The Dreamer, written by Pam Muñoz Ryan and illustrated by Peter Sís, is a unique story based on Pablo Neruda’s childhood. Pablo Neruda was a poet and a communist best known for his collection of love poems and his odes to common things. He was a supporter of the rights of the Mapuche people and the rights of indigenous people in general, and was advisor to Salvador Allende, a former president of Chile with socialist views. Pablo Neruda’s original name was Neftalí Reyes, and The Dreamer guides us through Neftalí’s life until the moment when he chooses his pen name. Though fictionalized, The Dreamer is an interesting story of what went on in Pablo Neruda’s early years (even the title suggests the daydreaming character of Neftalí). The Author’s Note in the back of the book is also worth a read: it gives a brief summary of the parts of Neruda’s life not included in the story. The story begins with Neftalí sick and in bed. He is instructed by his father to stay in bed, and so Neftalí asks his sister, Laurita, to look out the window for him and describe what she sees. When Laurita tells Neftalí about a boot “missing the other,” Neftalí mentions that tomorrow, when he is let out of bed and will be on his way to school, he should pick it up and add it to his collection of odds and ends. This figure of Neftalí, asking Laurita to look out the window for him and cowering in fear of his father, is so different from the Neftalí at the end of the book: the poet figure of Pablo Neruda. In The Dreamer, you also learn about Neftalí’s family members and get multiple perspectives. Neftalí’s father wants Neftalí to stop daydreaming, while—though Neftalí’s stepmother does not say so around his father—she is a supporter of whatever path Neftalí wants to take. Beautiful illustrations are intertwined with verse in The Dreamer. Pam Muñoz Ryan scatters lines that all form a poem that she has written in the end of the book throughout the pages, titled I Am Poetry, which is fitting, seeing as the book is about Pablo Neruda. The poem gives the shapeless concept of poetry many definite forms. I Am Poetry personifies poetry, with many interesting details and descriptions. For example: “I am poetry, lurking in dappled shadow. I am the confusion of root and gnarled branch. I am the symmetry of insect, leaf, and a bird’s outstretched wings.” Every time Neftalí adds something new to his collection of objects (which is a reference to Pablo Neruda’s collection of poetry Odes to Common Things), you learn a new message as Neftalí’s imagination persists despite other people’s expectations. These messages are: don’t let anyone tell you what to do, be imaginative, fight for what you believe in. A lot of these messages are expressed powerfully in Pablo Neruda’s work. For example, in his poem I Explain a Few Things, which he wrote later in life, he shows that he is willing to fight for what he believes in. There are many stanzas in I Explain a Few Things that really show the way Pablo Neruda felt and how his mind worked. For example: “Jackals that the jackals would despise, stones that the dry thistle would bite on and spit out, vipers that the vipers would abominate! Face to face with you I have seen the blood of Spain tower like a tide to drown you in one wave of pride and knives! Treacherous generals: see my dead house, look at broken Spain : from every house burning metal flows instead of flowers, from every socket of Spain Spain emerges and from every dead child a rifle with eyes, and from every crime bullets are born which will one day find the bull’s eye of your hearts.” Pablo Neruda’s two passions—poetry and political activism—worked well together, and unlike many traditional poets, he was not afraid to express his political views in his poetry. He followed his imagination and his path against the will of his father, and, although some of the events in The Dreamer are fictional, they show this about young Neftalí. For example, when Neftalí finds a library near the beach house he was staying in with his family for summer vacation, he spends his summer reading in his secret hideout: a shack with a small lake in front. The lake is home to two swans, and Neftalí takes care of them. Neftalí doesn’t ever give up writing or advocating for human rights. The Dreamer and the poems of Pablo Neruda inspire us to do the same. The Dreamer is an important story of the life of a famous twentieth century poet… before he became Pablo Neruda. The Dreamer by Pam Muñoz Ryan and illustrated by Peter Sís. Scholastic Paperbacks, 2012. Buy the book here and help support Stone Soup in the process!
