Finding Orion

When a singing-telegram clown shows up at the Kwirks’ home and delivers the message that Papa Kwirk is dead, it sets Rion’s family on an unexpected journey to better understanding the man. The awkward tension between Dad and Papa Kwirk is portrayed honestly and painfully, especially as the family hears from Frank’s friends all the wonderful things they didn’t know about him. Rion feels like an outsider, that his grandfather was a kind of stranger. I could identify with it. So many families have similar situations. No one wants to be the one to breach the gap. Emotionally honest about family messiness but hilarious at the same time.

“Where’s Grandpa?”
It’s the kind of question you ask when you are at the mall, or maybe at the beach, and you notice that a member of your family has disappeared.
It’s not normally a question asked while staring at a steel tackle box that you’ve just dug out of the ground in someone else’s backyard...

Rion Kwirk comes from a unique family - his father is a scientist who makes jelly bean flavors, his younger sister is a walking dictionary, and his older sister loves the theatre. His grandfather is one of the quirkiest - he shows up to Christmas riding his motorcycle and handing out crossbows and stuffed squirrels as presents. After learning about Papa Kwirk's death from a singing clown, the family piles into the car to attend show more his funeral (funneral) and pay their respects. But when they attend, it's not anything they ever imagined, and the funeral isn't the end, they've got more to discover about Papa Kwirk.

The voice of Rion was annoying. I understand he was a thirteen-year-old kid, who was annoyed/embarrassed by his family, but sometimes it just got repetitive. He whined about everything, especially about his family, and it just made me want to put the book down on multiple occasions. His parents had great relationships with their children, they didn't argue with each other all the time, he had a pretty great family... I understand that kids might relate to that, being embarrassed of family, and yes, Rion grows from it, but for most of the book, I was just annoyed with Rion.

I was really more interested in his Dad finding out about his father than the journey through Rion's eyes. The title already didn't match what the story was about - it was mostly focused on finding out about Papa Kwirk's life, not about Rion's. There was only a small section where Rion talks with his father about who he is within his family, but that's it.

This book does well presenting the idea that a person can be more than their mistakes, which might be a new idea for the age group this book is aimed towards.

Overall, I don't know if I would really recommend this book to anyone. It was just okay for me. show less