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erainbowd 's review for:
The Doldrums
by Nicholas Gannon
Right. So. The aesthetic of this book is A+ visually. I mean, the drawings are beautiful and the whole newspaper endpapering is delightful. Some of the concepts are really exciting. Explorer grandparents?! Yes! Crazy house with adventure gear in it? Sign me up!
The main character is a charming kid and I liked his friends alright, too.
HOWEVER
what the heck kind of mother did this author have?
I mean, I try not to read into people's personal stuff when reading fiction - but this one...man alive! The main character's mom is just flat and awful in every way and pretty much everyone else's mother is too. The women in authority are universally terrible in this book. And the fathers are universally likeable but ineffectual. This is some overtly Freudian children's book writing over here. I tried to ignore it, I really did but it just kept happening.
And is there a site called Yo, Is this Ableist? (I've gone to Yo, Is This Racist? many times when I'm just not sure.) Anyway - it feels pretty ableist to me. This ballerina with a wooden leg who has somehow never learned to use it the way she wants to? I don't know. Once I didn't trust this guy with the older women, I didn't trust him with the girl either. Gutsy though she may have been.
I don't know. Buy this for a kid with a terrible mother? I guess?
The main character is a charming kid and I liked his friends alright, too.
HOWEVER
what the heck kind of mother did this author have?
I mean, I try not to read into people's personal stuff when reading fiction - but this one...man alive! The main character's mom is just flat and awful in every way and pretty much everyone else's mother is too. The women in authority are universally terrible in this book. And the fathers are universally likeable but ineffectual. This is some overtly Freudian children's book writing over here. I tried to ignore it, I really did but it just kept happening.
And is there a site called Yo, Is this Ableist? (I've gone to Yo, Is This Racist? many times when I'm just not sure.) Anyway - it feels pretty ableist to me. This ballerina with a wooden leg who has somehow never learned to use it the way she wants to? I don't know. Once I didn't trust this guy with the older women, I didn't trust him with the girl either. Gutsy though she may have been.
I don't know. Buy this for a kid with a terrible mother? I guess?