VVMBookBlog

RD is 15, Latino, and looking forward to an easy school year as he will be repeating 8th grade–not by choice!  His home life is not easy–his mother is in prison for dealing crack and he never knew his dad.  He lives with his grandmother and her boyfriend, Earl.  But then his grandmother hits the road with a new trucker friend, leaving RD with Earl who is suffering the effects of Agent Orange exposure from the Vietnam War.  One day soon after school starts, RD comes home and finds Earl dead in the bathroom.  Now RD is alone  and needs to figure out how to do many things, starting with what to do with Earl.  Next comes challenges to survive hunger and other basic needs, and mostly to do it all without anyone finding out he is there all by himself.  If the authorities find out, his next home will be a foster home!

I really liked reading about RD.  I liked the first person narrative that let us into his head to see how he thought about things and figured out solutions to his problems.  I think our students will like this book because of how RD and his friends talk to each other and relate as friends…or sometimes NOT as friends.

Mitch is 12 and spending the summer with his mother at his grandparents’ house at Bird Lake.  His parents have separated and he’s trying to adjust to life without his father and an uncertain future.  Spencer is 10 and comes to spend the summer with his parents, younger sister, and dog, Jasper, in a home next door to Mitch on Bird Lake.  It’s the first time his family has been there since his older brother drowned in that lake when Mitch was two.

Chapter alternate between Mitch and Spencer telling the story each from their perspective.  Tensions between Mitch’s mother and grandparents cause him to want to live next door with his mother, but when Spencer’s family move in, he comes up with ways to scare them into leaving.  Then we read about Spencer’s reactions to those tactics.

There’s no big dramatic action here but we can really get into the boys’ heads to experience the pain and confusion they are both feeling.  Read Olive’s Ocean for more by this author.