I opened the book just to take a peek; I was already reading another book, after all. David Almond drew me in and I dreamwalked episodes from his childhood in northeastern England with him. There isn't really a storyline in this book. The episodes come in no apparent sequence, floating into view, becoming sharper, fading out. His little sister and his father have died in one chapter, but are alive again in the next. He had a large Catholic family and woven through the stories are the insistent questions of life and faith as asked by sensitive, intelligent children. His family was large and close, and he seemed to have been the dreamy child in the middle. In fact, the book opens with his younger sister asking "What's in the middle of me?" and the book seems to explore a child's perceptions and questions, from the inside out. It evokes a certain time (1960s) and place (a town in England along the River Tyne), the middle of the author's young world, with all the mystery of life and death. There isn't really a resolution, just as for many questions there are no certain answers. His mother says, "And anyway,...as well as life and death, there's this." "What's this?" says Mary. "The kitchen. Just the kitchen, I suppose." "The smallest place in the world", says Dad. "An impossible place. An impossible story. A kind of Heaven." "And what's Heaven?" says Colin. "Maybe it's just this, an impossible afternoon when everyone is together all at once." Almond's theme of wings appears in this book, too, as his mother slips her hands under his shoulder blades and tells him this is where his wings once were and where they will be again. The book is shelved with teen fiction, but it doesn't seem to me your usual teen read. Almond says, in his author's notes at the end, "Writing can be difficult, but sometimes it really does feel like a kind of magic. I think that stories are living things--among the most important things in the world." I couldn't agree more.
Well, I'm not sure what to think about this one. On one hand, I was really bored during most of it. On the other, it was really well-written in a somewhat dreamy sort of way and it seemed interesting enough. I don't know if I'm just in a phase right now because that's two books in a row that I should've loved and I had trouble getting through both of them. One problem I think was that the separate stories could've been held together by a stronger thread or narrative arc. I didn't feel it added up completely as a whole, although some chapters were really quite luminous and unique. I loved "The Baby" and "Where Your Wings Were" especially.Grade: B
What do You think about Counting Stars (2002)?
I'm almost sort of mad at myself tat I didn't finis this book because I feel as if I could really appreciate it when it was done, but I could not see myself reading the rest of this story. The biggest reason was because it was very vague almost, and written in a weird, ambiguous way. I couldn't fully understand what was going on half the time, and the plot jumped around often so it was kind of one giant book of confusion that just never ended. That is not to say I hated this nook, it just wasn't for me. However, I would still recommend it to those who are capable of comprehending books easily.
—Emma Polen
This is a memoir that has alot of details related to the suthor's childhood, growing up in a lare Catholic family--but for me (and maybe this is because I lost a brother as a child) this was about the experience of growing up first having, then losing a sibling, and seeing that first as a child, and then as an adult, and trying to make sense of the loss. There are some hilarious scenes, some sad scenes, and some reflective scenes as well. The voice of the author is genuinely childlike and well done.
—Catherine Woodman
How do you classify this? The book is listed as young adult, yet I think it's more because the author writes for young adults. While his stories are about young people, they're poignant, bittersweet at times...they're tiny time capsules recapturing moments in the authors youth, fictionalized only marginally. You can hear the authors tears upon the pages sometimes. Sometimes you feel too close when watching them, like you've unknowingly intruded into the space of a stranger. Other times you yearn to get closer and find that sanctuary of his home, to join in the laughter and love that is so clearly visible in his family.In short I want to be adopted by them.No, the stories aren't astonishing in quality, maybe not award winning in their own right by literary critics. But they came at a time where I needed these to read, and so I give this book 5 stars for touching me, which is not easy to do.
—Kristine Pratt
