The King of Jam Sandwiches


Publication Date: 1 May 2021
Format: Paperback / softback

ISBN 9781459825567

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    Thirteen-year-old Robbie leads a double life. It's just Robbie and his dad, but no one knows that his dad isn't like most parents.

    Sometimes he wakes Robbie up in the middle of the night to talk about dying. Sometimes he just leaves without telling Robbie where he's going. Once when Robbie was younger, he was gone for more than a week. Robbie was terrified of being left alone but even more scared of telling anyone in case he was put into foster care. No one can know.

    Until one day when Robbie has to show the tough new girl, Harmony, around school. Their first meeting ends horribly and she punches Robbie in the face. But eventually they come to realize that they have a lot more in common than they thought. Can his new friend be trusted to keep his secret?

    Information

    Book Type: Junior High
    Age Group: 13 to 15 years
    Traffic Lights: Green/Amber
    Class Novel: Yes
    Good Reads Rating: 5/5
    Literary Rating: 5/5

    Review

    When his father wakes him in the middle of the night, convinced he's having a heart attack, Robbie is confident his dad is just confused about what's real and what isn't. After all, it's not the first time this has happened.

    However this time his father is even more anxious than usual, insisting on showing Robbie the household finances and even giving him instructions for his funeral.

    The reality is that it's been years since their family was "normal'. Robbie was just 4-years-old when his mother died, and within 18 months both his grandparents--who lived with them--had also passed away. The loss of those three precious lives transformed their once bustling and happy home into a place of loneliness, especially as his chronically depressed dad spends most of his time certain he was going to die.

    Despite getting barely any sleep, Robbie drags himself to school, only to discover that his teacher has nominated him to look after Harmony, a new student. Neither of them are very impressed with the idea, and it soon becomes clear that Harmony's name completely belies her nature. She's antagonistic and insulting, and when Robbie unthinkingly grabs her arm, she threatens to bop him in the nose, a threat she soon carries out, leaving him with a blood nose. Despite this, when the Principal walks up, Robbie covers for her.

    His decision surprises Harmony. She's a foster kid, and isn't exactly used to people protecting her--especially strangers. It also opens the door to what soon becomes a great friendship. During the days ahead, Robbie opens up about what it is really like living with his dad, who is either so hyped up that everything is fabulous, or so down that he is taking what must surely be his very last breath, with nowhere in between those two extremes.

    Robbie is determined to "make it out of here'. He literally counts down each day until he can leave home for university (about 1600 days away). He also believes that if he gets up every morning and works harder that day than he did the day before, eventually he will "become someone'. Harmony is the first person to ever tell him that he already is someone and hearing those words of encouragement almost breaks him apart.

    It's the first time either of the young teens has had someone they can trust, someone they can share their deepest fears and sorrows with. And as they navigate the challenges of their broken parents together, it is their very genuine friendship that helps them make it through. The path isn't easy, and at times each one of them will stumble, but their commitment to each other and the kindness of those around them, eventually leads them to a brighter and better future.

    This outstanding book won the 2020 Canadian Governor General's Literary Prize for Young People's Literature. It's a well deserved honour for what is a thought-provoking, touching and inspiring story of the power of friendship, and the resilience of teens who are faced with difficult family circumstances not of their making. Much of the story has been drawn from the author's own life, and this is reflected in its authenticity. A wonderful story that would make an excellent class novel for early high school.

    Favourite quote: "Broken crayons still colour" (p. 302).

    Themes

    homelessness, poverty, depression, mental illness, self esteem, self reliance, foster families, grief, loss, shame, friendship, courage, resilience, survival, determination, hope

    Content Notes

    1. screw you/screw him/screwed up x 9. 2. Harmony's mum is an addict. At times in the past she sold Harmony's toys to buy booze or drugs.3. Harmony insists they go down a back alley and is nearly mugged. Both of them fight back, and manage to knock two of the three attackers out. The third one runs away (p145-7). 4. Harmony tells Robbie that years before, two of her mum's boyfriends hit her. One was sent to jail because of it (p149-150). 5. There is underage drinking at a party (chapter 18). Robert doesn't drink--given he spends all his time trying to keep his life under control, he's not about to undermine that with alcohol. But Harmony is with some older kids (who think she is as old as them--they are in year 11, she is in year 8) and distressed about her mother leaving rehab, she drinks with them, so much so that she vomits on the way home. She later admits to Robert that she had been acting like an idiot. She worries that she is making the same choices her mum did when she was her age.

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