decides that she’d rather send him flying off into the unknown than spend another minute dealing with his “abnormality”.

The Writing:

I’ve read at least one other John Boyne book before, but since it was set during WWII, I don’t remember it being nearly as fun as this one. There’s a Roald Dahl-esque quality to this story: it’s silly and not really believable, but the characters are so vibrant and quirky you can’t help but enjoy the ride. It was almost Matilda-like: the terrible parents, the extraordinary child, the hint of magic that isn’t quite explained (actually, there’s a “scientific” explanation for Barnaby’s particular quirk at the end of the book…). There are some funny moments and some sad moments and it’s a quick, light-hearted read.

Ultimately, there’s a message about what it means to be “normal” and how “normal” means different things to different people. Barnaby – and the reader – learns that it’s okay to be unique and how you can (and should!) embrace your differences: they’re the things that make you you. It was really sweet and it’s possible it made me cry but I’m not sure if a child reader will be struck by the poignancy as much as an adult reader.

I also love Oliver Jeffers’ spot illustrations – I think just about everyone loves his art style and it fits really well with the whimsical story.

The Bottom Line:

Whimsical middle grade is one of my favourite things to read, so naturally I loved this book – highly recommend.

The Soundtrack:

In The Downtown Fiction’s song “Freak”, they talk about what it means to be so different from other people it makes them feel like, well, a freak. I wouldn’t say that Barnaby feels freakish in any way – he knows he’s different but isn’t as bothered by it as his parents are – but he accepts that other people might look at him weirdly because of these differences. This song is less what Barnaby feels and more what his parents feel looking at him – they’re so concerned with how he’s perceived in the public that they don’t even think about his real feelings.

Feeling so high
Up on a cloud
Falling to black
Back on the ground

Book Review: Sophie Quire and the Last Storyguard

Sophie Quire and the Last Storyguard

Jonathan Auxier
Release date: February 26, 2013

Rating 5/5

The First Line:

It has often been said that one should never judge a book by its cover.

The Plot:

12 year old Sophie Quire is a bookmender in the little town of Bustleburg. One day, a mysterious boy named Peter Nimble delivers a book for Sophie to mend – The Book of Who, which offers Sophie a description of every person she can think of, including her long-dead mother. Before long, Sophie finds herself on the hunt for the three other books in the series – The Books of What, Where, and When – in the hopes that they’ll solve the mystery of her mother’s murder.

The Characters:

Sophie is a Ravenclaw. She’s clever and imaginative and, most of all, she loves books. Having grown up in a bookshop, Sophie has loved books her whole life, and it breaks her heart to see books that have been abandoned or destroyed. She can be impulsive, but she’s brave, even when she’s scared to death. It’s also important to note that Sophie has dark skin – her mother is from a faraway island – which proves that it’s possible for people of colour to star in a fantasy novel (this is a thing more people could stand to learn). And I liked her loving relationship with her dad, who just wants to protect her.

Peter Nimble, on the other hand, is a Gryffindor through and through. I read his book – Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes – a few weeks ago and enjoyed it. He’s as swashbuckling as a twelve year old can be, always ready for an adventure and more than willing to get into a fight. He’s also blind, which means he relies heavily on his other senses and manages to get out of tight spots because people underestimate him.

The other characters are just as fascinating including Madam Eldritch, the woman who chases after Sophie and Peter for the book, uses her womanly wiles to get her way and is not above poisoning someone; and Sir Tode, the man-cat-horse who is Peter’s best friend and travelling companion, offers a burst of humour and loyalty.

The Writing:

Jonathan Auxier has a way with words. There’s an old-fashioned fairy tale quality to both this one and Peter Nimble – something that makes them feel like a classic even though they were only published between in the last four years. [disclosure: I’m actually the Canadian publicist for Jonathan Auxier’s upcoming book and I’m so looking forward to it because I love this particular brand of middle grade).

There’s just the right amount of description – not so much that you’re falling asleep and not so little that you can’t picture it. The characters are well-rounded and likeable – I personally preferred Sophie’s POV to Peter’s, but they were both enjoyable to follow on their respective adventures. It’s definitely upper middle grade – while the characters are quite young, the language is a wee bit more advanced.

