From: Steven Engelfried <sengelfried>
Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2003 12:16:32 -0800

Bruce Brooks' "What Hearts" is one book that examines coming of age themes (and a lot more) with a younger child, showing the same character at four stages, each time learning hard truths about his world and defining himself in how he responds. At 5
(or 6?) year old a very smart and completely confident boy is shattered by his parents' separation, but also already begins the hard process of coming to terms with it. In the second of the four stories he knows that his superior intelligence gives him power to manipulate others, but makes a decision not to be as cruel as he's tempted to be (choosing a poem he despises to avoid embarrassing a less gifted classmate). Each of the stories deals with disillusionment and the increased self-knowledge that can come with it. They show the complexity of the changes even young kids have to go through. The baseball story, where you find out at the end that his success at the sport and with his stepfather are just a fantasy, made impossible due to his mother's mental illness, is crushing (every time I read it I still hope it might be true this time). But there's another side to it, showing a child who has no choice but to accept the family he's got and reconizing the disappointment he'll always be vulnerable to (which hits him again in the fourth story). It's not the ending you wish for, but in reading it you see how resilient and courageous kids have to be.

- Steven Engelfried, Head of Youth Services
 Beaverton City Library
 12375 SW 5th Street
 Beaverton, OR 97005
 503R6%99
 sengelfried at ci.beaverton.or.us
Received on Mon 17 Nov 2003 02:16:32 PM CST