From Publishers Weekly
Belgian author Moeyaert (Bare Hands) evokes a variety of moods in three chronologically arranged scenes, narrated by the third of four children, known only as "Sis." These slices of life reveal her feelings about her mother, brother, two sisters and other characters who periodically join their household. The girl's descriptions of her surroundings coincide with her emotional landscape. For instance, the author emphasizes Sis's repugnance for her mother's current lover through the claustrophobic aura of the opening scene, which takes place on a car trip. While the narrator's brother, in the driver's seat, openly expresses his hostility towards the man, Sis sits silently next to him in the back seat ("In the curve, Bordzek slumps against me like a brick. His head drops forward and I can't move anymore"). Humor melds with compassion in the second episode with the arrival of a "visitor," bequeathed to the family in her grandmother's will. Sis envisions the stranger as generous and handsome, but he turns out to be an unkempt old man in a wheelchair. The final chapter comes to a quiet climax, in which Sis's maturation comes clearly into focus; she experiences a moment of acceptance and peace as she pauses from her fantasy of her absent brother and becomes fully aware of those remaining at home her two sisters, Skip and his dog. Through the voice of his innocent yet keenly observant and compassionate narrator, the author eloquently expresses the nuances and subtleties of the relationships that shape the person she is becoming. Ages 12-up.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
Grade 7-9 A descriptive blurb states that this story has immediacy because it is told from a child's point of view; however, it is disjointed and confusing and seems more like an impressionist painting than a novel. The author's attempt at psychological drama disintegrates into a melodrama, because plot and characters are poorly delineated, relationships are vague, and motivations are indistinct. The story centers on a family's journey to and stay at a relative's house. Events loosely mark the passage of time chronologically, but do not progress toward a meaningful climax. For example, the narrator alludes to her mother's boyfriend abusing her brother and a senile, sickly grandfather figure arrives inexplicably. The landmarks and time references are also vague. In the first chapter, the characters are traveling in a stifling hot car somewhere in the countryside en route to the relative's house. Later chapters describe that house set on an indistinct piece of farmland. Even the weather adds to the depressing aura of this book; it's either unbearably hot or rainy. Presumably, the theme is meant to be a description of the "human spirit," but unfortunately, the message is muddled. For psychological drama, choose Robert Cormier or Chris Crutcher; their novels successfully include intense introspection firmly set in time and place, which gives them immediacy as well as poignancy. -Susan Cooley, Tower Hill School, Wilmington, DE
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
