Archives

A Song for Bijou by Josh Farrar

Oct16

I know all about girls who are boy-crazy. Some of my friends in junior high seemed to change overnight into make-up slathering, giggling, boy-watching, clothes horse, obsessives. However, Alex Shrader is a change from the old female heartsick for boys protagonist. He’s a seventh grade boy who’s recently become absolutely fixated on girls, and within the first few paragraphs of the story Alex becomes fixated on one girl in particular, the new girl at St. Catherine’s School, Bijou, who’s newly arrived from Haiti.

Bijou on the other hand, is NOT interested in having Alex or anyone else for a boyfriend. She has just come to New York City to live with her very strict Uncle Pierre and Aunt Marie Claire, and she couldn’t meet with a boy, even if she wanted to, which she doesn’t. Haitian tradition doesn’t allow young girls to spend time with anyone outside the family, not even girlfriends, much less boys, so budding romance just isn’t a possibility.

But of course, this is a romance novel, so love triumphs over all obstacles: Alex’s awkward shyness and inexperience, Bijou’s lack of interest in romance, Bijou’s strict family rules, Alex’s immature friends and enemies, the fact that the two middle school students go to different schools, etc. Lots of obstacles. Nevertheless, I was rooting for Alex because he is such a gentleman.

And I’m rooting for this middle grade novel, even though it has a few barriers to success, too. The cover picture is adorable, but I’m a girl. Are guys, even girl-crazy guys going to carry around a book with an “adorable” cover like this one? OK, so say the male readership buys their copies on an ereader. There are still a few awkward scenes and bits of dialog. For example, Bijou asks herself, about one of the girls who has been making fun of her, but is now almost in tears after a war of words: “Is she so filled with hate, she can’t enjoy her victory for even a moment?” What does that mean? Wouldn’t some one who is filled with hate enjoy her victory (in an argument) all the more?

There are few other false notes in this otherwise lovely song for Bijou, but I just skipped over those. Alex is so goofy and sweet, and Bijou is so reserved and mysterious. It really is a good match, and who can resist young love between two awkward adolescents in New York City? Well, probably lots of people can resist, but I was hooked. The fact that Bijou is from Haiti and that Haitian culture is featured prominently in the story helped the appeal. I like learning about other cultures alongside my book characters.

So if you’re interested in rara music, drumming, Haiti, first love, middle school drama, Haitians, Dominicans, and Jamaicans in the U.S., or none of the above, you might enjoy A Song for Bijou. This middle grade novel has been nominated for the Cybils Award in the category of Middle Grade Fiction. The thoughts in this review are my own and do not reflect the thoughts or evaluations of the Cybils panel or of any other Cybils judge.

Heroes for Haiti

Jan27

Haitian Doctor Takes 100 Patients into his Home. “The injured sing Christian hymns as they huddle close together beneath sheets strung up as tents, but the earthquake still haunts them. Aftershocks rattled the city as recently as Friday morning.”

Couple Donate Wedding Reception Money to Haiti: “Guests at the Bogen-Nicholson wedding in June will have an interesting tidbit when they describe the couple’s big day: The bride and groom served peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.”

Matt and Mandy Poulter bring Maya home. They’re members of an E-free church, and they homeschool their five children. Yeah!

Reading Through Haiti

Jan24

Mitali Perkins gives us Kid and YA books set in Haiti.

Amy Wilentz’s Haiti Booklist These books look as if they mostly deal with Haiti from a liberal, US-bashing point of view, but they’re filled with solid history and ambience, too.
“There is a surprising amount of stuff written by Haitians and others about the country–libraries full of it. Haiti’s writing elite is prolific, and the people who love Haiti for some reason are often writers.”

Other selections:
Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder. I read this book about American philanthropist Paul Farmer back in 2006, but didn’t review it. I think that’s because I had mixed feelings about it. Mr. Farmer sounds like a hard man to know, but one you would want on your side in a crunch. He’s obviously dedicated to the eradication of tuberculosis and to relieving poverty, and most of his work has been in Haiti.

Brother, I’m Dying by Edwidge Danticat. “In a single day in 2004, Danticat learns that she’s pregnant and that her father, André, is dying—a stirring constellation of events that frames this Haitian immigrant family’s story.” The Haitian bornDanticat has written several novels and other books set in and around Haiti, including Breath, Eyes, Memory and The Dew Breaker.

Tonight By Sea by Frances Temple. “When the brutal macoute regime in Haiti kills her friend Jean-Desir, Paulie realizes that she must do more than flee, and she sets upon a dangerous course to make her community’s plight known.”