Yes, the rain came and I knew I'd spend most of Wednesday indoors...in my office (cough cough, front porch) finishing The Parker Inheritance by Varian Johnson. I stayed up late Tuesday night after Yolie's NCTE interview trying to finish his middle-grade book. I didn't succeed, and as soon as I woke up my first thought was, "What will Candice and Brandon learn about James Parker today? What else will they learn about Lambert, South Carolina? How will race relations be resolved (well, contemplated)? What about Danielle?"
Phew. I sort of grew irritable with anything that stood in my way. I had several obligations in the morning, and even more in the evening, but I did hunker down in the afternoon rain to finish the book.
Want to know my final analysis?
Well, it's easy. Whenever I read a book that makes me think, "Damn. My mom needs to read this. She'll love it" (I can never thank my mother enough for modeling the importance of reading as a child), I know I've hit gold. This was true for Kwame's books and especially true for anything by Matt de la Peña! I'm not sure The Parker Inheritance will steal her heart away like We Were Here did, but I think it has a chance. Why? It's brilliant. And I also know my mother will read Varian Johnson, calling me with questions, curiosities, and wonders just like I did. That's what good writers do. They make their readers think.
I'm not one for detective stories or mysteries, although I've occasionally picked one up and thought, "I should read more of these." Perhaps it's because I pick up a book to be entertained and to have my reality stolen, more than I seek to be stumped, puzzled, and challenged. Ah, Scholastic won with this one...hands down, The Parker Inheritance was one of the best reads of my year. It's not easy - I found myself taking notes, doing math, leaving the text to do Google searches, and coming back to the story, all so I could follow the narrative, but also stay atop of the clues being left to the kids (and through the brilliant narration).
I loved everything about the book, especially the interrogation of history, of time, of cross-generational narratives, and especially the pursuit of truth. In addition (I may be off base here), but Varian Johnson wrote quite the romance novel, too - dang, he might want to meet up with Candice's mom and give her a point or two. I'm a sucker for could-of-been stories: Siobhan and Reggie. Dang. Just dang.
Seriously, the one thing I kept thinking as I read The Parker Inheritance is that all over the United States, there are kids like Candice and Brandon who are flocking to their public libraries looking for the next great book to read. These are voracious readers who eat-up stories, revisit them over and over again, and who live through characters, settings, and possibilities. I'm not sure if Varian Johnson will ever experience the tremendous impact his writing will REALLY have on kids...the fact that his accomplishment is the same that Ellen Raskin accomplished with The Westing Game..but it's coming. Throughout my reading, I earmarked pages, underlined text, placed stars, and collected notes trying to piece together the ending. I love any book that crafts an ending better than I can imagine it to be.
Yes, Scholastic billed this as a kids book, but it's quite sophisticated and will give most adults a challenge, too. It is timely, clever, smart, extremely well-written, and alluring.
MUST MUST MUST READ.
I know this, because last night before Dr. Sealey-Ruiz was doing her thing, someone saw me reading The Parker Inheritance in the background and wondered what was capturing my interest so much. As I went off of mute and started talking about the story, I noticed that several (including the guest of honor) began taking notes about what I was saying. It's been two years since its original publication, but something tells me this book is going to see a resurrection of interest again and again and again.
Mr. Varian Johnson...I look forward to meeting you some day. And now, I need to read more of your books!
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