A review by ljrinaldi
The Key to Every Thing by Pat Schmatz
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.