Customer Reviews

The Kid Table

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm not sure what qualifies as "young adult" these days, since some of my favorite traditionally adult writers can now be found embracing this genre (e.g. Sherman Alexie), and forty-year-olds now await the release of the next Harry Potter or Twilight book as eagerly as their very own children. Whatever the case, Seigel's third novel is her best yet. You won't find any vampires or Quidditch rulebooks here, just Ingrid, a wise-beyond-her-years teenager who is grappling with the usual growing pains of becoming a young adult in contemporary Los Angeles. Seigel cleverly frames Ingrid's story over the course of a year at five family celebrations, and central to each is the Kid Table, where she and her cousins have been exiled since early childhood. If you've ever sat there, wondering what separated you from the adults, you'll cherish this novel. Although the conventional teenage issues are served up here (dysfunctional families, alcoholism, eating disorders, homosexuality), Ingrid's point of view are fresh and engaging. Dorothy Parker had her own round table, and Ingrid rules her as well with a voice that never seems heavy or precocious like some coming-of-age narrators. I'm not a typical reader of young adult fiction (and Seigel's two previous novels were marketed as adult) but this is her most mature and appealing work yet. I'm not sure what it says about our culture that the line between adult/young adult continues to blur--perhaps adolescents are now being forced to grow up now faster than ever and adults are becoming increasingly nostalgic for what we never really got to experience the first time. At any rate, this book is a must for any fan of her previous novels. If you like movies by Noah Baumbach (Squid and the Whale, etc) you'll love this.

Andrea Seigel has a way of writing from the perspective of young women that is refreshingly real and like no one else I've read before. Her characters are flawed, but oh-so-likable. I relate to them in ways that actually make me feel a little uncomfortable. More uncomfortable still, her characters are far wittier than I am, quick on their feet, , wry, intelligent, and uniquely themselves. Ingrid Bell, the protagonist of The Kid Table, is no exception. Her relationship with her cousins and the rest of her family is heartwarming, and - without giving too much away - her relationship with Trevor, the love interest in the book, made my heart squeeze. The story was deftly plotted; it was remarkable to see all the different elements of the story come together. Flat out, it was a highly satisfying read.

Forget all those vampires and angels and read a real book for a change. This one's about a group of cousins getting older and more complicated while the table at family events stays....kid-sized. The writing is original, full of insight, but not in an eat-your-greens, these-insights-are-good-for-you kind of way. I haven't laughed so much in ages. And it's incredibly wise about families too. So wise, you might recognize yourself and cringe. Read it. You won't regret it. Really. It's great.

The Kid Table takes an in depth look at a highly dysfunctional, yet loving, extended family. The book follows the Bell family, through the character of Ingrid, to five different events. The book covers all different kind of issues, including eating disorders and homosexuality. Because the story is seen through Ingrid's eyes, you spend a lot of time with her cousins - her fellow "kid table" castoffs. There is Cricket, Ingrid's closest relative, Dom and Micah, the two male cousins, Brianne, Autumn and, four-year-old, Katie. The trouble (and story) begins when Brianne suddenly is given a place among the adults at Ingrid's Uncle's bar mitzvah. This causes friction among the other cousins, especially Cricket, and sets everything into motion.


The Bar Mitzvah is also where Ingrid meets Trevor. Ingrid is instantly taken with him and engages in some flirting, before she realizes that he is Brianne's new boyfriend. This is one of the major problems I had with this book. From the get go, I never really liked Trevor. To me, it was obvious that he was using Ingrid, while dating one of her cousins. For that matter, I did not exactly warm up to Ingrid either. While I enjoyed some of her general cynicism, her overall character was rather flat. I found some of the other family members, like Cricket, much more interesting. Cricket is the cousin that deals with an eating disorder and I have to tell you, I would have loved to follow her story instead of reading about Ingrid complain because Trevor is taken.


In fact, the redeeming part of the book was definitely Ingrid's slightly deranged family. Each member of the Bell family is unique and distinctive - and they all have their own baggage and quirks. Like I said before, I enjoyed the character of Cricket, but I also enjoyed Brianne. Brianne was one of those characters that you love to hate. She is the oldest of the cousins and is now attending college, where she is a psych major. Early on in the book she comes to the conclusion that Ingrid is a psychopath. She makes this diagnosis based on Ingrid's sort of emotionless attitude, general demeanor and shockingly unfortunate luck with pets. She promptly announces this to family and continues to pick out psychopathic behaviors Ingrid displays through the book.


