Goodnight, Boy

June 15, 2017
A boy newly arrived to the United States is locked in an outdoor kennel by his abusive adoptive father in this thriller. JC and the family dog, Boy, are banished together to the enclosure for an untold offense against the violent, temperamental husband of JC's kind, loving adoptive mother. Melanie is missing, and JC desperately hopes for her return, expressed in short, stream-of-consciousness-style musings addressed to Boy as together they endure hunger and exposure to the elements at the hands of their keeper. Interspersed are explanatory chapters written in more traditional form about JC's harrowing back story--his abduction from his home to an orphanage, the earthquake that wreaked havoc on his home country, and his introduction to Melanie, an American doctor who eventually brings him into the U.S. with a false passport. All of the main characters are black: JC is Haitian, Melanie is Haitian-American, and her husband is described as having brown skin. Though some attempt is made to explain the motivations for the man's behavior, his role as villain feels one-dimensional. While readers will be moved by JC's tragic story, his internal monologues seem to go on too long, finally capped off with an overly neat conclusion. A tension-filled and provocative premise commands readers' attention even if it ultimately misses the mark. (Fiction. 13-18)

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August 1, 2017

Gr 7 Up-In this mystery-thriller a teenage boy named JC and the family dog, Boy, are locked in a reinforced kennel and forced to live in a doghouse by his abusive adoptive father. JC's tale is told through verse and prose in which he explains his life before the kennel and the circumstances of how he came to be in the United States. JC was kidnapped as a child and placed first in an orphanage in Haiti and then moved to a hospital where he was forgotten for several years. During his time at the hospital, the country was rocked by a massive, deadly earthquake. As he struggles to survive, he is helped by a Haitian American doctor, Melanie who felt a connection for JC as soon as she met him. Melanie befriends JC and offers to adopt him. As adoption laws changed, Melanie chose to bring him to the U.S. illegally to live with her and her husband. Melanie was forced to go back to the boy's country to find his family and get permission for the adoption. Without Melanie, her husband who had shown instances of his cold and callous nature, turns to outright deviance with his treatment of JC and Boy. This is an intricate story in which bits from the past and hints of the present converge on a shocking reveal. JC's hope, perseverance, and tenacity make him a relatable character. The pacing drives the story with only a hiccup at the end, in which everything gets resolved a bit too neatly and quickly. VERDICT A good purchase for schools and libraries.-Sandra Farag, BookOps, New York Public Library & Brooklyn Public Library

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