Review: My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece by Annabel Pitcher

This was possibly the best book I’ve read in years. I rarely give a “5 Star” status but didn't even have to think about it. There were many reasons for me NOT to like this book. It’s contemporary fiction (I’m drawn to fantasy). It’s about “depressing” subjects, it’s akin to a “problem novel,” which I tend to find forced with see-through agendas taking on too many issues. But I loved this book. It wasn’t forced, it was genuine. Not depressing, but uplifting.

When children ask questions, and adults won't or can’t answer, they are left to make their own assumptions about life. Ten-year-old Jamie has a lot of questions and the first person narration captures his observations.

His older sister, Rose (a twin), died five years before the novel begins in a London terrorist attack. Jamie can hardly remember Rose, but his family has fallen apart because of the loss. His father harbors fear and hate for Muslims and holds onto his grief, forcing it onto others. His mother has checked out and left the family. His older sister, Jas, does her best to make sure Jamie knows he is cared for.

What shined was Jamie’s relationship with his classmate and best friend, Sunya, who wears a hijab to school. Though this relationship is a risk for Jamie (how furious would his father be if he knew?), it is Sunya who strengthens Jamie’s spirit when he is at his lowest. She sticks up for him, plays into his fascination with superheros and even calls Jamie out when he acts like a fair-weather friend.

Jamie’s belief that things can get better and that friendship is important carry this book. He loves his family despite their glaring problems and takes action, doing the best a 10-year-old can, to make things better. I laughed and I cried in no small part to Annabel Pitcher’s writing but also because of David Tennant’s amazing narration. Just fantastic.

The mantelpiece, the hearth, is supposed to be the center of home which conjures feelings of warmth and belonging, love and security. But in Jamie’s home, his dead sister lives on the mantelpiece and her ghostly presence looms large, scattering all positive emotions. But with help from Sunya and Jas, Jamie finds a way to make his presence known and remind a family what it means to be family. 

Though targeted at middle-grade readers, I'd recommend this book to anybody. Anybody! <3

Publisher: Findaway World, 2012     Length: 6 hours

Rating: 5 Stars     Source: Public Library

Review: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Foer

Without much of an opening, I’m going to get to the point… There were too many themes and I didn’t feel the novel adequately covered any of them. Is this book about WWII and the bombings at Dresden, 9/11 and terrorism, growing up, growing old,  post-traumatic stress disorder, family, death, childhood … is it a quest book? A great book is able to seamlessly merge several themes. To put it nicely, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close bit off more than it could chew.

I did enjoy the writing style. It’s rather a stream-of-consciousness narration. The point of view shifts between the main protagonist, nine year old Oskar Schell, and his grandfather (who goes by the same name), and his grandmother. We come to know the grandfather through the letters he writes to his son, Oskar’s dad. He writes about Dresden and what it was like during the bombings. I felt these reflections were the strongest part of the novel. However, these reflections didn’t tie in well with Oskar’s story. The grandfather could have been removed without drastically altering the story. So, I’m not sure what the grandfather is doing in it. 

Young Oskar is a very clever and witty boy – too clever. The prose felt very contrived and pushed the “I’m a sad little boy genius” theme too heavily for me. I’ve no doubt smart boys like Oskar do exist. It’s just that Oskar as a character in this novel didn’t work well for me. Oskar’s quest, which takes him all over NYC, was fun to follow but I didn’t feel his encounters with NYC residents added anything to a story about 9/11, war or grieving.The quest itself may have helped Oskar, but the encounters added very little.

I found myself laughing quite a bit. And that’s a good thing because honestly, I found the book to be a downer. There is very little genuine love between the characters (except perhaps between Oskar and his mom) and very little is resolved between characters at the book’s end. For a book about 9/11 and grieving, etc., I don’t like that what I’m taking away from this book is “funny.”

I’ve been harsh, perhaps. I did enjoy Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close well enough. I read it in a couple days. The novel did make me want to come back to it and turn pages. Final Thoughts: Reading this book felt like putting together a puzzle and I enjoyed the exercise.

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin, 2006 (eBook)     Pages: 368

Rating: 3 Stars     Source: Purchased through Kindle Storefront