|
 Review by Linda Harmon
This is a story about a girl
who used to have a brother. Her parents never talk about him. He
died when she was 7 years old. She is now 14. She knows very little
about Jake, including how he died. She shares a name with her mother
(Rachel Two) and her grandmother (Rachel One). Her father is a
surgeon and her mother is a judge. On the surface they seem to be
fine, but both are struggling in their own ways. Her mother is
always distracted, and her father won't have his picture taken or
look into a mirror. Rachel laughs when she wants to cry and cries
when she wants to laugh.
They live in a community that
used to be a mill town. Although the industry of the town has
changed, milling is still deeply ingrained in the lives of the
people. The old mill seems to be the glue that holds the town
together. Rachel says bread and baking are "cataloged in their DNA."
Each year there is a Bread Festival. The shops close down and
everyone in town bakes a loaf of bread. At sunset an award is given
for the tastiest loaf and everyone eats bread until they can't eat
any more. To close the festivities, the graduating seniors disguise
themselves as bakers covered in flour and march through the streets
to commemorate the bread strikes of the late 1800s.
As the story opens Rachel is
mourning the absence of her best friend, Adrian. His family moved to
a remote part of Africa where communication is very difficult. It is
this loss that starts her thinking about other losses, like the
brother she never really knew.
Jake's room is exactly as it
was the last day of his life. Rachel decides to go in and see if
something in it will help her know him better. She discovers his
journal and begins to read. She is so intrigued by his writing that
when her parents come home she takes the journal and hides it in her
room.
[to top of second column in
this review]
 |
During the time Rachel is
feeling the loss of Adrian and discovering her brother, she becomes
close friends with another troubled young man, Bowman. His parents
are close friends with Rachel's parents. She likes to be with him
but is troubled by Bowman's constant fascination with fire and his
smoldering rage. He also struggles with his parents' expectations,
and right before graduation they have a blowup. That night a
historic landmark is burned to the ground.
In the pages of Jake's journal,
Rachel sees a sensitive, troubled young man. He wishes to be the
normal person that he appears to be and is extremely critical of
himself. "Some people are born with too many fingers or too much
hair. Jake was born with too many feelings," he writes. He seems to
find joy only in running and his best friend, another boy, named
Fisher. He loves Fisher deeply and at the same time is frightened by
this love, possibly fearing that he is gay. Rachel eventually
discovers the secret of Jake's death and confronts her parents. With
the truth out in the open, they talk about his death for the first
time.
This is a story about young
people of privilege. Their parents have money and the young people
have the promise of the best education money can buy. They seem to
have everything and yet suffer the same insecurities as other young
adults, possibly more, because they have been given so much. As the
story closes you are left with a feeling a hope for this family.
Kate Banks does a great job of
showing how secrets divide a family but truth, no matter how
painful, unites. She is also the author of "Dillon Dillon," her
first novel, and many award-winning picture books.
This
book is recommended for age 12 and up due to subject matter and some
language.
[Linda Harmon,
Lincoln
Public Library District] |
