Laurie Halse
Anderson
Seventeen-year-old Hayley has been travelling with her father Andy for
years now; when they finally settle down in her late grandmother’s house, his
memories have a chance to catch up with him. Andy is a war veteran scarred and
damaged by his experiences, and Hayley’s upbringing has left her with scars of
her own.
This book deals with memories—the ones we keep, the ones we hide from
others, the ones we hide from ourselves.
Andy: Odysseus
had twenty years to shed his battle skin. My grandfather left the battlefield
in France and rode home in a ship that crawled across the ocean slowly so he
could catch his breath. I get on a plane in hell and get off, hours later, at
my home.
Anderson’s characters are vivid and real, and as always, she isn’t
afraid to tackle difficult subject matter. In this book, it’s Andy’s PTSD and
substance abuse, and Hayley’s learning how to cope with that and when to ask
for help. Who to push away and who to hold close. None of the decisions are
easy, and nothing feels pat.
It sounds dark, and while the book does go to some dark places, there’s
lightness in there too, with funny banter between the characters and a great,
believable teen voice.
Hayley: You
know how some babies are blessed by good fairies when they’re born, fairies
with names like Beauty and Brains and Kindness and Laughter? I was blessed by
their evil underworld troll cousins, Gawky and Awkward. I stared at him and my
troll fairies whacked me upside the head with their pointy wands, making me
spectacularly… gawkward.
Strong writing, a resonant story and characters you’ll be thinking about
long after you’ve closed the book combine to make Anderson’s The Impossible Knife of Memory a great
read for teens and adults.
Erin Thomas writes (and reads!) books for
kids and teens from her home in Whitby, Ontario. For more information, visit www.erinthomas.ca.
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