The Terrible Thing that Happened to Barnaby Brocket
John Boyne (Juvenile Fiction)
“This is the story of Barnaby Brocket, and to understand Barnaby, first you have to understand his parents: two people who were so afraid of anyone who was different that they did a terrible thing that would have the most appalling consequences for everyone they loved.”
The Brocket family was undeniably THE most normal family in all of New South Wales, perhaps even in the whole of Australia. That was until their third child was born. You see, Barnaby…how to put this delicately…well, Barnaby floats and this put the Brockets in a very undesirable predicament since having a floating child is simply not normal. Not normal at all.
Told in the vein of Lemony Snicket, John Boyne delights readers with a tale that mixes awfulness, meanness, and absolute horridness with kindness, goodness, and pinches of pleasantness. The Terrible Thing that Happened to Barnaby Brocket is a story about fitting in, finding your place, and accepting the person that you are supposed to be rather than the person that you are expected to be. I never tire of books that reaffirm the belief that it is our differences that make us special and just because someone stands out shouldn’t mean that they stand alone.
Throughout his adventures, Barnaby meets coffee farmers, a window cleaner, a gallery owner, and an art critic, and he travels to Brazil, New York, Toronto, and Iceland. Along the way, he comes to realize that the terrible thing that has happened to him may not be so terrible after all. Besides, what’s so great about keeping your feet on the ground anyway? Because if you do, how will you ever touch the stars?
Rating: 5/5
* Book cover image attributed to http://www.goodreads.com
The Dusty Jacket 