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4.13 AVERAGE
4.13 AVERAGE
This book focuses on the emotional impact of an event in which twelve year old Maddie wakes up to find herself completely isolated in her town. Told in sparing but emotionally-charged free verse, Maddie and her neighbor's dog team up to survive in modern day Colorado. Unlike some other survival stories (e.g. Hatchet and My Side of the Mountain) this book doesn't spend a lot of time on the logistics or wildcraft. References to other books like Island of the Blue Dolphins and the poetry of Mary Oliver abound.
I am going to try to keep this succinct and respectful but I really really didn't like this book. It was like someone asked what all of my kids' lit pet peeves are and then wrote a book based on those.
-Way too much of this book is just book/author name-dropping and a love letter from the author to the writers she loves. Who, shock of a lifetime, are almost exclusively white people. I could be wrong, but I think the only author of color even mentioned was Jason Reynolds and certainly the ones who got a lot of attention were white (and some are now considered problematic). Not to mention a lot of these books are just really old. In general, the book just screams 'white people' a lot. At one point she mentions something like 'wars in far off places' and it gave me icky vibes, as well as some of the comments about the looters vs church pastors. On top of the whiteness issue of the literature, it just drives me crazy when it feels like authors are pandering to librarians and book fanatics. I generally love recommending survival/adventure titles to reluctant readers but with all of the constant literary references I don't think they could get into it.
-This book is guerrilla Christian fiction. Now, Christian fiction is very much not my jam but I still believe people have a right to write and read it if they want to. But in this book, the author continuously pretends that the main character ISN'T religious but there are quite a few Christian references and sections, including a word-for-word hidden quote toward the end that comes straight out of a popular hymn.
-Maddie is boring and doesn't really have any character development. The book is essentially a series of obstacles with no real point or growth coming out of them. There are long soliloquy sections about two subjects that are each brought up multiple times: her parents' [seemingly super amicable!!] divorce and her loneliness. The loneliness concept is really hammered over the head of the reader. The divorce angst screams of privilege. Maddie has not one fully intact, loving, and well-functioning family who loves her but TWO. It is truly the best case scenario of divorced parents.
-As to writing style: In general, and this is not surprising after reading her profile, this author would succeed more with true poetry. This particular title doesn't really get anything out of being written in verse, imo. She clearly enjoys more flowery language and I bet her poetry is really quite lovely.
-Way too much of this book is just book/author name-dropping and a love letter from the author to the writers she loves. Who, shock of a lifetime, are almost exclusively white people. I could be wrong, but I think the only author of color even mentioned was Jason Reynolds and certainly the ones who got a lot of attention were white (and some are now considered problematic). Not to mention a lot of these books are just really old. In general, the book just screams 'white people' a lot. At one point she mentions something like 'wars in far off places' and it gave me icky vibes, as well as some of the comments about the looters vs church pastors. On top of the whiteness issue of the literature, it just drives me crazy when it feels like authors are pandering to librarians and book fanatics. I generally love recommending survival/adventure titles to reluctant readers but with all of the constant literary references I don't think they could get into it.
-This book is guerrilla Christian fiction. Now, Christian fiction is very much not my jam but I still believe people have a right to write and read it if they want to. But in this book, the author continuously pretends that the main character ISN'T religious but there are quite a few Christian references and sections, including a word-for-word hidden quote toward the end that comes straight out of a popular hymn.
-Maddie is boring and doesn't really have any character development. The book is essentially a series of obstacles with no real point or growth coming out of them. There are long soliloquy sections about two subjects that are each brought up multiple times: her parents' [seemingly super amicable!!] divorce and her loneliness. The loneliness concept is really hammered over the head of the reader. The divorce angst screams of privilege. Maddie has not one fully intact, loving, and well-functioning family who loves her but TWO. It is truly the best case scenario of divorced parents.
-As to writing style: In general, and this is not surprising after reading her profile, this author would succeed more with true poetry. This particular title doesn't really get anything out of being written in verse, imo. She clearly enjoys more flowery language and I bet her poetry is really quite lovely.
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
The audiobook production in this was done so well! Very immersive and enjoyable.
The story was very interesting.
-0.25 stars for the lack of explanation because the given explanation didn’t make total sense.
The story was very interesting.
-0.25 stars for the lack of explanation because the given explanation didn’t make total sense.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death
I chose to read this book because my 10 yo daughter will be reading it. I think the book is appropriate for her age, especially since she is an advanced reader, but do want to caution there is an instance of animal cruelty against a kitten in this book. My daughter LOVES cats so I am thankful I was able to preview the content and give her a heads up so she can decide if she wants to read those pages or not. Skipping those two pages would not take away from the book as a whole.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
4.5/5 stars.
"Do I look as natural to them
as they do to me?
We're all just trying to survive.
Does that make me wild?"
Novel-in-verse for middle grade readers. A creative premise for the classic person vs. self survival sorry. There are short sections of faster paced conflict within the broader sections of a girl just trying to make do and survive on her own. The author did a good job capturing the monotony of being completely alone, and touches on topics like the role of hope and right vs. wrong. Was also happy to read a survival book with a female protagonist. 400 pages but still a very quick read.
Other favorite quotes:
"I wish I was in his class for real./Happily bored and surrounded/by people I didn't even/realize I love."
"It's not that I don't grieve the loss....It's just that my grief and loneliness are no longer burdened by hope/that things will change"
The entire verse on page 371
"Do I look as natural to them
as they do to me?
We're all just trying to survive.
Does that make me wild?"
Novel-in-verse for middle grade readers. A creative premise for the classic person vs. self survival sorry. There are short sections of faster paced conflict within the broader sections of a girl just trying to make do and survive on her own. The author did a good job capturing the monotony of being completely alone, and touches on topics like the role of hope and right vs. wrong. Was also happy to read a survival book with a female protagonist. 400 pages but still a very quick read.
Other favorite quotes:
"I wish I was in his class for real./Happily bored and surrounded/by people I didn't even/realize I love."
"It's not that I don't grieve the loss....It's just that my grief and loneliness are no longer burdened by hope/that things will change"
The entire verse on page 371