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A review by bethany_t
Prairie Ostrich by Tamai Kobayashi
5.0
How can dead be forever? She forgets sometimes and has to remind herself that dead is a hole in the ground. Dead is Mama raising Jesus in a baptism of whiskey and Papa in the ostrich barn and he won’t come out. “Olly olly oxen free.”
This book is everything to me. The first chapter is an emotional gut punch. I felt sad and sick (but in a good way, if that makes sense) as the story progressed. I teared up so many times throughout Chapter 1. For some reason, the part where the main character, Egg, takes one of her sister Kathy’s book just because she “likes to hold it” made me cry. Likewise, in Chapter 2 when Egg ponders the life and loneliness and tragedy of Anne Frank after Kathy begins reading her “The Diary of a Young Girl,” and Egg thinks that if Anne Frank were there in that moment that she’d share her rock candy stick with her... I’m not crying, you’re crying! Also, Kathy's retellings of “Charlotte’s Web” and “The Diary of a Young Girl” to avoid letting Egg know the sad endings. I was sobbing. This author knows emotion and was so successful in capturing and evoking it in these pages.
This book had a vise grip on my heart from start to finish. I just wanted to wrap Japanese-Canadian Egg up in a hug as she dealt with grade-school bullies, racism in 1970s Alberta, and the fallout of her brother Albert’s death. I was heartbroken over Egg’s complicated feelings as her family mourns, questioning why her being alive wasn’t enough to bring them some happiness. And within those larger emotional moments, the bits of humor and the matter-of-fact descriptions of the world through the eyes of an 8-year-old made me chuckle and laugh out loud. I have never been as quickly captivated by story as I was by this one.
Verdict
Going right to my favorites shelf. This book was beautiful.
So, who would enjoy this book?
Anyone who enjoys general fiction. Probably anyone who loved “Beartown” by Fredrik Backman. There are some tough topics tackled by the author, so I’d advise caution for those who are sensitive to reading about abuse, violence, racism and homophobia, and things that wander into the territory of suicide/self-harm.
Note on audiobook: Narrated by the author herself, it is a delight! She has joined my list for top narrators.
This book is everything to me. The first chapter is an emotional gut punch. I felt sad and sick (but in a good way, if that makes sense) as the story progressed. I teared up so many times throughout Chapter 1. For some reason, the part where the main character, Egg, takes one of her sister Kathy’s book just because she “likes to hold it” made me cry. Likewise, in Chapter 2 when Egg ponders the life and loneliness and tragedy of Anne Frank after Kathy begins reading her “The Diary of a Young Girl,” and Egg thinks that if Anne Frank were there in that moment that she’d share her rock candy stick with her... I’m not crying, you’re crying! Also, Kathy's retellings of “Charlotte’s Web” and “The Diary of a Young Girl” to avoid letting Egg know the sad endings. I was sobbing. This author knows emotion and was so successful in capturing and evoking it in these pages.
This book had a vise grip on my heart from start to finish. I just wanted to wrap Japanese-Canadian Egg up in a hug as she dealt with grade-school bullies, racism in 1970s Alberta, and the fallout of her brother Albert’s death. I was heartbroken over Egg’s complicated feelings as her family mourns, questioning why her being alive wasn’t enough to bring them some happiness. And within those larger emotional moments, the bits of humor and the matter-of-fact descriptions of the world through the eyes of an 8-year-old made me chuckle and laugh out loud. I have never been as quickly captivated by story as I was by this one.
Verdict
Going right to my favorites shelf. This book was beautiful.
So, who would enjoy this book?
Anyone who enjoys general fiction. Probably anyone who loved “Beartown” by Fredrik Backman. There are some tough topics tackled by the author, so I’d advise caution for those who are sensitive to reading about abuse, violence, racism and homophobia, and things that wander into the territory of suicide/self-harm.
Note on audiobook: Narrated by the author herself, it is a delight! She has joined my list for top narrators.