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latad_books 's review for:
Pandas on the Eastside
by Gabrielle Prendergast
3.5 stars. I liked the cover and the title, so I checked this out of the library. The story takes place in Vancouver's Eastside in 1972. This is an area I travelled through every day for several months, so I knew the location, though not in quite the detail the author does.
Journey Song, the main character, narrates, and she's an interesting 10-year old to hang out with. Her mother is a recovering alcoholic (who slips occasionally), her father has been absent her whole life, her best friend may be dyslexic and is illiterate, there are homeless, drug dealers, a prostitute, and a variety of people from different cultures in the neighbourhood (though not in the numbers found today). This feels like a city neighbourhood.
The story starts out with Journey's teacher finding out her brother has died in the Vietnam war. Very soon after, Journey finds out about two pandas who were on their way from China to a U.S. zoo, but because of diplomatic issues are stuck in Vancouver. Journey thinks that seeing the pandas will help her teacher feel better and Journey also wants to help the pandas to get to the zoo. During Journey's efforts to help the pandas, the author introduces us to people in the neighbourhood. Journey's father also returns, shaking Journey's ideas of her family and of herself.
I really enjoyed Journey's interactions with all these people, and these were the highlights of the book for me. The panda sections were a little less interesting to me. I just wanted to spend time wandering around the neighbourhood, meeting the kids, the shop owners, and other people, as I found them really interesting.
Journey Song, the main character, narrates, and she's an interesting 10-year old to hang out with. Her mother is a recovering alcoholic (who slips occasionally), her father has been absent her whole life, her best friend may be dyslexic and is illiterate, there are homeless, drug dealers, a prostitute, and a variety of people from different cultures in the neighbourhood (though not in the numbers found today). This feels like a city neighbourhood.
The story starts out with Journey's teacher finding out her brother has died in the Vietnam war. Very soon after, Journey finds out about two pandas who were on their way from China to a U.S. zoo, but because of diplomatic issues are stuck in Vancouver. Journey thinks that seeing the pandas will help her teacher feel better and Journey also wants to help the pandas to get to the zoo. During Journey's efforts to help the pandas, the author introduces us to people in the neighbourhood. Journey's father also returns, shaking Journey's ideas of her family and of herself.
I really enjoyed Journey's interactions with all these people, and these were the highlights of the book for me. The panda sections were a little less interesting to me. I just wanted to spend time wandering around the neighbourhood, meeting the kids, the shop owners, and other people, as I found them really interesting.