The Planet of Junior Brown

Read for the Children's book group at the Collins Branch Library (Cambridge)

I found the beginning of the book disorienting: a long scene in a secret basement room of a school, where two students - Buddy Clark and Junior Brown - are hiding away with a teacher-turned-janitor, Mr. Pool. They have created a haven for themselves there, complete with a recreation of the solar system, plus a tenth planet (the titular Planet of Junior Brown)(this was back when there were nine planets. RIP Pluto).

Buddy's story is a bit more straightforward than Junior's: homeless since the age of 9, he has learned how to get by on the streets of New York, receiving help from older boys and helping younger ones in turn.

Junior lives with his asthmatic mother; his show more father works in New Jersey and comes home (some) weekends (or not - do we ever actually see him, or is he a fiction?). Junior is supposedly a superb piano player, but again, we don't actually see him play; his piano at home has had all the strings removed, and he is forbidden to play the piano at his teacher Miss Peebs' house. (To complicate matters, Miss Peebs is a crazy hoarder; her insanity is immediately apparent to Buddy if not to Junior.)

Buddy and Junior's absences from school are eventually noticed, and Buddy helps Junior hide on one of his "planets," havens for homeless children.

Quotes

How come one boy was so different from another when they both hurt the same? Buddy wondered. (86)

...a planet of homeless children? (197) show less

This Newbery Honor Book tells the story of two friends who have been cutting school together to hang out with the kindly janitor in the basement of the school. Both have troubles: Buddy has no family and lives on the streets, struggling to take care of other, younger homeless kids; Junior Brown has an overbearing mother, a mostly absent father, and a piano teacher with some pretty serious mental health issues. Their stories come together in an emotional way, which helps this dark story not go over the edge in to hopelessness.

(ISBN issues. I read a large print edition with a very different, more modern cover.)

What a brilliant and disturbing book. I feel as if Hamilton has all too much intimate familiarity with mental illness herself. Probably a few friends or family members, but not her own self, because letting us see the world through the eyes of all these messed-up folks takes both talent and discipline.

But was it an enjoyable or satisfying read? No. Did it even end on a note of hope? Not in my opinion. Am I glad I read it? Honestly, I have to say no. I did for the Newbery Club in Children's Book group, but I have to admit that I wish I hadn't. There's already too much awful stuff in my life and I just don't need it in my fiction.

One thing that is show more interesting is that I am also currently reading [b:The Best of Simple|769534|The Best of Simple|Langston Hughes|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1312230978l/769534._SY75_.jpg|755593], by the brilliant man best known for his poetry, [a:Langston Hughes|36910|Langston Hughes|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1206669966p2/36910.jpg]. This is also about two 'black' men in Harlem, friends-by-circumstance who develop a closer bond over time, a generation or two earlier. At least that book is about adults who are somewhat more responsible for their own choices (don't omit the affects of Jim Crow). That's an interesting & illuminating 'story.'

This one, well, I just can't rate it. show less

This stupid book took almost half a year to read. I started reading it back in November 2019, when I went on a lovely trip up north. I got maybe halfway through by the time I got back home and put it down, it wasn't very good and I read it on and off over the next few months, forcing myself through it and hoping for a satisfactory ending.

There was none. I wish the story had focused on Buddy, because Junior was a useless piece of shit. Not that I am defending Buddy's actions because he is still playing hooky, encourages others to do the same (ultimately doing the same to Junior) and also encourages his homeless charges to scavenge/steal from others. All in all, this isn't a book I can recommend, the story and characters are all over the show more place and not well-fleshed out, and I sure as heck don't think this book deserved the award it got. I've read other children's/YA books that absolutely merited the awards they got, and this book simply doesn't compare to them. show less

Junior Brown is a sheltered three hundred pound boy with quite an imagination and his friend Buddy Clark have been avoiding their 8th grade classroom all semester….they spend much of their time in a small cellar room behind a mysterious wall where the janitor had been building a mobile of the solar system. The boys become fasinated and skip out on class to hear the many stories Mr. Pool has to share. His guidance and wisdom fills the young boys heads with fantasy and hope...Then one day, when in their ‘hide-out’ they get caught… what comes next is a beautiful story of a true friendship.

Plodding prose, I'll-defined characters, and too much weirdness that never pays off. I honestly have no idea how this won an award.