Aside from naming conventions, the book subscribes to the white default. Will he become that kind of person again? Set in the present day and told in the alternating voices of Chase and several classmates, this finding-your-middle-school-identity story explores provocative territory. As his memories slowly return and he begins to piece together his former life, he’s appalled. Chase voluntarily continues visiting the nursing home where he’d been ordered to do community service before his fall, making a special friend of a decorated Korean War veteran. He shoots videos with former bullying target Brendan Espinoza and even with Shoshanna Weber, who’d hated him passionately for persecuting her twin brother, Joel. Temporarily barred from football because of his concussion, he finds a new home in the video club and, over time, develops a new reputation. Other classmates seem fearful he doesn’t know why. Two, Bear Bratsky and Aaron Hakimian, seem to be special friends, but he’s not sure what they share. The football players can hardly wait for him to come back to lead the team. When he returns to Hiawassee Middle School, everything and everyone is new. That’s the question eighth-grade football captain Chase Ambrose has to answer for himself after a fall from his roof leaves him with no memory of who and what he was. Unfortunately, in explaining the book’s context, the author’s note prefacing the story asks readers, “What if you lived in a garbage dump?” and “Worse, what if you couldn’t read?” which has the effect of othering the protagonists.Ī story of survival that is most effective when it comes to showing the power of reading. Most powerful here is the matryoshka-doll–like format of stories within stories that highlight the power of literacy. In this way, she begins to take control for his part, her husband, Ki Lim, carries a knife to defend their family from gangs. As Sang Ly haltingly learns to read from Sopeap, she becomes determined to give her ailing son an education and starts to interpret the world through the written word. This marks the beginning of a genuine relationship between the two, a journey through language and literature. Sang Ly’s life turns a corner when she offers Sopeap Sin, “a bitter, angry woman” who collects rent from the dump’s residents for local landlords, a discarded children’s book in lieu of payment.
Sang Ly, the woman at the heart of the story, says, “The clock is broken, so its time never changes.” This is a metaphor for her life in Stung Meanchey, where she sorts through the trash for recyclables and endures daily struggles.
Inspired by a true story, this young readers’ edition of a 2012 title for adults focuses on a family living in a large garbage dump on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
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