And story-wise, this is a book about books and the people who love them. There are so many passages that talk about the power of reading and the importance of respecting a book, and it felt like what the inside of my brain usually looks like.

The Bottom Line:

It’s a story about loving books and believing in the power of the written word and if this isn’t the perfect book for someone who works in kids’ publishing, I don’t know what is. Loved it!

The Soundtrack:

Just like Sophie Quire and the Last Storyguard is a book about books, Paradise Fears’ “Stories in the Dark” is a song about, well, stories. It’s from the point of view of a son who is reflecting on all the stories his father shared with him as a child and how they still bring him comfort now that his father is gone. Both the book and the song share the same themes of using books/stories as comfort and “Stories in the Dark” has a little bit of a fairy tale quality to it too as it references characters from Superman to Peter Pan.

When I was young and faint of heart
You’d tell me stories in the dark

Book Review: Puddin’

Puddin’

Julie Murphy
Release date: May 8, 2018

Rating 3/5

The First Line:

I’m a list maker.

The Plot:

Despite being the runner-up in a beauty pageant, Millie is still considered the uncool fat girl in her school – but that doesn’t stop her from working hard to achieve her dreams. The only problem is, her mother wants her to go back to fat camp in the summer, but Millie would much rather go to a broadcast journalism boot camp.

Mean girl Callie is part of the school’s dance team – until the day a harmless prank goes awry and she ends up working at Millie’s uncle’s gym. Suddenly, nothing is going her way and only Millie seems to like her enough to actually talk to her. Well, Millie, and Callie’s ex-boyfriend’s friend Mitch…

The Characters:

Millie is unrelentingly positive. No matter what life throws at her, she always looks on the bright side. It’s nice to have such a positive character like Millie on the page, even when she makes bad decisions. Part of you feels bad for her because of the way other people – from her peers to her parents to complete strangers – judge her, based on her weight, but she’s also tough enough to take the bullying and continue to live her life, despite being a fat girl.

One of the best parts of the book is the fact that Millie – like Willowdean in Dumplin’ – reclaims the word “fat” and uses it frequently to describe herself. By accepting that she’s fat, she takes the power away from people who want to use it as an insult and instead just uses it as a matter of fact.

I did find it frustrating that she kept a particular secret from Callie for the majority of the book – I understand why she did, and yes, it moved the plot forward, but it was very annoying to wait for Millie to spill the beans.

It’s pretty obvious that Callie is the mean girl in the book and I have to admit, I didn’t like her at all. I could also tell that she was going to get some sort of redemption arc and I don’t really like redemption arcs – if you’re awful for the first 3/4 of the book, don’t expect me to believe that you’ve turned over a new leaf in the last 1/4 (to be honest, I prefer revenge stories to redemption stories). She’s not an overly likeable character and she doesn’t really do much to make me appreciate her in spite of her prickly nature. And SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER I don’t love that she ended up with another guy at the end of the book because you know what? Bad behaviour shouldn’t be rewarded. She was pretty awful for most of the book and I don’t think it was necessary for her to end up in another relationship so soon – she really should have had to wait and watch Millie become successful while she stayed stagnant.

But maybe I’m just a mean girl at heart.

The Writing:

Puddin’ is a companion book (and a sequel of sorts) to Julie Murphy’s 2015 novel, Dumplin’ so most of these characters are familiar to us: Millie and Callie were both in the first one, and other characters like Willowdean and her boyfriend Bo pop up which was nice to see.

The thing is, I like Julie Murphy’s books, but there’s something about them that stops me from completely loving them. She hits so many different marks, raising important issues and questions and handling them in an organic way. For example, this book tackles the process of reclaiming the word “fat”, and having a multi-ethnic background. There’s even an asexual character which leads to an educational conversation between a group of friends.

But despite the importance of Julie Murphy’s work, I can never quite fall in love with her characters. I appreciate what she’s doing on the page, but it doesn’t make its way into my heart – unlike, for example, Eleanor & Park which I read right before I started Puddin’.

The Bottom Line:

It’s a great story of female friendship, but it wasn’t as mind-blowing as I hoped it would be. If you liked Dumplin’, you’ll probably like Puddin’.

