Standing in BookPeople last spring with Rachelle and Cyndi, looking over the Blind Date With a Book shelf and trying to decide which brown paper wrapped package to pick up was a hard decision–but a fun one. You would think there would be less pressure, but there was more pressure for me. I’m not good at surprises. I’m the kind who hates birthdays and shamefully unwrapped and rewrapped Christmas packages as a kid when I thought no one was looking. The suspense is just too much for me. So, standing there with no book blurb or cover art to look at was rough.
The top of one brown paper package (that wasn’t tied up with string–clear tape, the 21st-century fastener is not as musical) had the words “YA-15 and up” written in grass green marker. I thought that was a nice hint that it would be a book I could read and recommend to my students since I teach students who are mostly 15+.
Before Rache
lle and I left town that day, we all opened our packages. I was not quite sure what to think of my book. Dear Fang, With Love. Even without the brown paper, I had very little evidence to suggest what I might find behind the salmon cover. The uncorrected softbound proof had nothing on the back to hint at whether on not it was a vampire or dog book. Since I was in the middle of my master’s paper, I knew it would be awhile before I would peel back that pink cover.
Neither. Once my summer cleared I found it was neither vampire nor dog related. Without giving too much away, I can say that Fang is just a character’s name. Although this book was not what I suspected it would be, I was pretty sure I was going to find it interesting just by reading the poem teasing me into chapter one:
Meaning
–When I die, I will see the lining of the world.
The other side, beyond bird, mountain, sunset.
The true meaning, ready to be decoded.
What never added up will add up,
What was incomprehensible will be comprehended.
–And if there is no lining to the world?
If a thrush on a bush is not a sign,
But just a thrush on the branch? If night and day
Make no sense following each other?
And on this earth there is nothing except this earth?
–Even if that is so, there will remain
A word wakened by lips that perish,
A tireless messenger who runs and runs
Through interstellar fields, through the revolving galaxies,
And calls out, protests, screams.
After reading the book, I found the last two lines as a perfect metaphor for the protagonist–her cries for the help and attention she craves and needs from her dysfunctional, disassociated parents.
As I progressed through the book, I began to wonder whether it fit into the YA category its brown paper wrapping suggested in the store. There are several f-bombs and sexual discussions as well as underage alcohol use. I understood why the YA reference BookPeople wrote on the wrapping had the provision of 15 and up, it was not a Harry Potter-like read (although all the HP books have found their way onto many banned lists). But, where is the line between YA and adult literature? I guess that’s where well-read and informed adult guidance is important to young readers.
I may be cautious in which young reader I recommend this book, but the storyline’s tie to childhood mental illness and drug use makes it an important book for readers who are closer to the protagonist’s older teen age–as well as the adults who love and care for them.
Pen & Pals 