Overview
Madge is biraccial and her light brown skin has made her feel like an outcast, until she spends a week with her cousin in New York City. There she befriends a small boy with skin the color of her own and no one to care for him. On impulse, Madge takes the boy back home with her. Ultimately, she finds that caring for a child isn't easy, and neither is finding a middle ground between love and indifference.
Synopsis
Madge is biraccial and her light brown skin has made her feel like an outcast, until she spends a week with her cousin in New York City. There she befriends a small boy with skin the color of her own and no one to care for him. On impulse, Madge takes the boy back home with her. Ultimately, she finds that caring for a child isnat easy, and neither is finding a middle ground between love and indifference.Editorials
VOYA -
Madge never met her Jamaican father. Her mother, Brandy, is an illegal immigrant from England who enjoys living outside the law. They reside in the small northeastern Pennsylvania town where she was born. During her mother's unexplained disappearances, Madge lives with her Aunt Liz. While visiting her cousin in New York City, Madge finds Timmy, an injured preschooler, in a city park. Weeks later, she checks on Timmy and determines that no one is truly concerned about his welfare. She decides to rescue Timmy, preventing him from being subjected to her perceived horrors of foster care. After Brandy is arrested, Madge and Timmy are welcomed by Aunt Liz who agrees to help raise Timmy. What a confused and confusing book. Madge feels isolated as the only non-Caucasian, yet her boyfriend is Indian. The entire town is prejudiced, but the diner owner defends Madge from a verbal attack and shows concern for her feelings. Madge hates her mother for not being law abiding, but she takes Timmy without legal permission. Madge is consumed with worry over a boy liking her, and then can only focus on the injustices of foster care. The abrupt shift between utterly self-centered and excruciatingly selfless is jarring and off-putting. Madge is judgmental and self-righteous, yet she never deals with the potentially devastating consequences of her actions. The author absolutely deserves respect for attempting to tackle the difficult issues of racial discrimination, small town prejudice, social acceptance by peers, and abuse/neglect within the child welfare system. Unfortunately in trying to address all the issues equally, the author prevents a clear message on any of the topics from being delivered to thereader.School Library Journal
Gr 7 Up- "The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference." Madge, 16, makes Elie Weisel's statement her mantra, promising to never be indifferent, even as it takes her to extreme, unrealistic measures. As the only person of color in rural Hollowdale, PA, except for her Indian friend, Krishna, who moved there in ninth grade, Madge has never felt at peace. Her tough-talking white mother is an ex-con and illegal British immigrant and Madge has never met her Jamaican father. Even with that weak set-up, the book remains readable until Madge decides to bring home Timmy, an impoverished, Hispanic four-year-old boy she met while visiting her white, newspaper reporter cousin in New York City. Madge, who has essentially kidnapped Timmy, acts like he's her own child, letting her once-stellar grades and at least mildly interesting social life fall by the wayside. Benedict's first YA novel suffers from too many competing issues, including biracial identity, racism, child abuse, and the troubled New York City foster-care system. With its resolution that raises far more problems than it solves, strong language, and lack of focus, it's hard to envision this book at home in any library. Instead, recommend Chris Crutcher's Whale Talk (Greenwillow, 2001) for topics of racial identity and Catherine Ryan Hyde's The Year of My Miraculous Reappearance (Knopf, 2007) for issues of child welfare.-Sarah Krygier, Solano County Library, Fairfield, CA
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