Friday, June 1, 2007

Johnny Kellock Died Today by Hadley Dyer

This book also won the Canadian Library Association book of the year award - this one won in the Children's Division and was an honor book in the Young Adult Division.

I have more mixed feelings about this book. I think it has to do with the fact that the plot was rather convoluted. Ostensibly, the book is about a young girl, Rosalie, who is the baby of a very large family. She likes to draw and unthinkingly leaves her colored pencils on the steps where her mother trips on them and breaks her ankle. But there are many subplots having to do with the Catholic boy in the neighborhood who comes to help out while the mother is laid up; the next older sister, whose wanderings around the neighborhood draw Rosalie's attention; the relationships among the older married siblings and their parents, etc., etc.

And, of course, there is the quesiton about why the book is called Johnny Kellock Died Today. Johnny is mentioned, but seems to be no more important than any of the other members of the extended family. Until the end, when you find out what happened.

!!! SPOILER ALERT !!!
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
And now, I am going to include some information about the ending. In the end, we find out that Johnny hasn't really died, he has run away from his abusive father. His mother escapes, too, and comes to live with her sister, Rosalie's mother.

Now, this is a relatively gentle way to deal with child and marital abuse, but since it is only apparent at the very end that we are not dealing with death, but rather abuse, it forces the reader to consider parallels between the two. That is a pretty heavy and confusing message to give to kids. And it is doubly confusing, because we never really know what is happening until the very end.

I liked the book; I like the characters and their interactions. But there were so many of them, I sort of felt that we didn't really get to know them very well. We see snippets of people here and there - and it eventually adds up. But, for me, it was a bit spare - I could have used more explanation, more feel for the characters and their personalities.

No comments:

Post a Comment