Scan barcode
A review by mariahistryingtoread
A Soft Place to Land by Janae Marks
2.0
A Soft Place to Land is good, but fairly standard and frankly disappointing compared to From The Desk of Zoe Washington.
I love a middle grade that explores everyday issues for kids like moving, financial woes, neglect, stigma, trying to fit in, etc. and the big feelings that kids are learning to navigate regarding these topics.
On that front A Soft Place to Land is very well done. Joy's life has changed suddenly and dramatically. She serves as both a relatable protagonist and a solid model for how to maneuver through a rough patch.
On the other side the 'mystery' of who is writing the secret Hideout messages falls flat. I couldn't care less who was doing it.
One, I shared Nora's mindset of assuming this person did not want to be found and was just enjoying the chance to express themselves to anyone anonymously. It's easier to talk when no one knows who you are. Finding out who it is can disrupt this persons' safe space. Frankly, it felt selfish on Joy's part. Particularly because when she had this idea that she could help them even though she had no idea what the deeper problem might be.
Two, I do not understand why she was so invested in the first place. Curiosity makes sense. But, after only like 2 messages she's already talking about this burning desperation to know and trying to monitor the other kids to guess who it might be and starting a whole investigation and it just did not make sense to me. The initial message was a super general, vague poem, something to pique interest and write a response to - sure. But nothing to get obsessed over.
If Joy is going to feel compelled to seek this person out, at least give them a specific upheaval to have in common, or have the other person outline a serious issue that would inspire intervention.
The last 40% was a total slog.
Ziggy, one of the dogs Joy walks, is lost towards the end. Based on the way the book is written I knew the entire time the dog would be found so I was immediately disinterested.
I didn't care about the dog. I didn't care about her 'friends' being mad at her for getting the Hideout closed because she talked to all of them outside of Nora only one time each as part of her investigation. It didn't feel like she cared about any of them as individuals, only the fact that she finally had a group. So much page time wasted on the dog and their ire that could have been devoted to Joy's parents' separation and the fallout of that. Since there was no focus on it I didn't see why it became a separation instead of maintaining the parental infighting instead. I will admit I am a bit biased in this regard because I recently read The Many Fortunes of Maya by Nicole D. Collier, which did a fantastic job at exploring the effects and impact of parental separation. A Soft Place to Land just could not compare.
I hate when there is a fight amongst friends in a book and the parent tells them that it's okay, they'll definitely make up and it'd be silly to throw it all away, etc. The parents rarely know all the details so they can't say that for a fact. Plus, I think it's bad advice because it ignores the fact that friendships do fail and more than that sometimes should fail. Longevity is not a guarantee a fight will rectify itself. That's not as feel good, but I think it's a better message overall.
It was especially distasteful that Joy's mother told her this because all it does is encourage Joy to continue to bulldoze over Nora's boundaries. She's desperate to communicate to Nora how sorry she is, but that doesn't matter. What matters is that Nora stated directly she does not want to speak to Joy right now and that Joy is disrespecting her feelings to make herself feel better. Nora knows how sorry Joy is; she just doesn't care, which is entirely her prerogative. The book essentially endorses hounding after a person who has established a reasonable position under the erroneous idea that this will magically change their mind. Newsflash, forcing someone to talk to you to push your apology on them is not only rude, it's deeply self-centered. Consent does not just apply to sexual contexts. All I kept thinking was leave this poor girl alone. She'll talk if/when she's ready.
Overall, it’s an alright book I think a kid will find entertaining. I think it could have been better - still it’s mostly inoffensive and I think the messaging is not egregious enough to say not to read it. However, I wouldn’t specifically recommend it.
I love a middle grade that explores everyday issues for kids like moving, financial woes, neglect, stigma, trying to fit in, etc. and the big feelings that kids are learning to navigate regarding these topics.
On that front A Soft Place to Land is very well done. Joy's life has changed suddenly and dramatically. She serves as both a relatable protagonist and a solid model for how to maneuver through a rough patch.
On the other side the 'mystery' of who is writing the secret Hideout messages falls flat. I couldn't care less who was doing it.
One, I shared Nora's mindset of assuming this person did not want to be found and was just enjoying the chance to express themselves to anyone anonymously. It's easier to talk when no one knows who you are. Finding out who it is can disrupt this persons' safe space. Frankly, it felt selfish on Joy's part. Particularly because when she had this idea that she could help them even though she had no idea what the deeper problem might be.
Spoiler
It made it all the more frustrating when Joy finds out it was Nora all along because this made Nora even more correct seeing as she was the one who left the message. Her perspective wasn't just an alternative viewpoint: it was the source. It also made it more annoying to have Joy be upset at her 'betrayal' when again nobody told her to write in a message and pursue a person who in no way suggested they wanted to be found nor was a danger to themselves. She was mad at the lie which is somewhat valid except again, it was none of her business in the first place and if Nora had told her it was her then she would have been revealing a private part of herself she did not want to share that Joy was not obligated to know. So in a way she had to lie since Joy wouldn't let it go.Two, I do not understand why she was so invested in the first place. Curiosity makes sense. But, after only like 2 messages she's already talking about this burning desperation to know and trying to monitor the other kids to guess who it might be and starting a whole investigation and it just did not make sense to me. The initial message was a super general, vague poem, something to pique interest and write a response to - sure. But nothing to get obsessed over.
If Joy is going to feel compelled to seek this person out, at least give them a specific upheaval to have in common, or have the other person outline a serious issue that would inspire intervention.
The last 40% was a total slog.
Ziggy, one of the dogs Joy walks, is lost towards the end. Based on the way the book is written I knew the entire time the dog would be found so I was immediately disinterested.
I didn't care about the dog. I didn't care about her 'friends' being mad at her for getting the Hideout closed because she talked to all of them outside of Nora only one time each as part of her investigation. It didn't feel like she cared about any of them as individuals, only the fact that she finally had a group. So much page time wasted on the dog and their ire that could have been devoted to Joy's parents' separation and the fallout of that. Since there was no focus on it I didn't see why it became a separation instead of maintaining the parental infighting instead. I will admit I am a bit biased in this regard because I recently read The Many Fortunes of Maya by Nicole D. Collier, which did a fantastic job at exploring the effects and impact of parental separation. A Soft Place to Land just could not compare.
I hate when there is a fight amongst friends in a book and the parent tells them that it's okay, they'll definitely make up and it'd be silly to throw it all away, etc. The parents rarely know all the details so they can't say that for a fact. Plus, I think it's bad advice because it ignores the fact that friendships do fail and more than that sometimes should fail. Longevity is not a guarantee a fight will rectify itself. That's not as feel good, but I think it's a better message overall.
It was especially distasteful that Joy's mother told her this because all it does is encourage Joy to continue to bulldoze over Nora's boundaries. She's desperate to communicate to Nora how sorry she is, but that doesn't matter. What matters is that Nora stated directly she does not want to speak to Joy right now and that Joy is disrespecting her feelings to make herself feel better. Nora knows how sorry Joy is; she just doesn't care, which is entirely her prerogative. The book essentially endorses hounding after a person who has established a reasonable position under the erroneous idea that this will magically change their mind. Newsflash, forcing someone to talk to you to push your apology on them is not only rude, it's deeply self-centered. Consent does not just apply to sexual contexts. All I kept thinking was leave this poor girl alone. She'll talk if/when she's ready.
Overall, it’s an alright book I think a kid will find entertaining. I think it could have been better - still it’s mostly inoffensive and I think the messaging is not egregious enough to say not to read it. However, I wouldn’t specifically recommend it.