In the Path of Falling Objects by Andrew Smith
Feiwel and Friends –
Sept 29, 2009
Facebook: Yes
Twitter: @marburyjack
Source: Own
Rating: Excellent and
emotional read
Read what this book is about here.
I participated in the Andrew Smith Saturdays, hosted by: Roof Beam Reader, Not Now I'm Reading, Smash Attack Reads and Lady Reader's Bookstuff
Jonah and
Simon has had a pretty hard life. Their older brother, Matthew, is deployed in
the Vietnam War. Their father is in a prison and their selfish mother has
abandoned them to life and their own devices. In an attempt to dodge the system
and to stay together, they take off where they hope to reunite with Matthew and
see their father. Along the way they meet some interesting people and discover
what it means to be family and what it means to be brothers.
This is the
first time that I’ve been on one of Andrew Smith’s journeys and I have to admit
that I an really impressed. Jonah and Simon’s story is heartbreaking, torturous
and revealing. They meet an array of
characters that all tug at you for attention. Mitch and Lilly are the first
pair that they encounter. Though Mitch and Lilly offer them a ride, it comes at
a price. As Mitch’s craziness and Lilly’s manipulation is revealed, Jonah and
Simon learn just how dangerous their situation has become. Even at the end of
the book I am still sitting on the middle of the fence about Lilly. She is
definitely manipulative but she is also a victim of her situation and Mitch. I
wish that I could say that I really loved or really hated her, but I can’t. Her
emotions and self doubt bled through the pages , she was as undecided as I was,
and it came through.
Mitch is
crazy with whole dose of psychotic. I could elaborate, say it in a different
way but it would be the same. He’s not all there. This makes him interesting in
a gross fascination kind of way. He’s unpredictable and dangerous, which makes
him all the more alluring. Just when you
think that nothing good could befall Jonah and Simon, Dalton (and his family)
and Walker come into the picture. Dalton
and Walker are then encircled in the madness of Mitch. Walker and Dalton reintroduces hope to the
story. It wasn’t the quick band-aid type of hope. It was the type that gave
Jonah and Simon the strength to find each other. Without Walker and Dalton I
believe their situation and Mitch would have destroyed them both.
Recommendation: This is a great introduction to
Andrew Smith’s work. Smith is definitely an author to watch.
What’s Next? In July we read Stick and in Augst we
will be reading Ghost Medicine
Always Shine,
Starr K
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