Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones
by Sam Arnold-Boyd on Dec.15, 2008, under Alex Award, Grief, Historical Fiction, Multicultural Fiction, Sam's Reviews, War
Who would like this book? Older readers (mature 7th grade and up) who want to read a significant book with personal, political, and literary themes. It is an adult book with teen appeal.
Why? On an island in the South Pacific called Bougainville in the early 1900s, political upheaval over mining claims creates a civil war that brings hardship to the natives. One of the native girls, Matilda, tells the story of what happens on the island. Her prose is beautiful (a detail that makes sense when you get to the end of the story), and her focus is on the one white man that remains on the island after the war starts. Mr. Watts, married to a mysterious native woman, takes it upon himself to become their teacher, using Dicken’s Great Expectations as the main text. The power of a story and of the imagination comes alive in this book. Be aware that a brutal war is the backdrop to the events of the novel and that some of these events are disturbing. It’s not surprising that this book has one many awards, including the Alex Award (for adult books with teen appeal from the American Library Association) and the Commonwealth Writer’s Prize (53 countries!). I highly recommend this book. Now I need time to read Great Expectations!
The details: 272 p. 2006 A Sam review
