Teens have a tough time being who they are or who they want to be. Gae Polisner knows that, has written a poignant story of one struggling high school senior, Klee, whose father is so important to him, an artist who gave it up to make a better living as a lawyer. But as an artist at home, he spent special time telling Klee stories, teaching him about artists and art. He did that until he died.
Now Klee had not only to give up his life with his father, but his mother forced him to move to the suburbs from NYC with its city life full of his friends and museums. In his new school, he’s isolated, not much caring about making new friends. After all, he’ll be out of there soon and off to college. But, in his art class is a girl named Sarah, wild and free, the only thing in Klee’s new life that brings some happiness. He’s hurting, but with her, he’s finding solace. Polisner handles the scenes with complexity. The plot moves from the bigger crisis, back to the story’s beginning, then to another place in time, back and forth in Klee’s life that keeps your heart in your throat, wondering, as teens will, “OMG, that is what’s going to happen”. It felt sad to read of Klee’s sinking emotions, soaring up when he exuded happiness, only to sink again.
All this time Klee was hiding all the hard emotions of loss and anger, and when still another betrayal occurs, he lands in the “Ape Can”, a psychiatric hospital for teens. Piece by piece he learns to look closely at the real and the fiction with his therapist, a wise woman who helps him navigate the hard truths and learn to celebrate the good. It’s a great story, one that I recognized connecting to a few of my own students in various times of my teaching life. What will it do for students? It may show them that they are not the only one who has feelings like Klee, that if they don’t feel those feelings, they might know someone who does, someone who needs help. You might yourself know a child or adult who’s struggling. Reading Klee’s story will aid understanding.
It's always interesting to read about the ways other people live, how they keep links out of need, forge links that help, make mistakes, and finally, finally realize they've ignored the one person they couldn't have survived without. It helps to reflect upon one's own life and the connections kept and also broken. If that sounds too mysterious, then read this memoir, see what you wonder about this life, then your own.
Brian Selznick and David Serlin did not disappoint. This is a book for all, but a special surprise for beginning readers. I bought it for my youngest granddaughter in kindergarten. It was time for her Tuesday visit, I gave it to her, and she read all the way through. Then, she turned to the beginning and started again. She said, she'd never thought she was ready for a real chapter book! I imagine she’s been watching others, like her older sister, read those “long” books and wished she could too. With pictures like we love from Brian Selznick, a very fun story and repetitive phrases of rather easy vocabulary and a few 'new' challenges, delights come on every single page. It’s terrific!
