Mick Harte Was Here (Hardcover)

by Barbara Park (Author)
Key Phrases: Mick Harte, Coach Brodie

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
"I don't want to make you cry. I just want to tell you about Mick. But I thought you should know right up front that he's not here anymore. I just thought that would be fair." Phoebe, the eighth-grade narrator of Park's (Buddies; Don't Make Me Smile) heart-wrenching novel, weaves together diverting anecdotes about her endearingly eccentric brother with her reactions, and those of her parents, to his death in a bicycle accident at the age of 12. The genius of this novel is Park's ability to make the events excruciatingly real while entirely avoiding the mawkish; likable Phoebe's frank, at times even funny narration will leave readers feeling as though they've known the girl-and Mick-for a very long time. Park's ability to convey so affectingly both the individual and collective pain of this family's members is remarkable. She focuses on small moments-the father closing the door to Mick's room upon returning from the hospital; the mother covering her ears because she cannot bear Phoebe's talk about her brother. But the novel has another crucial dimension in that it stresses the importance of wearing bike helmets. Midway through the story, in response to Phoebe's misplaced sense of guilt, Phoebe's father introduces the subject: "He heaved a God-awful sigh and whispered, 'If only I had made him wear his helmet.'" The message is skillfully reprised toward the conclusion, in a powerful scene in which Phoebe overcomes her own pain and anger to participate in a school assembly on bicycle safety. An author's note at the end reinforces the message. To Park's great credit, the lesson never dominates-the story reads not as a cautionary tale, but as a full-fledged and fully convincing drama. Ages 8-12.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
Grade 4-6?In this wrenching story permeated with humor and hope, a young girl must come to terms with the death of her brother in a bicycle accident.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 89 pages
• Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers (March 14, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679870881
• ISBN-13: 978-0679870883
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (147 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,224,891 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mortal issues, November 21, 2004

By	E. R. Bird "Ramseelbird" (Manhattan, NY) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Mick Harte Was Here (Paperback)

When I was a kid I rode my bike all the time. I rode it all around my block and up and down my street. I rode it with my dad and brother to the local high school where we'd play a makeshift game of bike tag. This was all in the 1980s and I have delightful memories of the time. Sure, there was the occasional scare. Once I rode into a street without looking and a car had to stop quite short to avoid hitting me. My dad wasn't too thrilled about that, but nothing bad happened and it wasn't as if I was punished. And not once, NOT ONCE, did I ever wear a bike helmet. At the time, I probably had some vague sense that I was invincible. Today, I look at that near miss with the car and silently shudder. Today kids know about bike helmets and most of them wear them. But there's nothing like a book like, "Mick Harte Was Here" to kinda drill the point home. I'm not saying that this book is just a good public safety message. I'm saying it tells a compelling story that will probably encourage your kids to take a little more care of their lives than if they hadn't read it in the first place.

"So this isn't the kind of book where you meet the main character and you get to like him real well and then he dies at the end", says narrator Phoebe Harte. Mick Harte is dead, to begin with. In a straightforward voice, thirteen-year-old Pheobe tells of how her brother's death was an accident in the purest sense of the word. He was on his bike, he hit a rock, and he smashed into a passing truck. Instantaneous head wound. Instantaneous death. But before you get to that you get to see a little of Mick on that last day. You see how he messed around with his sister and how they had a mild fight that morning. You get a sense of his sense of humor and wacky style. Without really meaning to, you discover that you really like Mick. And now he's dead. With the barest minimum of text, author Barbara Park shows exactly how one family chooses to deal with Mick's death. Pheobe adjusts better than her parents, but she still has a great deal of difficulty figuring out exactly where Mick is. Fortunately, by the end of the book she's reached a kind of peace. A slow understanding that sometimes this is the way things are. And as a reader, you feel good about that. Sad, but good.

Barbara Park's real strength here is the age group she's written this tale for. This is a kind of young reader chapter book, just perfect for fourth and fifth graders. Park's Phoebe has a definite dark sense of humor. For example, after she remarks that the only upside to someone's death is that you have no appetite she points out that she lost some weight just in time for the funeral. Says Phoebe in a bleak comedic voice, "Nature's real thoughtful that way". "Mick Harte Was Here", is ultimately hopeful, though. For people who have always associated Miss Park with her pre-eminently popular "Junie B. Jones" series, they may find themselves a little shocked to realize that Park can be a deeply profound author when she chooses. Death isn't glossed over here. There's a satisfying moment where Phoebe takes on a teacher who keeps talking about the girl's "loss" and how she's "lost" a sibling. As Phoebe is quick to point out, no one here is lost. Mick's dead. But by the end of the book, she's come to accept that. And to find a good way to grieve.

It's difficult locating well-written books on death for kids in this reading age group. Most of the stuff you're going to find is going to concentrate on dead pets or dying horses and the like. Few writers have the authorial guts to take on the death of a child. Louisa May Alcott did, but she's one of the few. Now Barbara Park has come to join her. This is no "Little Women", but it's a good read and a true account of how a family must stay together in the time of a crisis. It's not going to answer any questions for kids about death. It'll just tell them how some people deal with it. And that's enough.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars very well written book, July 17, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Mick Harte Was Here (Paperback)

Now and then you come along a fantastic book that makes you cry. "Mick Hart was here" is an exellent example of this. It made me glance at my brother and choke back tears. As I can't imagine living for one day without my brother, it must have been encredubly hard for Pheobe as she would wander thoughtlessly into her brother's empty room, untouched since he died, and be so horrified at herself for letting herself go back there. Mick was killed in a terrible bike accident, and i have been in a bad bike accident also, so i felt sort of a special connection to this tear-jerking story. Luckily, i was wearing a helmet, and, while reading this story, i realized how it might have resulted if i hadn't been wearing one. I recommend this book to people that are 4th grade or older, because it's a little intense. Enjoy!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Mick Harte Was Here by Victor, April 29, 2004

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Mick Harte Was Here (Paperback)

Barbara Park is one cool author! She wrote other books, but I haven't read them. I have read one, and that's Mick Harte Was Here. It's very good because there was a boy named Mick Harte. He was funny because he was going to his name his dog Rocket, but he couldn't pronounce his R's so he said, "Wocket" instead. After Phoebe's soccer practice, she told her little brother to ride his bike home, but Mick really didn't have a choice. Mick rode his bike, didn't see the rock in front of him, hit the rock, flipped over, and then hit his head. After a while Phoebe heard sirens coming towards her direction. Phoebe saw Mick's bike where he had fallen. Then Phoebe heard the dad say in a sad voice, "He's gone". Phoebe and the dad held hands and walked home acting like if they don't know each other.

The parents blamed Phoebe for this mistake. Phoebe tried to apologize for what she had done. The parents didn't listen to her so Phoebe went looking through Mick's room trying to remember him. Actually, one big accident can cause everyone in the family to act weird; everything was going wrong, and they wouldn't eat together until the end. All they would do was stay away from each other, but they all came back together and everything was back to normal in the end, well, kind of.

But anyway, I wonder why Barbara Park wrote this story. I think because she had a nephew or someone who died in a bike accident without a bike helmet.