Select language, opens an overlay

Comment

Community comment are the opinions of contributing users. These comment do not represent the opinions of Washington County Cooperative Library Services.
Apr 02, 2019Tigard_HollyCP rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Poignant story about almost 13-year-old Felix and his experience with homelessness. He and his mom live out of a Volkswagen Westfalia, which is pretty nice as vans go, but not so nice as homes go. Felix narrates the story, and most of the book is him relaying his story to a constable at the police station, but you don’t know what has brought him there and whether he and/or his mom may be under suspicion for anything. His mom cannot seem to hold down a job due to her “slumps” and her tendency to say things that lead to her often being fired, which ultimately led to their current situation. Felix has changed schools several times but is ecstatic when his mom lies Felix’s way into a French immersion school where his best friend he hasn’t seen in 2 years attends (actually, the opposite of ecstatic about the lie itself, but he couldn’t be happier with the result of the lie). Though he holds onto hope that his mom will find a job and be able to afford rent, he realizes he may have to be the one to actually make it happen. And when the brand new junior version of his favorite game show comes to town, the opportunity presents himself. With $25,000, they could get a place and be set for at least the next year. Though Felix never expressly says, it is clear that his mother suffers from mental illness (as a former mental health therapist, I would guess depression and probably a personality disorder). The author even manages to include bits on the plight of Syrian refugees, the effect of theft on small business owners, and Felix’s relationship with his gay dad.