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4.19 AVERAGE
4.19 AVERAGE
An amazing middle grade novel about abuse and trauma as shown through a magical card game.
Bridge Home, Land of Forgotten Girls, Middletown, or Fighting Words meets the Labyrinth and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
11-year-old Samantha has recently moved into the care of her aunt, along with her sister, after being removed from their parents' home. A series of magical, but frightening, experiences around a card game gifted to her by her aunt serves as an allegory, and helps Sam process what has happened within her family.
The whole provides an excellent metaphor for emotional abuse. Eleven yo Samantha understands the physical side of abuse, but has learned that you stay loyal to your family. Ashender shows the compete insidiousness of emotional trauma and preys on Sam's weaknesses. The framework of the game serves as a mediation between dreams and reality, and how you do not need to give up on your dreams.
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Sam and get older sister Caitlin are sent to Oregon to live with their aunt after a traumatic incident at home. Caitlin seems to be settling in, but Sam misses her parents and friends... that is, until she discovers her aunt’s favorite game, and that changes everything. Powerful descriptions of the paralyzing fear that comes with being a victim of anger. Ages 10 and up.
This was well-meaning, and I liked the household and the chickens and the setting, but it just didn't quite work for me. I know it's middle-grade, but I think it could have been a bit more fully developed. And I would have liked more subtlety around the reason for the underlying trauma. Or something. It seemed a bit obvious, and I've also never been that much of a fan of very obvious magic-as-metaphor (which kind of explains why people are describing it in reviews as "magic realism").
After an "accident" at their home in Los Angeles, Sam and her older sister Caitlyn must move to Oregon to live with their Aunt Vicky and her wife, Hannah. Caitlyn seems to be completely at ease in her new surroundings, but Sam's heart still races (she calls it "rabbit heart") at the first sign of frustration from anyone in the house. All Sam can think about it going back home. So when she meets three talking squirrels and a charming fox, Sam agrees to play the fox's game if it will get her the one thing she wants. Only the rules to the game are constantly changing and Sam starts to wonder if going home is what she really wants most after all...
The vibrant characters, both real and furry, raise this beyond just an allegorical tale about abuse and survival. Well-calibrated for middle-grade readers.