Bound To Stay Bound

Bulletin for the Center... - 03/01/2013 Sixth-grader Sara can’t seem to break through to her dad, who is still desperately grieving the loss of Sara’s mother, who died in a car accident three years ago. The surprise arrival of a white kitten on their doorstep seems serendipitous (prompting Sara to name her Serendipity), and Sara begins a campaign to convince her father—vehement in his protestations against cat ownership—to let Serendipity stay. Her dad’s reaction to Serendipity and a class assignment about family photos impel Sara to dig deeper in her family’s past, and she is surprised to learn that her creative, poetic mom was also a cat lover, and that her mom was actually on her way to pick up a kitten for Sara when she died. Anyone lured in by the adorable kitten on the book’s cover will not be disappointed by the happy ending of this thoughtful free-verse novel. Although Sara’s voice is sometimes mature for a sixth-grader, her observations about the cat (“I can pour her/ like pudding/ into any shape of container./ She spreads out soft like Jell-O./ She fills up any mold”) and about her family’s loss are evocative and frequently poignant. The lyrical text moves quickly, and the various plot threads (Sara’s budding crush on a classmate, the kitten, the family’s grief) are deftly handled. Sarah’s story will appeal both to cat lovers and to kids with their own sad family backstories. JH - Copyright 2013 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois.

Booklist - 03/01/2013 A little white kitten brings big changes in sixth-grader Sara’s life. In this debut novel, written in thoughtful verse, Sara has grown up in the shadow of her mother’s death, her father’s emotional withdrawal, and the fact that cats are forbidden in the house. When the flu causes her to miss out on playing Wendy in the school production of Peter Pan—and a possible connection with fellow cast member Garrett—an empathetic babysitter leaves a kitten on Sara’s doorstep. The tween has one week to convince her father to break his no-cats rule and let her keep the kitten, aptly named Serendipity. In the process, Sara begins to question the origin of the no-cats rule. A slow, bittersweet accumulation of details about her mother’s death, as well as her life and loves and the subsequent reactions of Sara’s father, brings much needed closure and a renewed closeness to this broken family. Although the story is predictable, Roth welcomes readers with spot-on depictions of kitten antics and feelings common to middle-schoolers. - Copyright 2013 Booklist.

School Library Journal - 03/01/2013 Gr 5–8—A sensitively written verse novel about loss. Sara's mother was killed in an automobile accident and the girl's difficulty of coping with the catastrophic void echoes throughout. The 12-year-old longs for information about her mother, but her father can't talk about her. A kitten is an anonymous gift from one of her father's college students. Its warmth and gentleness fill Sara with comfort and love. Without explanation, her father adamantly insists that Serendipity must go. Sara contrives to keep it for a week, confident that this will lead to a permanent arrangement. At the story's start, she is rehearsing to play Wendy in a school production of Peter Pan. She is a well-drawn, multidimensional character with a crush on Garrett, who is cast as Peter, and a best friend. When she is felled by a virus, her understudy gets to play opposite Garrett. Mrs. Whittier, a nurturing neighbor who knows about Sara's parents, often cares for her and tries to ease her pain. Sara must look for information about her family for a school assignment, but her father has hidden many pictures, making her feel that her family is lost. In desperation, she sneaks around and eventually the story unfolds a bit at a time. Serendipity helps her father open up. The verse form makes every word important, and Roth skillfully uses figurative language, poetry, and familiar literary works. This is a compassionately told tale, reminiscent in tone of Katherine Paterson's Bridge to Terabithia (HarperCollins, 1977) and Cynthia Rylant's Missing May (Orchard, 1991).—Renee Steinberg, formerly at Fieldstone Middle School, Montvale, NJ - Copyright 2013 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

Loading...