Simon French (1) (1957–)

The main characters in this story are like many of my middle schools students. They want to fit in, and be accepted by others in school. Looking and acting different make that difficult. Associating with someone who is different is just as bad. The main character Kieran has been trying to be part of the “in crowd” since his best friend moved away. He is always on the fringe as if he just isn’t quite good enough. It is usually these kids who get into trouble by going too far to fit in. show more In Kieran’s case, his difficulty fitting in just got harder. His cousin Bon, whom he’s only met once before and doesn’t really like, shows up at his school and his home. Kieran’s friends Mason and Lucas make fun of Bon for his long braid and his not as nice clothes. Bon seems unfazed. He doesn’t care about fitting in. Things get tougher when Julia the new girl that Kieran has a crush on, starts hanging with Bon. Kieran really feels betrayed. He joins in the bullying of his cousin.

Things aren’t always what they seem, and this author did a wonderful job of showing that. Bon is a character I not only felt so sorry for, yet admired. He had his eyes set on where he wanted to go in life and kept his head up as he headed that way. He was a true friend and cousin. We learn more about Julia and her secrets as the story progresses and see how and why Bon and Julia became such good friends. We have all had that one black sheep in the family that we didn’t want to acknowledge. This book made me look back at when we were younger and how I treated that cousin. My treatment of them may not have gone to the extremes that Kieran’s did but I was just as guilty. They are someone I now look up to and admire.

I think one of the reasons I liked this book so much is because I can see the value of reading it to my students and having it on my shelves at school. I also love books that take me back to my own childhood and show me how I was not much different than the character,s and teach melessons I should have learned long ago. Yes I can say I learned a lot. I am currently dealing with one of those black sheep in the family and realized I was headed the wrong way. This book was a great reminder. It is a great thing when a children’s book can teach a lesson to an adult. Because after all, we all want to fit in. This book looks at the dynamics of “family”, bullying, and jealousy. This is definitely a book I will tell my school librarian needs to be on our shelves.
I won an ARC from LibraryThing show less

My Cousin’s Keeper is a problem novel. The problem—eleven-year-old Kieran’s best friend moved away two years ago and ever since then he’s been struggling to gain a place in the “in” crowd, but the arrival of his “weird” cousin Bon throws his life off-kilter. Bon is living with their grandmother, sleeping over at Kieran’s home, and attending Kieran’s school. To complicate matters, Bon has somehow managed to become best friends with the cute girl Kieran has a crush show more on.

Because such novels usually end happily, or reasonably so, one can predict much of the action in this book. But having a good sense of what’s to come doesn’t matter when the writing is solid and the characters are engaging—and that’s the case here.

Simon has a knack for avoiding all good/all bad dichotomies. The characters have their short-comings. For Kieran that short-coming is his willingness to participate in activities and pranks that make him uncomfortable in the hopes that doing so will cement his place in the boys’ social hierarchy.

My Cousin’s Keeper, marketed to grades 3 through 7, offers a worthwhile read for children trying to make their way in the world, who are still learning how to stand up for what they most believe in. The fact that there are two significant, strong female characters means this is a book that boys and girls both should appreciate. show less

I had no idea what to expect when I started reading this book, and it took me awhile to figure it out. The author shifts the time from the present to the past every few chapters, describing events that are happening now and also what led up to the present.
There are many facets to this story. Ari is a very gifted musician, and his mother and stepfather are also musicians, so that is an important unifying theme that weaves through the whole book. The main focus, though, seems to be coping show more with grief. He couldn’t remember his father—and then someone else close to him died. He also had to learn to adjust to living in Australia after his mother made the decision to move there from Germany—and that included making a new friend.
Although this book wasn’t as gripping as many I have read, it was well worth reading. It will help children know better how to help a friend who is grappling with grief. show less

Kieran is not happy. His cousin Bon from the aunt that his mother barely talks to, is suddenly in his life - going to his school, living at his grandmother's house and taking his stuff. To make matters worse, he is not a "fly under the radar" boy but stands out with his weird hair and his matter-of-fact/no filter way of talking. All Keiran wants is to fit in with his cool mates at school, so basically he ignores him, and worse, when Bon is picked on at school, Kieran joins in!
It is only show more through the intervention of their joint mysterious friend Julia ( who seems to be hiding a lot of secrets) that Kieran begins to see what a lousy ( other brother) i.e. cousin he really is.
Liked how it was directly from Kieran's point of view and how you could understand him feeling put out by all the sudden changes in his life.
Could be for 5-6 students who are mature enough to understand Kieran's thought processes and what the author is trying to achieve with them. show less