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bickie's review against another edition
3.0
Difficult to envision what audience would love this book. I appreciated the kindness of Kevin, the firm-but-loving - and very imaginative - Captain, and the representation of gay, lesbian, incarcerated, and ailing adults. The chosen family anchored kind of by Kevin and Captain Jackie is messy but caring and beautiful. Kids have "ragers" (big tantrums), and Tash is no exception, except that hers causes a rift between her and her best friend . Tash apologizes in a letter from camp, but did Captain get the letter? What about the hurtful words she wrote on her bedroom wall? Did Captain see those? I really liked the interaction with Naomi, the bird manager, when Tash snarls at her and Tash observes to herself that people don't like snarlers unless they are snarlers themselves. Tash says she's sorry, though, and Naomi accepts that at face value. Nice Harry Potter references.
Spoiler
who ends up non-responsive and given up on life, making the rift something that never actually gets resolved or healedhayleybeale's review against another edition
4.0
This slight middle grade story packs a big emotional punch as it looks at how a young girl learns to cope with loss by leaning in to other people. See my full review here.
Thanks to Candlewick for the ARC.
Thanks to Candlewick for the ARC.
retiredlibrarylady's review against another edition
3.0
: A short read about a girl afraid to be alone … and the reader learns why. Her Uncle Kevin sends her to summer camp while he goes to New Zealand, and she actually enjoys it. However, when she comes home her day-care provider is missing. Turns out Captain Jackie has broken a hip and is in rehab and has given up. Tash fights that reality with every strategy she can command, but in the end the Captain is ready to go. Captain Jackie, it turns out, was in a lesbian relationship; her nephew, Nathan, is gay. This is a very minor sub-text to the story, which is more about dealing with childhood trauma and with death. A short, nicely written if not engrossing story about surviving the challenges that come in life.
rkiladitis's review against another edition
3.0
Eleven-year-old Tash is angry. She doesn't want to go to camp, but her Uncle Kevin needs to travel to Australia, and she and Cap'n Jackie, their friend and neighbor, clashed over the whole business. Tash ends up having a pretty good time at camp, after all, but returns home to find Cap'n Jackie gone: she's had a fall and is in the hospital, and Tash's world turns upside down overnight. She's determined to return a special key to Cap'n Jackie; one that opens up a magical world to her, and that'll make it all better. Cap'n Jackie even said so, so it has to be true, right?
The Key to Everything can be a bit hard to follow. We have Tash, seemingly abandoned by her mother and living her with uncle while her father is in jail. Kevin, who takes care of Tash, Cap'n Jackie, a loving and cantankerous older woman, and Nathan, Cap'n Jackie's nephew, who lives in New York, but comes back when Cap'n Jackie is hurt. We don't get a lot of exposition in this story, but we do learn that family is who you make it. Two major characters, Jackie and Nathan, are gay; something that's very lightly touched on, but it's nicely done. Tash suffers from PTSD and a fear of being alone, while Jackie struggled with agoraphobia. Readers have to put in a bit of work to make all the lines connect, but it's a solid read about family, grief, moving on, and growing up.
The Key to Everything can be a bit hard to follow. We have Tash, seemingly abandoned by her mother and living her with uncle while her father is in jail. Kevin, who takes care of Tash, Cap'n Jackie, a loving and cantankerous older woman, and Nathan, Cap'n Jackie's nephew, who lives in New York, but comes back when Cap'n Jackie is hurt. We don't get a lot of exposition in this story, but we do learn that family is who you make it. Two major characters, Jackie and Nathan, are gay; something that's very lightly touched on, but it's nicely done. Tash suffers from PTSD and a fear of being alone, while Jackie struggled with agoraphobia. Readers have to put in a bit of work to make all the lines connect, but it's a solid read about family, grief, moving on, and growing up.
thecampinglibrarian's review against another edition
2.0
Thank you #kidlitexchange for the opportunity to read and review this book. All opinions are my own. It wasn’t long into the book until I was really confused. As the reader I feel like I was thrust into a story that had already started and that I was missing what came before. I feel like the relationship between Tash and Cap’n Jackie could have been explored more. Very early on in the story we start getting letters being sent back and forth between three of the characters and once again I was confused because you haven’t been told much about their relationship beforehand. The book has two imaginary characters that just felt strange and out of place. The middle part of the book read well but I think a lot more work could have been done on the characters so the reader could become more invested in them.
littleelfman's review against another edition
4.0
I love the way Pat Schmatz's storytelling is never conventional, but never inaccessible. There's always another way of looking at the world.
ljrinaldi's review against another edition
3.0
Back when I was a kid, you could walk into a movie theatre at any time. You could be half way through the film, and you would sit through it, the lights would come on, and then the movie would play again, and you would get up and leave “where you came in”. It seems an odd way to watch movies, and Alfred Hitchcock was the first director that forbid people to do that, with Physcho.
