April Stevens

Eleven-year-old Frances Pauley (“Figgrotten” is the nickname she’s given herself) loves nature and science but not necessarily other people. This debut work is a solid middle-grade novel about her journey from loner to someone who accepts, and even appreciates, the differences among people. My only quibble is that some of her acceptance comes a little too quickly and so feels a little preachy. There are some realistic dark waters, but they’re dealt with gently and with curiosity and show more optimism.

(Review based on an advance reading copy provided by the publisher.) show less

I first encountered this author via a YA novel, but this, her first published effort, is most memorable and requires an adult sensibility to appreciate its delicacy and effective handling of acute depression on all the members of a family. Father Gordie has left his wife Augusta and high school senior son Henry. Elder son Mathew, who never bonded with any other family members, has been immersed in a life of complete solitude at college and graduate school for years. In what was apparently show more never a household of happiness, the schism wrecks all three and their home becomes a tomb of alienated, zombie-like protoplasm. The story is told from each point of view, and relief and recovery comes in the form of Bette Mack, a teenager Henry meets at a party. The language is precise and poetic, and for the family and for the reader, Bette's care is like blessed rain in a drought-stricken desert. This is a novel worth seeking out and owning.

Quotes: “It was easy looking back. I could do it all day, my mind like an old buried landfill.”

“On the second day he went through several bad hours thinking he should do himself in. He wasn’t sure what he was sticking around for. But the idea of being gone made him sad anyway, not necessarily because he’d miss anyone but because he couldn’t help thinking he’d sort of miss himself. His own face and his stupid jokes and the junkyard of thoughts in his head.” show less

Excellent book for young YA (4th grade and up), dealing with serious issues: individuality, death, the natural world, and forgiveness. Ideal for a sensitive and caring child, or one who isn't - this might help them to achieve empathy. Not preachy or boring, just well thought out.

A quiet story about a memorable kid on the edge of becoming more self-aware. Frances Pauley calls herself Figgrotten though nobody else does (it reminded me of [b:George|24612624|George|Alex Gino|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1423358952s/24612624.jpg|44165520] because the close third person narration describes the main character as she sees herself, not necessarily as the world sees her).

Figgrotten is beautifully (enviably) un-self-conscious when the story begins. She wears the same show more thing every day and just wants to be outside all the time observing nature. Her favorite person is the very old man who drives her school bus.

As the story unfolds Figgrotten/Frances changes significantly and believably into a kid who takes an interest in her appearance and children her own age. Her relationship with her older sister evolves from hostile to understanding.

There's a death in this story that made me tear up, but I don't think this is a book about dealing with grieving a lost loved one as much as it's a story about how young hearts and minds change in the tumultuous tween years.

This also kind of randomly make me think of [b:Jeremy Draws a Monster|6399392|Jeremy Draws a Monster (Jeremy and the Monster)|Peter McCarty|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1316636531s/6399392.jpg|6588089] because it's also about a creative but lonely kid who finds his way to friends by the end of the book. show less