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A review by mrchance
The Terrible Thing that Happened to Barnaby Brocket by Oliver Jeffers, John Boyne
4.0
This book is about Barnaby Brocket, a young boy who floats. His parents hate him for being different and they do something absolutely terrible to him, leaving him alone to travel the world. He meets a variety of people who have a variety of connections to their parents. Many of them long to re-connect with them, and they do. Barnaby witnesses this and wants to reunite with his own parents, even though they hate his differences, because a) it seems to work for other people and b) what else is he supposed to do in a world that tethers parents and children together with a seemingly unbreakable bond. In the end,
John Boyne shows us why the parents are awful, but he doesn't let those reasons excuse their awfulness. They are awful awful people who hate their own child simply for his being born different. "All I ever wanted was to live a normal life, with a normal family, and normal children. And then you came along and ruined everything," his dad tells him when he's eight. (I feel like I heard the exact same thing from my family, even younger, another reason I actively rooted against these terrible people.) There is a small moment before his mother does the terrible thing where she suggests Barnaby will have a happy life. Maybe she wants that for him, but it's almost incidental. Her own happiness comes first.
Good quotes: "Just because your version of normal isn't the same as someone else's version doesn't mean that there's anything wrong with you."
"Most people are a lot of hard work."
Spoiler
Barnaby realizes that he isn't tethered to anything -- not even gravity -- and he would like to stay that way. "If I let them take me away," he fears, "they'll turn me into them." So he leaves his parents behind, seemingly forever. Good riddance.John Boyne shows us why the parents are awful, but he doesn't let those reasons excuse their awfulness. They are awful awful people who hate their own child simply for his being born different. "All I ever wanted was to live a normal life, with a normal family, and normal children. And then you came along and ruined everything," his dad tells him when he's eight. (I feel like I heard the exact same thing from my family, even younger, another reason I actively rooted against these terrible people.) There is a small moment before his mother does the terrible thing where she suggests Barnaby will have a happy life. Maybe she wants that for him, but it's almost incidental. Her own happiness comes first.
Good quotes: "Just because your version of normal isn't the same as someone else's version doesn't mean that there's anything wrong with you."
"Most people are a lot of hard work."