You know how everyone has words they don't like? Well maybe you don't understand, but I really don't like the word biscuit in certain contexts. "Nice biscuits." Or beefsteak. Even nugget. Makes me cringe. Anyway, there's a point here, I promise! In this book, Miles from Ordinary by Carol Lynch Williams, the main character uses the words "mama" and "granddaddy" so many times and each time, for some reason I cringe and I wish she's just say MOM and GRANDPA! "Mama" reminds me of Little House on the Prairie (not that I ever watched it...seriously) or country bumpkin-living. Call me overly critical, but it bugged me every time!
This book is about a 14-year old girl, Lacey, who lives with her MAMA Angela who is simply crazy. It's evident she has mental health problems, basing her whole life on the advice her dead father's (GRANDDADDY's....ugh) ghost gives her. Examples: they can't open the windows because the evil spirits will come in, they have to stockpile food because the world is going to come to an end, and they can't turn lights on. She has also been known to wander around the neighborhood and glare in the neighbors' windows. Yup, she's the freak of the neighborhood, the one everyone whispers about. And poor Lacey has to act like the parent in the house, always taking care of her mother and never having a life of her own.
Most of the book is about Lacey dealing with her mother's state-of-mind and behaviors. She helps to get her mom a job at a local grocery store and when Lacey goes to meet her at the end of her mom's first shift, her mom has disappeared. Lacey searches all over for her, with the help of her first real friend (a boy from school who started talking to her on the bus that day). All of the whining on Lacey's part during the search is really annoying, but at least it leads to a surprising ending, the best part of the book.
In the midst of all this chaos, there are many flashbacks to earlier conversations and events in Lacey and Angela's lives, including many with Aunt Linda, Angela's sister who used to live with them. Aunt Linda was the best thing in Lacey's life, a true mom-like figure, so it scarred Lacey deeply when Angela kicked her out a year ago.
Overall, the plot isn't very complex, although you do really get to see how Lacey became so introverted and timid so props to the author for showing what a parent's mental health problem can do to a child. I'm hesitant to say Lacey is a very dynamic character though; she does make a friend, and she eventually recognizes she needs help finding her mom, but overall she seems static, even at the very end with some comments she makes.
Okay, I haven't complained too much about this book yet so I don't want you to be surprised at the low grade I'm about to give it. Complaints begin here: it's whiny. It's generally shallow. The focus on Aunt Linda leaving gets dragged out through the whole book. The relationship with Lacey's new boy friend seems completely unrealistic and cheesy. Did I mention it's whiny?
Themes: mental illness, depression, children taking on parents' roles, seeking help, escape
Would interest: girls who don't like deep books, someone who wants a fairly quick and easy read
Good for: girls grades 8-10
My grade: C+
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