Paper Things

Reviewed by: Jill O'Connor - North Yarmouth Academy, Yarmouth, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: June 1, 2015

Review

2015, An engaging and well-written middle-grade novel that tells an unusual story, that of a girl who is rendered homeless when she and her 19-year-old brother try to make it on their own after the death of their mother. Ari and Gage live with a guardian and family friend, who is doing her best to care for them, but Gage bristles at the guardian's rules and tries to fend for himself; his sister, 11-year-old Ari is ripped from her mostly-comfortable life so that the two can "stick together" the way that their dying mama wished. The only thing that connects Ari to her past life is her folder of "paper things" which she has cut out of catalogues for many years, creating a kind of paper doll house populated with "people" who bring her comfort. The book is by Maine author Jacobson and if you know Portland well, the story moves around the city to many familiar landmarks and venues. There is even a mention of a student in Ari's class, Catherine McAuley, which is the name of an all-girl high school in Portland. This familiar setting heightened my enjoyment as I could picture just how far Ari and Gage had to go some mornings after sleeping on a couch, or in a storage unit, to get to school and work. There are so many familiar themes in the book, trying to fit in, bullying, family ties, but the struggle of the main character to deal with these common middle school issues while trying to keep a clean shirt tucked into her backpack and to eat breakfast each day added a layer to the book that really made it stand out. A must-read for teachers and young readers who need to be reminded that not all students deal with the same level of problems and the front that they present may not always tell the whole story. Recommend for Cream and for all MG collections.

Overall Book Score: excellent