Spoiler-free summary: Jimmy is a 14-year-old living in New York City. He’s a smart kid who lives with his grandmother, but he skips a lot of school and is probably a little depressed. One day he returns home to find that his dad, who has been in jail most of his life, has come to take him away. This is ultimately a sad novel from almost start to finish – Jimmy’s father is trying to figure himself out, and it’s clear early on that there is not going to be a happy resolution. It’s compelling and well-written, and you feel for Jimmy the entire way.
Discussion: Seeing the title and author, I couldn’t decide if I had read this when I was a kid. I’m still not sure, having finished it — things seemed very vaguely familiar.
Anyway, I liked this book a lot. There was a constant feeling from the beginning that things were not going to be okay – Jimmy’s life, even before his dad arrives, is a tough one, and he’s on the precipice of failing his grade, even though he’s a smart guy. His dad arriving never presents itself as a positive change, either. If anything, when it is revealed how sick he really is, it’s almost a relief: Jimmy will get back to his real life with Mama Jean soon, even if it isn’t a rosy one.
Sometimes that kind of oppressiveness makes me dread continuing on with a book, but that wasn’t the case here. Jimmy is a likeable main character, and I had faith that there was going to be some growth in him as a result of getting to know his dad. Even better, there were not simple emotional beats or obvious lessons learned here. There is no triumphant clearing of Crab’s name at the end; in fact, he only dug himself into a deeper hole. There was no big hug with I-love-yous between him and Jimmy before he passes. Both characters have complex emotions to the end, and Jimmy is going to have to work through this experience as he gets older. This is probably one for the older end of the middle-grade literature age range, but there’s a lot to sink their teeth into.
Next book up is The Courage of Sarah Noble by Alice Dalgliesh. The title and cover make me afraid that this is going to be one that did not age well, but we’ll see!
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