Navigating Early

"There are no coincidences. Just boatloads of miracles." If you can take this aphorism seriously, you may love this book. If, like me, you think that's kind of a silly thing to say, the number of "miracles" in this book may put you off the otherwise great story. Let me explain (minor spoilers ahead).

This book has a story within a story. The main story takes place in 1945 and concerns a Kansas boy named Jack who's just lost his mother and been shipped off to boarding school in Maine. There he meets "the strangest of boys," Early Auden, and they embark on an adventure instigated by Early.

The secondary story is one that Early tells about a boy named Pi. Have you read the book or seen the movie [b:Life of Pi|4214|Life of Pi|Yann show more Martel|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320562005s/4214.jpg|1392700]? It's kind of like that--Pi goes off on a boat and has some crazy times. Early says he's "reading" Pi's story from the digits of the number pi.

Here's my problem: Why does each thing that happens in Early's Pi story have to have such a neat corollary in the real world story? It makes the whole book seem kind of magical or allegorical--only, wouldn't it be better if the reader could believe Jack's adventure was real? I started to wonder if maybe Early only existed in Jack's imagination or was some kind of ghost. It's like Early wasn't just a mathematical genius but a psychic, too. For example, Early says that Pi meets an old woman who mistakes him for her son. Shortly thereafter, the boys meet an old woman who mistakes Jack for her son. That is indeed a miraculous coincidence (and that's only one example; there are lots more). If only stuff happened to the boys and then Early incorporated it into Pi's story. Then I wouldn't worry about how the coincidences were piling up too high.

Confession time: I never finished [b:Moon Over Manifest|8293938|Moon Over Manifest|Clare Vanderpool|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320541883s/8293938.jpg|13142485]. Is it full of hyper-real coincidences, too?

Let me close with a piece of writing that encapsulates what I liked and didn't like about this book. It's really beautiful and evocative, but who talks like this? Early Auden does.

"They're not just numbers. And I'm not making up a story. The story is in the numbers. Look at them! The numbers have colors--blues of the ocean and sky, green grass, a bright-yellow sun. The numbers have texture and landscape--mountains and waves and sand and storms. And words--about Pi and about his journey. The numbers tell a story. And you don't deserve to hear it."

I bet Early Auden would tell me I don't deserve to hear his story either. I loved parts of this, but I couldn't swallow the thing whole. Too big a whopper. I will still recommend it to serious young readers who want a big, challenging book. And then I'll be interested to see if they, too, were bothered by the way the boy's adventure mirrored the Pi story. show less

A wonderfully told heroes quest. Early is a magnificent and charming character . I have not enjoyed one more in a long time. Jack is flawed and broken and easy to root for. his transformation is lovely to witness. While it is similar to Moon Over Manifest, it didn't feel formulaic. The way the author sets the tone and completely plunks the reader right in the middle of these boys adventures is impressive. I didn't think I would connect as well with a story about two young boys. It's very much Huck Finn interwoven with Divine Rights Trip. Well done!

If "A Prayer for Owen Meany" by John Irving and "The Odyssey" by Homer had a baby, it would be "Navigating Early".

Like Owen Meany, Early Auden is an exceptionally odd kid, who is very smart, and always seems to know things that you wouldn't expect him to. And he becomes the narrator's best friend when he heads off to a Maine boarding school for boys after his mother dies. But soon into the book, Jackie and Early leave the school to go on a quest of Early's, with Jack just tagging along much of the time. And here the similarity to Odyssey appears. The quest involves a number of strange encounters with people in the Maine woods. Some good people, some bad people, all eccentric people.

One of Early's eccentricities is that he sees stories show more in strings of numbers. He is convinced that the number pi tells a story, and that his brother - who died in the recently ended World War II, is still alive and has been following a similar story to the one he has concocted for Pi. And this is where I took the most issue with the book. To accept that the real life events on the quest and in Early's bother's life paralleled his adventure story interpretation of the number pi... it was just a bit too much for me to swallow.

The book wrapped up nicely, but I didn't find this one anywhere close to as good as Vanderpool's "Moon Over Manifest". show less

Ms. Vanderpool is one of my new favorite YA authors, managing to snag my loyalty despite the fact that the two books I have read by her are both historical fiction - not one of my favorite genres. But the history in this novel isn't the texture and feel but rather the setting for the real story which is that of grieving and friendship - two themes that are always timely. The relationship between Jack and Early is by turns funny and poignant. The adventure that they embark on seems fairly fantastical in 2015 but more likely in 1945.

