Saturday, March 22, 2008

Beige--Cecil Castellucci

Title: Beige
Author: Cecil Castelluci
Pages: 307
Publisher: Candlewick Press
ISBN: 9780763630669

Katy lives in Canada with her mom and has had very little contact with her American rock star father until her mom needs to go on an archeology dig without her. The only person who can take care of Katy for those 2 weeks turns out to be the Dad she never knew. Two weeks turn into the whole summer as her mom gets more and more interested in the dig and Katy feels more and more left behind until she snaps and realizes she has a lot more in common with her musical father than she thought.

There's a lot in this book and that summary doesn't even do it justice--father/daughter issues; mother/daughter issues; friendship; self-esteem; drugs. There are loads of issues but it doesn't feel overwhelming or preachy. Although the issues are serious, it's a fun read. Katy is a likeable character even when she's not being so likeable. Katy's Dad, "the Rat", tries so hard to be a good dad and make up for lost time. He's funny and charming and a really good guy but it takes Katy the whole summer to figure it out. Beige is a quick read and well-worth it!

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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I'm reading it right now, and love it so far. I've heard so many mixed reviews of it, that it's good to hear that another librarian out there agrees with me on it (so far)! Makes me feel a lot more comfortable recommending it to the kids who come in looking for books. :)

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