I enjoyed the format of the book - you only witness the five family events depicted. There is no in-between storyline, you simply skip to the next time the family is together. The overall tone was to my liking and I appreciated the idea of the story, the main characters just fell a little flat for me. However, the Kid Table is an enjoyable read, mainly because of the spectacular host of secondary characters. The writing is also superb - Siegel does a wonderful job creating a truly outrageous, yet charming family that everyone can relate to.

The genealogy in the front of the book is a good indicator that Seigel knows what she's doing. No family's politics are easy to parse, and The Kid Table pitches you straight into the deep end. You start out at a middle-aged Gentile uncle's bar mitzvah and you run into everyone's neuroses, quick wit, unease, inside jokes and alliances in quick succession. Bookmark the family tree and enjoy your virgin Mai Tai.

The Kid Table is also relieving in the way that seeing a friend's dad walk around in his boxers like your dad does is relieving. You're like "Gahh..." because he's old and it's not attractive, but at least there's this connection between your families now. The cousins, aunts and uncles here feel real, imperfect and understandable, knowable. And Ingrid, your narrator is perfect. It's like hanging out with the Real cool girl at your school. Not the one everyone thinks is cool. The one who actually is. Her perspective, wit and (apparently terrifying) level-headedness are inspiring to the point where she seems enviable even during her most awkward moments.

This book is like four cheese mac and cheese. You can't not like it. Highly recommended.

Who should read The Kid Table? Anyone who is about to be a teenager, is a teenager, has been a teenager, wants to buy a gift for a teenager and also anyone who has ever felt that frisson of finding your place among the excluded. So if you're a prodigious six-year-old come back in a few years but otherwise click the Buy Now With 1-Click button and kick it for a second in the feeling of credit well used. It's hard not to fall immediately in like with Ingrid, as independent and icy-hot as she is, a young woman on her own team. I don't want to give away the plot, but understand that this is a book with works equally with line, color and shade - Andrea Seigel is the Flaubert of the modern teen voice and a realist antidote to vampires and werewolves, more powerful than garlic and waning moons. Read this book!

This is a fantastic book with down-to-earth, REAL characters. It starts off with this family tree (which you're not suppose to understand), but towards the middle, you begin to understand and KNOW each character. I am very impressed by the plot. It's also great for laughs, particularly at the end of a day of family court. Highly recommend for stress-relief!

I really enjoyed the way this story was written. It is separated into five parts and each part tells the story of five family events from the POV of Ingrid Bell a young girl of 16 who unknowingly falls for her older cousin Brianne's boyfriend. When she learns who he is she attempts to hide and forget her feelings for him, but doesn't really succeed. Meanwhile she is dealing with her family's problems, and often times feels overwhelmed with her present situation so she likes to look to the future to a time she can control and be happy with.

The story isn't bad actually, but because of the way its written all the characters are very one-dimensional. Many of the problems are presented and then quickly and easily get resolved without really being examined closely.

It also seems like the author had so many ideas. She was trying to make it a real family where each person is struggling with there own problems. Each sub-family's problem is quickly presented family members dealing with anorexia, homosexuality, infidelity, trust issues and failing marriages. Even though there are all these problems they are each treated rather quickly and neatly which I thought was a bit on the unbelievable side. Eating disorders seem to magically dissapear and alcholism is easily overcome.

The ending of the book was extremely predictable and rather unrealistic. However overall this was definitely a great read. I recommend it.

As portraits of a family go, this one is heaven -- the girl responsible for pets dying, in love with her cousin's no-good boyfriend, desperate to get out of the strait-jacket of childhood, pure bliss. Buy lots of copies and give it to your friends. Not enough people have read this book (and no, I'm not related).

This book was really crazy, because it focused on one really large family that has a lot of different personalities, but after awhile I found it to be a very funny book. Ingrid's voice was very distinct, and one thing that I liked about her. I didn't like that she didn't have any plans after high school. I also like Dom, who was gay and wasn't sure excaltly how to tell people. Micah was also a very funny character. Brianne was really funny, when she tried to analysis people. Crickett's eating disorder was a bit random. Autumn and Katie reminded me of part of me. I remember sitting at the kid's table a lot when I was younger and it was fun. I can't imagine there still being a kid's table pass age 13, but I think that is part of what made this plot so funny at times. Sometimes, I got lost on what was happening in the book and had to reread the parts or look at the family tree. Overall, this was a cute and fun read that kept me entertained with all of the different characters.