Skip to main content

"Homesick" by Kate Klise

I don't want this blog and its infrequent postings to be negative. I want to celebrate the good books in children's literature and formulate some thoughts about why they are good.

But I read Homesick by Kate Klise, an author whose books I usually like, and I'm bothered by it. So much so that I'm not sure if I can or would recommend it to kids. But maybe I read it with too much of an adult's eye or too much of a present-day eye. I'm not sure.

This partial description from the book jacket sums up the book's conflict fairly well:
[Benny's] mom leaves home after a fight about a mysterious splinter that is supposedly part of an important relic. Benny's dad has always liked clutter, but now, he begins hoarding everything from pizza boxes to old motorcycle parts.
Have you watched any of those so-called reality shows about hoarders? Benny's dad would be a candidate for one. He saves everything. And pretty soon, their house and yard are populated by junk and rats and roaches. Benny's clothes are dirty and his dad feeds him expired food to save money. He doesn't work, so Benny pays the phone bill from his own earnings at a local ramshackle radio station. At one point, Benny's teacher writes him instructions on how to wash clothes and gives him gifts of deodorant and other necessities.

Maybe because the story takes place in the 1980s... Maybe because it takes place in a town with only 29 houses (Dennis Acres, Missouri)... Maybe because reality television as we know it today didn't exist then... but, hello, child abuse, anyone? His dad feeds Benny popcorn for dinner each night. They can't use the sink. His dad takes all the inside doors down so he'll have more room for stuff. He even piles used band uniforms in Benny's bathtub. Where's the social worker? Why is no one tracking down mom? (She calls from Louisiana from time to time to check on Benny.)

Then two seeming acts of God take place. First, a local teacher enters the town in a contest for America's Most Charming Small Town -- and based on the teacher's inaccurate portrayal and drawing of the town, it wins. The townspeople are promised some of those new computers everyone is talking about. Oh, but what to do with Benny's house? The town people plot to get his dad out of the house for a few hours so they can clean up.

In the midst of the cleanup, though, the town gets hit by a tornado. And every house is demolished. Well, that solves that problem, no?

Benny's dad, who tried to run back to his house to save everything is arrested and taken to a hospital so he can receive proper treatment. Benny winds up rescuing a classmate's mom. And instead of giving the town new computers, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is going to rebuild all the houses based on the teacher's delightful (if false) drawing of the town as it never was.

Benny's mom comes back. She'll stay in Dennis Acres for a little while (she says). Dennis dad is now taking medication (Prozac, I think). The townsfolk believe he won't go back to his old ways. And Benny finds the girl he has a crush on likes him too.

I like happy endings as much as the next librarian. But this is just too far-fetched. And I really hate the idea that a little pill will solve all of Benny's dad's problems.

Kids may find Benny's dad funny -- he dreams of a world where computers are all connected (a plan one teacher calls the computer nougat). And he plans to built a miniature computer that will act as a phone, a computer, a calculator, a camera, etc., all in one. Ha.

I think I would have liked to see this topic of mental instability, child abuse, and quirky small town characters taken on in an YA novel and much, much more seriously. As it is, Homesick ails.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Harry vs. Septimus

Sometimes, I like the Septimus Heap series more than the Harry Potter series. There I said it. It’s a secret I’ve kept from all but my kids for a long time. Don’t get me wrong: I’m wild about Harry. I’ve knitted Harry Potter bookmarks (in Gryffindor colors, naturally). I’ve thrown at least two Harry Potter-themed birthday parties, complete with a sorting hat I made. I’ve stood at line overnight at Barnes and Noble waiting for the next book to come out three times. I read Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire  in one day. But, often, I like Angie Sage’s Septimus Heap books ( Magyk , Flyte , Physik , Queste , Syren , and the just published Darke ) more. And I’m not entirely sure why. My current theory is that the Septimus Heap books are better written and, while also highly derivative, much more charming. The characters are human (muggles, even) and fraught with faults. Also, the Harry Potter books are, rightly so, about Harry. Everything is from Harry’s perspective. Sadly, we don...

“I Am Number Four,” by Pittacus Lore

I really wanted to read I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore after I read a review of it a few months ago. I remember the reviewer saying that the author’s name is obviously a pseudonym, then just filed the title away. (I actually have a “book book” – a little book in which I write titles of books I want to read, organized by author. My kids tease me about my book book, but when you’re a motherboard with limited RAM, you need to write things down.) More recently I heard that it’s already been made into a “major motion picture” (due out in February!), so I knew I had to read it soon. And it was OK. The idea – aliens living among us, waiting to get strong enough to go back to rescue their home planet from horrible monsters who now might be coming to conquer Earth – was rather interesting. But the book was just OK. I liked it enough to keep reading it, but probably not enough to bother with the sequels. It’s certainly not as good as Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games trilogy, which is also...

"The Story of Arthur Truluv" by Elizabeth Berg

I have a confession to make: You know that book Wonder by R.J. Palacio about the boy with facial deformities who attends public school for the first time and it's difficult for everyone involved, but in the end everyone's heart grows at least four sizes and we all feel good? I didn't love it. It's OK. And the movie was probably OK too. But as far as plot, character development, the style of the writing... I thought it was just OK. That's how I feel about The Story of Arthur Truluv , which is really all the things the various blurbs about the book says it is -- heartwarming, moving and sweet. You may even cry a little. But, unfortunately, it's like a much-watered-down version of A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman. Which is a far better book.   Arthur is too good. And Maddy's story is somewhat unbelievable (Why is she bullied? How does she get into the situation she gets into?) and too cliche (goth teen going to art school?). Lucille...