Visit the Penguin RandomHouse Canada site for more details or get the audiobook on Audible. You can also check out the unabridged audiobook version. Susin Nielsen deftly combines humor, heartbreak and hope in this moving story about people who slip through the cracks in society and about the power of friendship and community in making all the difference. Winning the cash prize could make everything okay again. He is determined to get a spot on the show. If he does, she warns him, he’ll be taken away from her and placed into foster care.Īs their circumstances go from bad to worse, Felix gets a chance to audition for a junior edition of Who What Where When. Astrid swears him to secrecy he can’t tell anyone about their living arrangement, not even Dylan and Winnie, his best friends at his new school.
His mom Astrid is loving, but can’t hold onto a job. When they get evicted from their latest apartment, they move into a Westfalia van. I was pleased with her We Are All Made of Molecules novel but this book solidified my interest in her future stories.ABOUT THE NORTH AMERICAN EDITION | ABOUT THE UK EDITION PEEK INSIDE THIS BOOK I READ ABOUT THE INSPIRATION BEHIND THE BOOKġ2-and-three-quarter-year-old Felix Knutsson has a knack for trivia, and his favorite game show is Who What Where When he’s even named his gerbil after the host. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the characters and found Susin Nielsen’s writing charming once again. And he has his intelligence, which may just be the answer to his and his mom’s problems. This story may seem like the complete opposite of a ‘‘feel good’’ one but that isn’t true.
It’s true that these two have a van, which may be better than not having anything at all, but they don’t have a bathroom, they don’t have a kitchen, they don’t have warmth because the car can’t be on all night, they don’t have space… It’s not ideal and it’s not the place for a boy and an adult. Not only is Felix and his mom’s situation put in context, the author also describes what it’s like not have a house. This can go both ways: sometimes you’re at the bottom and are able to climb to the top sometimes you’re at the top and sliding to the bottom, unable to stop your feet from hitting the ground. The truth is that you never know what can happen. Yes, Felix is living in a van and that’s a problem, but the author takes us back to the beginning to make us understand how this boy and his mother Astrid lost everything. What I like most is that she doesn’t simply throw us in a situation. And yet, Susin Nielsen tries… and, in my opinion, does a superb job of discussing them. It isn’t easy to talk about controversial subjects like poverty and homelessness to a middle grade audience. I admire the hell out of Susin Nielsen for tackling the topics she does.
Genres & Themes: Middle Grade, Contemporary, Friendship, Family, Social Issues, Competition
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