The Soundtrack:

I know Justin Bieber’s song “Love Yourself” is more of a diatribe about a relationship gone wrong, but Grayscale’s pop-punk cover is a) awesome and b) focused more on literally loving yourself. In the video, people write down their insecurities on post-it notes which they then stick to themselves. By the end of the song, the band blows all those insecurities away, encouraging their audience to let go of the things that hold them back and learn how to love yourself just the way you are.

The combination of JB’s angsty lyrics and Grayscale’s positive outlook is pretty much the musical equivalent to Callie and Mille’s friendship, so please enjoy (and if you’re into pop-punk at all, don’t sleep on Grayscale, their album Adornment is amazing).

I never felt so low when I was vulnerable
Was I a fool to let you break down my walls?

Book Review: Eleanor & Park

Eleanor & Park

Rainbow Rowell
Release date: February 26, 2013

Rating 5/5

The First Line:

He’d stopped trying to bring her back.

The Plot:

Eleanor is the new girl – redhaired with an interesting fashion sense and a rough home life. Park is the nerdy kid who just wants to get through life without drawing attention to himself. When they start sitting together on the bus to and from school, they find themselves bonding over Park’s comics and the music he listens to – and eventually, they start to fall in love.

The Characters:

I’m going to start by talking about Park first because he’s easier to describe. He’s smart and keeps to himself; he has a weird relationship with the school bullies where they mostly leave him alone, even though they sometimes make fun of his Korean heritage. He’s actually a pretty swell dude, though – once he gets over his initial aversion to Eleanor, you realize that he’s actually very sweet. He shares his stuff with her – comic books and music and even his home. His relationship with his parents is also really great and so real: he and his dad butt heads over certain things, but it’s his mother who spoils him, who looks out for him.

Eleanor is bold. She has red hair and a curvy body and an odd fashion sense, but she doesn’t let other people’s opinions bring her down. She continues to be herself even when faced with school bullies and Park’s disapproving mom, but despite her outer confidence, Eleanor has a hard time accepting that anyone could like her – especially someone like Park who she believes has no reason to be interested in her. Her home life is so terribly awful, but Eleanor tries her best to keep pushing though.

Together, the two of them have such a sweet relationship. They start off at odds with each other, but their reluctant friendship grows into something more and I’M SO HERE FOR IT. From the first time Eleanor subtly reads Park’s comics while on the bus, to their first phone call when they’re finally able to be “real” with each other, to the heartbreaking ending…I couldn’t take my eyes off the page.

The Writing:

I’ve wanted to read Eleanor & Park for approximately five years (i.e. since it came out) but I was scared that I over-hyped it for myself. Luckily, I ended up falling completely in love with it and read it in a day (despite it being a Monday which meant I had to go to work). Of all the things I’d heard about E&P, I didn’t realize that it took place in the 1980s, which somehow made it better – I enjoyed the pop culture references that felt organic to the story like the start of the Watchmen comics and certain alt-rock bands.

I’ve read two of Rainbow Rowell’s books before this (Fangirl, which I found highly relatable, and Carry On, which was ridiculously fun), plus I’ve been following her new run of Runaways comics), and I can safely say that she is now one of my favourite authors.

There’s something about her writing that just settles right into my chest, that burrows its way into my brain and stays there for days afterwards. Not gonna lie, I had a bit of a book hangover after finishing this – everything I’ve picked up since then has been a little disappointing. Not because I’m reading something trashy, but because nothing has hit me quite as hard as Eleanor & Park did.

The Bottom Line:

It’s been a week and I still can’t stop thinking about this book, so yeah, I HIGHLY recommend it! I almost cried like four times and my mind is still reeling trying to unpack the ending, but it was so worth it.

The Soundtrack:

While reading E&P on the subway, I was also listening to The Maine’s phenomenal album, Lovely Little Lonely, and just as I got to the part where (mild spoilers) Eleanor and Park hold hands for the first time, my favourite song off the album, “Black Butterflies and Deja Vu” kicked in, and it was the most wonderful case of synchronicity I’ve ever experienced. The song is about love, the all encompassing type where you can’t function around this person and literally don’t have the words to tell them what they mean to you. Honestly, this song is so perfect for Eleanor and Park, I could barely pick the most relevant lyrics.

I lose my voice when I look at you
Can’t make a noise though I’m trying to
Tell you all the right words
Waiting on the right words?