Four Books and the Meaning of Normal: A Review of Out of My Heart, Wonder, The Thing About Georgie, and Freak the Mighty
Four novels, Out of My Heart by Sharon M. Draper, Wonder by R.J. Palacio, The Thing About Georgie by Lisa Graff, and Freak The Mighty by Rodman Philbrick, all include and think about characters who are different. For once, we are told that heroes don’t have to be perfect. We don’t have to use outcasts as props to make a hero look good – we don’t need to make them out to be helpless victims that need to be protected. They can be the main characters and the heroes, not just supportive characters lurking in the background. With characters we don’t usually see as main protagonists, these books are about acceptance, belonging, and being different. Out of My Heart by Sharon M. Draper circles around a girl named Melody, who has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair. In this sequel to Out of My Mind, Melody goes to summer camp for kids with disabilities. At camp, she plays balloon ball, swims, paints, rides a horse, and even goes on a zip-line, things she thought she’d never do before. Her counselor is kind, and all around her Melody sees walkers, wheelchairs, and much more. And most importantly, she makes friends. And though nobody can be exactly the same as her, she’s finally found people that accept her, and a place where she belongs. In Wonder by R.J. Palacio, Auggie is a boy with cleft palate and other facial differences that make him an outcast. People either think Auggie is a freak and that he’s disgusting or a poor child with a disability who needs pity. For these reasons, Auggie has been homeschooled by his protective parents who watch him constantly. But Auggie’s finally going to middle school, and though he tries to prove to others that he’s “normal,” nobody accepts him anyway. Friends can change to enemies quickly, and then back. People aren’t good or bad, they’re complicated, and this makes things confusing for Auggie. But through his troubles and challenges, he finds a group that lets him just be himself, not a category, and he decides not to be “normal.” Because why try to fit in when you can just be yourself with the right people? The Thing About Georgie by Lisa Graff is about a boy named Georgie who has dwarfism. Georgie’s middle name is Washington, and his idol is the founding father George Washington. But when he gets paired with Jeanie the Meanie for a history project, he is having trouble cooperating with her. She isn’t nice to him, and she signs him up for the school play about American presidents, but to play Abraham Lincoln! Abraham Lincoln was the tallest American president, and all of a sudden Georgie feels very, very short. On top of it all, his parents are going to have a baby, and Georgie is not excited to soon see his sibling outgrow him year by year and be able to do all the things that Georgie can’t. And Georgie’s friend Andy seems to be more involved with the new kid, Russ, than him. So, overall, Georgie’s problems are big. But when Georgie realizes that Jeanie the Meanie isn’t so bad and begins to resolve his problems with Andy, Georgie finds that he doesn’t have to be big to do big things, and that love doesn’t depend on size. True friends don’t care about what you look like. They appreciate you no matter what. In Freak the Mighty by Rodman Philbrick, Max is a boy who is tall for his age, in a special class at school, and thinks of himself as “stupid.” But Max discovers that he’s not stupid at all – he’s very smart, it’s just just nobody has realized it yet. When “Freak” – or Kevin, a former acquaintance of Max’s – moves into the neighborhood, Max learns that with Kevin’s imaginative, smart brain and Max’s large body, they can become “Freak the Mighty.” Together they go on rescue missions and adventures; they seem to be able to go anywhere they want to go. But Kevin isn’t fine, and neither is Max. Kevin’s health condition isn’t easy to deal with, and Max has problems with his father. But Max and Kevin are always there for each other. When many people say “disability” or “different,” they also say “how unfortunate.” They don’t see people like Melody, Auggie, Georgie, Max, and Kevin as individuals, they see them as nothing but handicaps. But Out of my Mind, Wonder, The Thing About Georgie, and Freak the Mighty allow us to see people who happen to have disabilities or are otherwise different for who they truly are: funny, intelligent, and caring friends who follow their own paths.
Momentous Events in the Life of a Cactus, Reviewed by Emma, 9
Momentous Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling is a great book in so many ways. This book caught my eye when I was browsing the shelves of Barnes And Noble. The spine had the title on it in bold, bright letters, and it had a colorful background. Who wouldn’t read a book called Momentous Events in the Life of a Cactus? So, I pulled the book off the shelf and saw the almost comic-strip-looking design of the front cover, decorated with a picture of a cactus in a green cape. Naturally, that was one of the books I took home, and immediately started reading. But the cover isn’t the only good thing about this novel. Momentous Events in the Life of a Cactus is a perfect story of high school life, and many high schoolers will be able to connect with the story. Aven Green, the main character in this novel, is a girl who was born without arms, but her high school experience is unremarkable otherwise. Bullies. Dangerous lunchtimes. Friendships. Crushes. However, Aven’s life outside of school is anything but ordinary. Aven’s parents run an amusement park; in fact, they dragged her to Arizona for that very reason. Some of Aven’s friends are pretty different, too. Trilby’s homeschooled and likes punk rock. Lando and Zion convinced Aven to attend Comic Con. Connor has Tourette’s Syndrome. Henry, an old man who runs an ice cream shop, is losing his memory. These friends are the people Aven sticks close to, in case trouble comes her way—which it always does—and these are the friends who can embrace Aven’s differences. The character and plot development in this book are spectacular. There are so many fun facts about every character in this book. Trilby’s dad used to be in a punk band—that’s why she likes punk rock so much! Lando and Zion’s parents are total superhero nerds. Henry doesn’t know where the rest of his family is. Connor likes to sometimes bark like a dog. This abundance of characters keeps you interested throughout the whole book, until you start seeing each character as having their own story and plot. Speaking of plot, all the little things and problems in this book seem separate until they all connect together into the main theme: navigating high school and finding your own community in the process. To all the young people out there: are you strong enough to make your way through high school? Is Aven? Moments Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling. Union Square Kids, 2021. Buy the book here and help support Stone Soup in the process!
