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Searching... Avon-Washington Township Public Library | Juvenile Fiction Book Hardback | 120791000472360 | YHBA 1998 J PAR | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
How could someone like Mick die? He was the kid who freaked out his mom by putting a ceramic eye in a defrosted chicken, the kid who did a wild dance in front of the whole school--and the kid who, if only he had worn his bicycle helmet, would still be alive today. But now Phoebe Harte's twelve-year-old brother is gone, and Phoebe's world has turned upside down. With her trademark candor and compassion, beloved middle-grade writer Barbara Park tells how Phoebe copes with her painful loss in this story filled with sadness, humor--and hope. Chosen by Publishers Weekly as one of their Best Books of 1996. "A full-fledged and fully convincing drama" (Publishers Weekly).
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 4-6In this wrenching story permeated with humor and hope, a young girl must come to terms with the death of her brother in a bicycle accident. (May 1995) (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
"I don't want to make you cry. I just want to tell you about Mick. But I thought you should know right up front that he's not here anymore. I just thought that would be fair." Phoebe, the eighth-grade narrator of Park's (Buddies; Don't Make Me Smile) heart-wrenching novel, weaves together diverting anecdotes about her endearingly eccentric brother with her reactions, and those of her parents, to his death in a bicycle accident at the age of 12. The genius of this novel is Park's ability to make the events excruciatingly real while entirely avoiding the mawkish; likable Phoebe's frank, at times even funny narration will leave readers feeling as though they've known the girl-and Mick-for a very long time. Park's ability to convey so affectingly both the individual and collective pain of this family's members is remarkable. She focuses on small moments-the father closing the door to Mick's room upon returning from the hospital; the mother covering her ears because she cannot bear Phoebe's talk about her brother. But the novel has another crucial dimension in that it stresses the importance of wearing bike helmets. Midway through the story, in response to Phoebe's misplaced sense of guilt, Phoebe's father introduces the subject: "He heaved a God-awful sigh and whispered, `If only I had made him wear his helmet.'" The message is skillfully reprised toward the conclusion, in a powerful scene in which Phoebe overcomes her own pain and anger to participate in a school assembly on bicycle safety. An author's note at the end reinforces the message. To Park's great credit, the lesson never dominates-the story reads not as a cautionary tale, but as a full-fledged and fully convincing drama. Ages 8-12. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
For eighth-grader Phoebe, remembering Mick, her younger brother who died in a bike accident, means remembering the funny, crazy, annoying things he used to do, such as asking for fly swatters for Christmas or tap-dancing on the piano at choir practice. Park skillfully interweaves humor and pain in this unique, utterly believable account of Phoebe's attempt to cope with a heartbreaking loss. From HORN BOOK 1995, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
It's always difficult reading about the death of a child, especially when he's ``one of the neatest kids you'd ever want to meet.'' That's how Phoebe Harte, 13, describes her slightly younger brother Mick, in a poignant story by a writer more associated with making readers laugh (Maxie, Rosie, and Earl--Partners in Grime, 1990, etc.) than cry. Phoebe tells readers right away that Mick has died from a head injury he suffered in a bike accident, but then interweaves the story of his life with the grief she and her parents endure afterward. What emerges is a portrait of an alternately charming and pesky brother, who is missed tremendously by his family, his friends, and his community. Park relieves the tragedy with side-splitting remembrances, all told in the wry, authentic voice of a young teenage girl. Phoebe decides to address her schoolmates at an assembly about the need for bike helmets, a message the author endorses with a personal note. But although the point comes through clearly, the book itself is not didactic. It is finally just a very moving story about a terrific 12-year-old boy. By the end of the book, readers miss him, too. (Fiction. 8-12)
Booklist Review
Gr. 5-7. Park turns her wry eye on a serious subject, the death of a sibling. With love, wit, and anger, 13-year-old Phoebe Harte describes her brother, Mick, and the effect his death has on the family. It is a bike accident that kills Mick, and Park does an excellent job of capturing the shock and dissociation that a sudden death can cause in survivors. There's so much here that rings true: what friends can (and cannot) do, the inevitable rantings against God, and the seesaw emotions experienced by the whole family. Where Park goes a bit over the top is in her description of Mick, a real wiseacre, who puts a ceramic eye in a defrosted chicken and goes trick-or-treating as Thomas Crapper, inventor of the toilet. Not that this isn't funny stuff, but Park's inflation of Mick oddly diminishes him. Still, there is a sea of real emotions here, and readers, whether they've been touched by death or not, will find themselves touched by this book. Park's author's-note plea for kids to wear bike helmets (such a helmet could have saved Mick) may now fall on responsive ears. (Reviewed Mar. 1, 1995)0679870881Ilene Cooper