Customer Reviews

Beekman's Big Deal

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Great book for kids of 14 and under. Father and motherless son in NY city find their troubled way with help from a great community of eccentric people who show the boy the power of belief and hope.

It's exceedingly painful to read a funny, intelligent, thoughtful book like, "Beekman's Big Deal", and know that in two months you probably won't be able to recall the plot. I was halfway through Michael de Guzman's excellent tale before I realized that though I was thoroughly enjoying myself and downing each consecutive chapter like popcorn, I was not retaining much in the process. This is not to fault Mr. de Guzman. Creating really well-written contemporary children's literature is an extraordinarily difficult task. And though I might harp on its transience, "Beekman" is a fine frolicsome novel. A book that takes seriously the problems that kids face when they're forced to move from place to place. This is a story with many problems, but with such likable narration that the reader is not necessarily going to notice these minute flaws.

When your name is Beekman O'Day, you've got problems right from the start. But Beekman could probably live with his off-putting moniker if some of the other things in his life were going okay. Problem is, they aren't. His father has this crazy idea that Beekman should only attend private schools. What ordinarily happens though is that Beekman will just start getting comfortable somewhere until his dad can't afford either the tuition or the place where they're staying and the boy will be whisked off somewhere else. After more than twelve years of this, Beekman's fed up. He's just arrived at the Chance School and is living in a lovely little mews. They finally have their own house in Nutting Court, a cobblestone alley filled with interesting people. But does Beekman dare get comfortable when he knows how unreliable his dad can be? Or does he start trusting people once again?

For the first two-thirds of the book, de Guzman's on a roll. You're completely with Beekman all the way. Whether he's trying to squirm out of a friendship with an annoyingly ingratiating student or running pell-mell down the streets of NYC to get to class on time, you're rooting for the guy. About the time the school bully starts picking on Beekman full-time, however, the book starts to loose traction. Then, when you reach the end, you feel that there are multiple narrative strands left ah-blowing in the wind and not enough of a conclusion to justify its cliffhanger last sentence. It's as if "Beekman's Big Deal" starts off strong, but can't sustain that energy much farther than 140 pages in. This is especially frustrating when you consider what a great book it is. It has wonderful potential. There are plenty of books out there about kids trying not to trust in people so they won't get hurt. "Pictures of Hollis Woods", "Ruby Holler", and "The Great Gilly Hopkins" all come to mind, but those are all books about orphans trying not to trust. "Beekman's Big Deal" had the advantage of having a very charming and completely untrustworthy father playing with his son's life like it doesn't matter in the long run. What I would have loved to have seen was somebody showing Mr. O'Day the problems associated with this. No one even tries, and the ending is less meaningful as a result. I respect de Guzman's attempts to write a book where (like in real life) not everyone's problems are solved lickety-split in a miraculous finish. I just wish he'd put more time into explaining why this is.

The beating that public schools (or, to be more exact, New York Public Schools) receive in this book is also not to be ignored. Again, Mr. O'Day is under the impression that to enroll his son in a public school is some form of failure. It would have been nice if an alternative view had been presented at some point in the story. Instead, we're supposed to support this fickle man and the book suffers from an age old money-laden stereotype. Ugh.

I'm being so harsh, aren't I? I tend to be harsh when I'm disappointed in something. I was disappointed in "Beekman's Big Deal", because it really seemed like this was going to be a truly memorable and wonderful jolt of reality (with a heaping helping of humor). Instead, it starts strong and it ends limping. I still recommend it though. Plenty of people are going to disagree with me about the ending, and the first two-thirds of the story are so good that they almost overwhelm my opinion of it. Whatever the case, I still urge you to find a copy of this book at your local library and to give it a whirl. You may find it's everything you've ever hoped for. Or you may simple discover that's its flawed, but still a wonderful ride. I'm in the latter category.