Finest Kind [Hardcover]

You know, there's a reason Frances Hodgson Burnett's, "A Little Princess" is considered a classic. Wait! Come back! I know I'm supposed to be reviewing "Finest Kind" by Lea Wait but just bear with me a second here while I make my point. Ahem. As I said before, there's a reason people love "A Little Princess". There's something wholly entrancing with a tale in which a child grows up surrounded by wealth and privilege only to find their world come crashing down around their ears. The riches to rags tale is just as interesting as the rags to riches tales out there, and not nearly as common. Lea Wait presents us an entirely different take on the genre with a book that's part riches to rags and part survival story. For historical fiction fans, the day-to-day living exemplified in "Finest Kind" will appeal to those who wish they lived in the past. It's a perfectly nice story, though there's not much to set it apart from the pack.

In the midst of The Panic of 1837, Jake Webber has just discovered that his father, a banker, is out of a job. Penniless and without options, Jake's family moves to northern Maine from their Boston home to start life anew. Part of that new life includes hiding Frankie. Frankie is Jake's younger brother who suffers from cerebral palsy in a time when not a lot of children survived that disease. With his father away earning money for the family and his mother always at home tending to Frankie, it's up to Jake to find a way to help his family survive the fast approaching cold winter months. He's going to have to make some friends, including his neighbor Nabby and a simple man named Simon, if he and those he loves are ever going to manage to stick it out in Maine.

There is much to admire in Wait's choice of language. The book is a simple one, but there are some lovely little passages in it that will be appreciated by the canny child reader. At one point Naddy is describing a local woman of Penobscot descent. "She told me her people were like barnacles, clinging to the land and rocks of Maine as the winds gusted and seas crashed over them. Sometimes it seemed impossible that they'd survive. But barnacles are strong, and take their food from the waters, so without tides they would die." Passages like this one make the reading all that much more enjoyable.

Sometimes the story is more simplistic than it needs be, though. The problem with the character of Jake is that he's just a little too perfect. Here's a rich boy from Boston who used to have servants and a house with twelve rooms. Suddenly all that's gone and he's stuck in the wilderness, having to scrape by a living for himself, his mother, and his little brother entirely on his own. You'd think he'd show some human weaknesses once in a while. Maybe an unkind word to his mother when he's tired or some residual snobbery from his old life. Instead, the closest Jake comes to an outburst is when he rightfully berates his father for not returning home as soon as possible near the end of the book. Or when he punches a bully who has scattered his money. Jake's easy to root for, sure, but his perfection actually serves to make him unsympathetic. I would much rather have seen him undergo a transformation of character like that of Esperanza in Pat Ryan's, "Esperanza Rising". Ah well.

It's a well put together book and Wait offers a somewhat intense Historical Notes section at the story's end that serves to explain some of the background behind the events in this tale. It's a perfectly nice story and it'll fit in nicely on library shelves countrywide. It is not, however, a necessary read. Pleasant but not groundbreaking. A best purchase for those kids that want something akin to "Worth" by A. LaFaye.

This is the best kind of historical fiction--convincing, compelling, and enlightening. The reader comes away, not only with a better understanding of mid-19th century American life, but also a better understanding and appreciation of life today. Highly recommended.

Jake Webber moves from Boston with his parents. Their fortunate life dissolved due to the Panic of 1837. Their cousin promises Jake father a job at the mill in town and find them a dilapidated home to live in. Jake meets some people in the area and attempts to make sure he, his mother and brother with severe cerebral palsy to eat while his father lives in town to work. Jake learns much about getting food and preparing extras for the winter. The occurrences during the events of the book indicate Jake to be a brave and intelligent young man.

The story relates about the new boy in the area and hiding secrets within a family. Due to others in Boston being frightened and misunderstandings about Jake's brother, the family hides the brother from others. The mother handles the disabled boy overwhelmed by many seizures mostly by herself but with some assistance from Jake. Many children born with disabilities were hidden during this era and throughout history.

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