Happy 2019, my friends! I hope you had a marvelous winter break (assuming you took one) and read lots of books! I can’t remember the last time I was this excited for a new year. It’s a wonderful feeling, and one I intend to savor. 🙂

For my very first spotlight of the new year I chose The Reader, by Traci Chee, both because I couldn’t wait to share my thoughts on it and also because it feels like a momentous enough story to lead out as the first in this year’s lineup. I have discovered after reading it that some consider it YA, but I found it in the online MG section of my library and I suspect the age of the characters will make it seem accessible to many tweens.

In a world where even the concept of reading and written language is completely unknown, Sefia has been bequeathed a secret book by her parents and is in hiding from people who would kill her to get it back.

As a character, Sefia is highly sympathetic, the kind you can’t help but root for–and quite likely follow to the ends of the earth. What’s more, as the novel progresses and her sympathizing back story recedes a bit, she becomes more likable, not less. She’s strong, resilient, caring (though she tries not to be), smart and proactive. Ever since she was a young child and found her father lying on the floor, pulled to bits, she’s been on the run. At first she has Aunt Nin, but most of the book she’s without adult help, so must teach herself to read from the precious and dangerous book. She does so using clues her mother taught her as a child, using her toys. Working from those memories she pieces the sounds and words together in a laborious effort that eventually turns into real reading. Always on the move, she does her reading in hammocks in the tops of trees or tucked into caves, and the reader is shown samples of the stories she’s reading in inserts.

As she journeys, she searches for the symbol on the cover of the book. A symbol that she believes will give her answers as to what happened to her parents, and where her Aunt Nin is. What she eventually finds is the symbol etched onto a box with a boy trapped inside. A boy who’s been taken by the Impressors and forced to repeatedly participate in one-on-one fights to the death with other boys like him, for an unknown cause. She frees him, but he’s mute and helpless, having forgotten everything about living except how to kill. So Archer, as she dubs him, tags along with her and the two forge a deep bond. They become for each other family, as well as friends, and even each other’s light and hope.

The book is gloriously intense and impossible to read without feeling deeply. However, it is rather dark at times and may be a little mature for many tweens and even some teens. Nothing feels gratuitous, but the two protagonists’ lives have been shattered by violence and Archer’s in particular has been horrible to the extreme. Moreover, the world of the story is generally a very violent place, and the bits we’re told about–for example, Sefia’s mother’s formative years–are equally violent and heart breaking. Not only that, but the nature of the violence and the justification for it is sometimes very disturbing. So, while I’m certain there are teen readers and even tweens who would love this story, I would not pass it on to any age without making sure they could handle it, and with younger readers I’d prefer to know the adults in their life were reading it themselves.

Additionally, while I hate to put any damper on my praise for the book, it must be admitted that the book really does a lot of head hopping. There are many, many different povs, but more than that, we are at one point shown the same scene from multiple perspectives in a series of small jumps backwards in time–and at least one of those povs we don’t see again, so there’s zero continuity. At least, I don’t think we see them again–with all the jumping around, it’s very difficult to keep track of everyone. There are also multiple ‘stories’ going on at the same time, and while they all fit together in the last half/quarter of the book, the reader has to hang in there not knowing how the pieces fit for a long time. And finally, there are times at the beginning of a new chapter where it takes the better part of a page before we know which of those very diverse ‘stories’ we’re in. All of this can really lead to mental whiplash, so that I sometimes found myself thinking and dreaming of the book, yet reluctant to go back to it because I wasn’t sure which story I’d be dropped into and didn’t enjoy the feeling of being tossed to and fro. That said, I read an online version and it was clear some formatting didn’t translate, so perhaps there were chapter markers which could better clue the reader as to what was happening, which were lost in that format.

Despite all that, the book will stand out in my mind as a blazing light of creativity and rich, masterful prose set in a world which is wonderfully non-European in its inspiration. In fact, I suspect this book will become for some people the kind that they discuss years later with enthusiasm, comparing where they were the first time they read this book, and how it impacted them. It really is that good.

Now, let’s hear what Apricot-kitty thought of it:

“I liked it okay. They spent a lot of time wandering around in the woods bumping into people they wanted to avoid but needed to find, and too much time on the water for my taste. But people are strange, so maybe that’s your idea of a fabulous adventure.”

Yes, well, there are all kinds of journeys and some involve more wandering than others! I loved the way this format allowed Archer and Sefia’s relationship to grow, and I loved how natural and understated the romance between them was. Nothing insipid here!

What are you reading? Do you have reading goals for the new year–like different books than you usually read, or a total count you hope to hit? My only goal is to continue as I have been, and also make sure that I’m reading a little more for myself, to refill my creative well. So far I’m loving it!

For the full round up of Marvelous Middle Grade Monday spotlights, reviews, giveaways and interviews, head over to Greg Pattridge’s blog, and happy reading!

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