Book Review: Closer to Nowhere / Ellen Hopkins

 

Let me start by sharing that this story targets middle school students, the protagonists are twelve years old. Then let me say that this doesn't matter a bit, this is a story that needs to be told, a story written from Ellen Hopkins's family story - about addiction and violence - about children born into families which have a rough time supporting them both emotionally and physically. And about the healing that can take place afterwards given the right supports.

Cal's father is in prison, his mother died of leukemia. He lives with his aunt (an identical twin of his mother) and her family including Hannah, his cousin - also twelve. Cal's life until now has been about surviving hardship and he is learning how to adapt to living in a safe environment with food on the table and a bed. Hannah is learning how to live with Cal and his struggles with learning how to adapt to a life that is no longer chaotic. The truth is - this is hard for everyone.

This story speaks to the trauma that people go through when their lives are chaotic. It also speaks to the truths of incorporating a hurting child into one's family. And it speaks to love, addiction, hope, therapy, adapting, inner strengths, compassion, and learning more about what lies behind the faces that we put forth. This is a story about what is under the surface. 

If you are planning on becoming a teacher, a counselor, a nurse, a doctor, a social worker - just about anyone in a "helping profession" - read this book. It is a great opportunity to walk in the shoes of someone who is learning how to live a life which doesn't have chaos as a foundation. It is also a story that reminds us that what we see in people is only what lies on the surface. We are all more than what we appear at first glance.

Book Review: The Witches / Roald Dahl

 

A young boy loses both of his parents in an accident and ends up living with his grandmama (who he loves very much). One night she tells him about being a witch hunter and how she never was able to find the grand witch. She describes the attributes of witches (blue saliva, bald (wearing wigs), no toes, always wear gloves even in the summer. She tells the youngster that the witches' greatest job is to rid the world of children. 

One day when he and his Grandmama are on vacation and staying in a hotel, he finds himself locked into a room of witches. They are plotting to rid England of all of its children with a dastardly plan to turn them into mice. He is scared but can find no escape when suddenly a witch smells him (children smell like dog droppings to witches). He is captured and turned into a mouse, but the story has just begun as he and his grandmama hatch a plan to save the children. 

This was the perfect story to read on Halloween. Dahl's imagination is grand and he loves playing with words.