Books in Canada
The narrative is like a dream--characters are never properly introduced and haunt Tom like ghosts. Throughout the first half of the book, Tom is overcome with a sick feeling that Leavitt calls “gravity”. It is unclear what she means by this. Some will appreciate the idea that Tom feels invisible and prefers to remain so, but this concept will likely cost her other readers.
Tom begins to “find” himself one morning when he meets an old man named Samuel Wolflegs who asks him to help him look for his son Daniel. Tom becomes convinced that the search for Daniel will also answer some of his own questions. With his notebook, pen and knapsack in hand, Tom begins searching.
Leavitt discretely relies on the popular ideas of “creative visualization”, the idea that with the right attitude, one can achieve one’s goals. Even Teen readers have been “Chicken-Soup-for the Soul-ed” enough to be aware-at least on a superficial level-of this concept.
Tom has a supernatural gift; he is able to use his pen to create what he desires. He writes that he found money and then he finds it. The more Tom begins to discover about himself, the more he writes, and thus the characters he encounters become less illusive and dreamy and more concrete and recognizable. It is thus that he discovers the truth, and gets past the illusions he had created about his home life, finally coming to understand why he forced himself to forget it. Still, the ending may not have offer sufficient “closure” for some readers.
M.J. Fishbane (Books in Canada)
Review
"Provides an eye-opening view of the hardships of those less fortunate whom we often ignore."
-- Kliatt
"A coming of age story with the threads of two mysteries woven through."
-- Resource Links
Product Description
Winner of the Benjamin Franklin Award in the category of Juvenile-Young Adult Fiction!
Winner of the Mr. Christie's Book Award!
Shortlist for the 2004 Canadian Library Association Young Adult Canadian Book Award
Ontario Library Association's Golden Oak Award winner, 2005
This riveting story is about a fifteen-yearold boy who, as the story opens, realizes he has no idea who he is-beyond his first name-or what has led to his loss of memory. From the outset, he's on the run, a street kid thrust out on his own, living by
his wits and involved in a quest to find another lost teenager whose First Nations father is desperate for news of his son. In the process, he learns to survive and begins to get a sense of his strengths and character.