I bring this up, not because this book like like an Alfred Hitchcock drama, but because I feel as though I have come into this book after it has started, and even at the end, I feel as though I am missing the beginning.
I almost feel as though there should be a cheat sheet.
Once the book starts the real story, then it goes pretty quickly, but it is this lack of knowing what is going on in the beginning that is frustrating. And it isn’t because the main character, Tash, doesn’t know, because she does. She knows who Vanessa and Nathan and Kevin, and all the characters are. And true, in normal conversation, you don’t go around introducing characters, if you are in the middle of them, but there are ways for authors to do that, which still help the reader.
And most of the story is from Tash’s point of view, except for one letter that is never sent, by the Captain. How are we reading it?
Captain Jackie is the lesbian next door, who takes care of Tash, while her “not-dad” Uncle Kevin, is at work. The story opens with Tash being angry at Jackie and being sent off to Summr Camp, because Kevin has to go to New Zealand, and she needs to be taken care of, and Captain Jackie can’t do it.
And the key is an old fashioned key that Captain Jackie and Tash have used to have magical adventures with, only, at the beginning of the story, Tash, who is going into 6th grade, thinks is too babyish, and doesn’t believe in anymore, so throws it at Captain Jackie.
There are many things going on in this book. I like that the LGBTQ factors of the story aren’t stressed, just part of every day life. Of course, this pushes them so far to the margin that the characters don’t notice they even exist, until the very end of the book.
There is also the fact that Tash’s father is in prison, for some reason, which is why Uncle Kevin is taking care of her, and she fears being abandoned. That is only brought up later in the book, instead of earlier, and using it for a theme.
There is also the theme of losing those around us. Captain Jackie has lost her partner, and her cat, and her adopted son, or nephew, and now only has Tash.
I’m not sure who this book is for, and I feel that we walked in half way through what is probably a very good movie. I enjoyed what I read of it. Now, I want the beginning of the book please.
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.
I bring this up, not because this book like like an Alfred Hitchcock drama, but because I feel as though I have come into this book after it has started, and even at the end, I feel as though I am missing the beginning.
I almost feel as though there should be a cheat sheet.
Once the book starts the real story, then it goes pretty quickly, but it is this lack of knowing what is going on in the beginning that is frustrating. And it isn’t because the main character, Tash, doesn’t know, because she does. She knows who Vanessa and Nathan and Kevin, and all the characters are. And true, in normal conversation, you don’t go around introducing characters, if you are in the middle of them, but there are ways for authors to do that, which still help the reader.
And most of the story is from Tash’s point of view, except for one letter that is never sent, by the Captain. How are we reading it?
Captain Jackie is the lesbian next door, who takes care of Tash, while her “not-dad” Uncle Kevin, is at work. The story opens with Tash being angry at Jackie and being sent off to Summr Camp, because Kevin has to go to New Zealand, and she needs to be taken care of, and Captain Jackie can’t do it.
And the key is an old fashioned key that Captain Jackie and Tash have used to have magical adventures with, only, at the beginning of the story, Tash, who is going into 6th grade, thinks is too babyish, and doesn’t believe in anymore, so throws it at Captain Jackie.
There are many things going on in this book. I like that the LGBTQ factors of the story aren’t stressed, just part of every day life. Of course, this pushes them so far to the margin that the characters don’t notice they even exist, until the very end of the book.
There is also the fact that Tash’s father is in prison, for some reason, which is why Uncle Kevin is taking care of her, and she fears being abandoned. That is only brought up later in the book, instead of earlier, and using it for a theme.
There is also the theme of losing those around us. Captain Jackie has lost her partner, and her cat, and her adopted son, or nephew, and now only has Tash.
I’m not sure who this book is for, and I feel that we walked in half way through what is probably a very good movie. I enjoyed what I read of it. Now, I want the beginning of the book please.
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.
epedrotti's review against another edition
5.0
While I truly enjoyed this book, (I read it in one sitting) I felt a bit confused about who some of the characters were. Some were mentioned often and the characters talking about them knew who they were, but the reader did not. I felt like younger readers may have a hard time discerning who these people are in the scope of the story. I did like the relationships between the characters, but was left wanting more as I felt like I was missing out on large pieces of information.
herbalmoon's review against another edition
1.0
This is one of those books where you're kind of concerned whether you'll like it when you start reading; you pause, check the other reviews, get more concerned...and finally find a reason for giving up.
For me, that reason was when the story ceased to be a story and started to be an epistle.
No thanks. Show, don't tell.
For me, that reason was when the story ceased to be a story and started to be an epistle.
No thanks. Show, don't tell.
loscamp4lyf's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
So cute, and had me weepy at the end.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent