Meridian Magazine : : Print

Two Engaging Books for Young Readers
By Holly E. Newton

Books can evoke emotion, anticipation, imagination — or they can just plain entertain. Sometimes a book comes along that doesn’t have the gripping adventure or drama, but wraps around you from the beginning because the story is so engaging and well written that you instantly feel a bond with the protagonist. Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life, by Wendy Mass, is a story that fills you with the need, along with Jeremy Fink, to find the meaning of life.

A package has arrived through the mail and Jeremy can’t wait for his mom to get home from work so he can open it. A beautifully varnished wooden box has the following inscription on the top: “The Meaning Of Life: For Jeremy Fink To Open On His 13th Birthday."

The box is from his father, who died suddenly — and tragically — five years earlier. His mom indicates that his dad bought this ornate box — with several locks — at a flea market and placed something very valuable inside to give to his son when he reached the age of 13. But Dad died soon after he put this desire into his will.

Jeremy also finds a letter inside mentioning that the caretaker of this box has sadly lost the keys to open the box. And so begins the quest to find the keys that will open and answer the meaning of life according to his dad. Jeremy has received the box early, as his birthday is still a month away.

His best friend, Lizzy, helps him as he goes to flea markets, bazaars, even sneaking into the office of the person who held on to the box for so long in order to locate the four different keys needed to open the box. But all this effort leads to trouble with the law. When he and Lizzy are caught sneaking around the office illegally, they are ordered to perform community service as their punishment.

It seems strange when they are ordered to arrive at Mr. Ozzy Oswald’s home and follow his instructions by delivering special packages to elderly people. Nothing about this unusual community service follows the norm. Jeremy and Lizzy soon discover that the packages they are delivering are items that senior citizens traded away long ago when they were young and desperately needing money.

These deliveries not only leave Jeremy and Lizzy emotional and fulfilled, but undoubtedly will leave the reader teary-eyed as well. A book is found in one of the packages. The kids meet an elderly Mrs. Billingsly who traded a “Winnie-The-Pooh” book signed by the author in exchange for $20. Mr. Oswald has been saving this book to return to the original owner after sixty-five years. “She reaches in and pulls out the small book. She turns it around in her hands, and tentatively opens the front cover. She reads something written there, then closes it again, hugging it tight to her chest. When she looks up, her eyes are full of tears. But they are shining, too.”

These exchanges help Jeremy and Lizzy learn about how precious memorabilia can be — but this is only part of the web that Ms. Mass is spinning in this tale. As the kids set out to locate the keys needed to open the box by the time Jeremy turns 13, they can’t find all of the keys they need. But along the way, they ask a scientist, a pawnbroker, even a tattoo artist what is the meaning of life.

What Jeremy ultimately discovers, at the end of the book, will completely surprise you. The twists and turns along the way, along with all that Jeremy and Lizzy experience, and the wonderful way this exceptional story is written, will keep you reading all the way to the end. The unique storyline, with humor sprinkled throughout, and with excellent execution of plots is reminiscent of Holes, by Louis Sachar.

This book is bound to win awards! It is perfect for ages 11 years old through adult.

****

Do you remember when you were young and played with the simplest of objects that, through your imagination, changed into the most amazing things that took you to the moon and back or floating away to a deserted island on your boat? Not a Box, written and illustrated by Antionette Portis, celebrates this activity in a most creative book.

A simple black line drawing of a bunny sitting inside a box is the first picture you’ll see. The text reads, “Why are you sitting in a box?” The next page has the same black line drawing of the bunny and the box but now you see a racecar drawn around the box and the bunny is wearing racing goggles. The imagined extension is drawn with red and the text reads, “It’s not a box.”

This is just the beginning of many exciting adventures the bunny is about to have while sitting inside the box. This clever story is simple, yet powerful, as it celebrates a youngster’s great imagination and all of the fun that can be had with simple inexpensive objects.

I also believe this book opens the minds of adults to the simple pleasures of childhood. They don’t need electronic devices to create a world around them. Imagination is a powerful force and this simple book celebrates how objects lying around the yard or house can become anything your mind can create.

The book is ingeniously bound in cardboard and looks like a box — or is it? It makes the phrase “think outside the box” come alive!

Click here to sign up for Meridian's FREE email updates