After Jack Baker's mother dies, his military father uproots him from the Kansas town where he's lived all his life and places him in a boarding school in Maine. There, Jack almost unintentionally befriends Early Auden, a quirky outsider kid with a fixation on the number pi. When a visit with his father during a school holiday falls through, Jack sets off with Early on an epic quest to find a savage grizzly bear, Early's dead brother, and some missing digits from the calculation of pi (it's complicated).

I actually liked this book better than I thought I would. It has a lot going on -- it starts out as a historical fiction/boarding school story and morphs into a survival/adventure tale, and there's a mythic element scattered throughout as show more Early tells the story that he alone can read in the digits of pi. Perhaps because of the multiplicity of elements, the pacing is slow but steady. Mathematicians are not going to like the cavalier treatment pi gets in the story, though that element did not bother me all that much. Early is one of several kids in this year's crop of juvenile fiction who would probably fall on the autism spectrum if he were around today, and Jack over-uses the phrase "that strangest of boys" when describing him, which did get on my nerves a bit. I could also entertain arguments about how the pieces all fall together way too conveniently in the ending, though I bought it at the time -- only after reading did I start to think about some of the book's potential flaws. I think it's a book that's going to appeal to a particular sort of reader, one who enjoys a chewy sort of book that gives them a lot to think about, and takes a while to read. show less

We are all on a quest. It is 1945, Early Auden is searching for his brother, thought to have been killed in France in World War II. John (Jackie) Baker III, uprooted from his land-locked Kansas home and relocated to coastal Maine soon after his mother died of cancer, is searching for redemption because he wasn't at home when she died and he was supposed to take care of her in his father's absence.

Early and Jackie meet at the Morton Hill Academy boarding school. Jackie's first sight of Early is on the beach as Early is filling sandbags and piling them up. Early being a loner and Jackie being new to the school, it is an interesting fit.

When Jackie's Naval father can't make it to school to pick him up for Fall break, Jackie decides to show more accompany Early on a real quest, rather than be alone at school for a week. Interspersed with the journey is Early's fascination with Pi and the thought that numbers in this equation might disappear, thus introducing the possibility that it is a finite vs. infinite number. Early sees Pi as more than merely numbers. It has color and shape and texture and he has created a story based on his vision, much of which plays out on their journey.

Although I'm not a fan of the phrase 'coming of age', Clare Vanderpool has written a fascinating story about two boys and many other characters that learn the truth about themselves and their worlds. There's the ancient Mrs. Johannsen, waiting 50 years for her son to come home from the woods and the pirate MacScott carrying around his own burden. There is Gunnar, the woodsman, who has lost his way and his love because of one act. There is Jackie's father who has divorced himself from memories of his wife. And there is Early and Jackie, two of the most likeable characters you're likely to meet in a very long time.

Ms. Vanderpool's Ackowledgement explains the 'story behind the story' and is worth reading.

The words. The story. The characters. I wouldn't change a word of Clare Vanderpool's Navigating Early. It is certainly in contention for one of the 10 Best Books of 2013..and it's still 'early' in the year...pun intended. show less

Navigating Early by Clare Vanderpool is the story of the friendship that develops between the new boy from Kansas, Jack, and Early, the strange, outcast boy, at a Maine boy’s boarding school. Both boys are dealing with life’s darker side as Jack has recently lost his mother and Early; his brother who was lost at war. Today it would be known that Early is located on autism spectrum but this book is set in 1945, and Early is simply classed as “weird”. This YA story captures both the joy and magic of childhood along with the harder life lessons that are part of growing up.

The author explores the themes of friendship, loss and learning about oneself in this mythical adventure story. As Early isn’t convinced that his brother really show more died, he and Jack set out to the Appalachian Trail on a quest to find him and the Great Appalachian Bear. Thus the two boys embark upon an adventure that helps both of them come to terms with life and loss. I had a couple of small quibbles with the book, I didn’t find the lifestyle of Early entirely believable. I do not think any boy at a boarding school would be allowed to live such a separate life, coming and going as he pleased and attending classes when it suited him. Secondly, I thought the plot was little contrived and simple which kept me from totally buying into the story.

This is however a beautifully written story about children that are dealing with grief and loss. Each boy has dark issues but the support and care they get from each other helps them back on the path toward acceptance and maturity. The relationship between these two boys makes Navigating Early a rewarding read and I need to remember that this is a book targeted at children not grumpy old ladies. show less