Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that there is some mild swearing and violence here, and that children run away from home for several days, and one of them forever.
Families who read this book could discuss Yann's mute communication. How can someone communicate without speaking or writing? How much can be conveyed by facial and body language? Why are the brothers able to understand Yann, but not his parents? Readers may also want to read Hop o' My Thumb and compare it with this modern version.
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Matt Berman
This seamless translation from French, based on Perrault's Hop o' My Thumb, will, like so many European children's books, seem rather odd to American children. It has the same kind of disturbing ending as the movie Radio Flyer, and it leaves many questions unanswered. Why did Yann put his brothers through this ordeal? What will happen to him? This may be based on a fable, but it's not one of the happily-ever-after kind.
Told in first person, as if in testimony, from dozens of viewpoints -- the various brothers, parents, witnesses along the way, social worker, police, etc. -- it's well-written and engrossing, if somewhat, in the way of fables, emotionally distant. Yann is an enigmatic protagonist, and readers won't feel that they know him, or any of the other characters. The ending is open-ended, Yann's motives, both for the journey he leads his brothers on, and for his desire to continue west, are not clear, and ultimately this fascinating story leaves the reader vaguely unsettled and unsatisfied.
From The Book
I try to convince myself that this is all there was to his look back, but I know now that his eyes were telling me something else. Were shouting something else. And what they were shouting was Help me!
I didn't understand or didn't want to understand. I told myself that I would take care of things later, that it was one of those situations that could wait until the next day. But there was no next day.
Plot Summary:
Yann is the youngest of seven boys, the rest of whom are all twins. While his brothers are big and strong, Yann is as tiny as a toddler, mute as well, and brilliant. Resented by his angry and abusive parents, he communicates nonverbally with his brothers. One night, after overhearing his arguing parents, he tells his brothers that they are all in danger and must run away.
Heading out into a storm in the middle of the night, Yann leads them west, towards the ocean, and his brothers unquestioningly follow. They walk, hitch rides when they can, steal tickets, and take a train for part of the way. They beg and steal food and sleep where they can, while police search and their story is splashed all over the media.
Related Books:
Runaways:
Steal Away by Jennifer Armstrong
The Goats by Brock Cole
Slake's Limbo by Felice Holman
The Flight of the Doves by Walter Macken
The Dulcimer Boy by Tor Seidler
The Maestro by Tim Wynne-Jones
Max the Mighty by Rodman Philbrick
Related Web Sites
Hop o' My Thumb
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Sexual Content |
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ViolenceChild abuse, beating a bully, discussions of killing a litter of kittens, children are locked up in a house and almost die. |
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LanguageSome mild swearing: "bitch," "screwed." A boy makes rude gestures. |
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Message |
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Social BehaviorChildren run away (one of them permanently), hitchhike, steal. Parents despise their own child. The brothers look out for and care for each other. |
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Commercialism |
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Drug/Alcohol/Tobacco |
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