Source of book: Audiobook from the library
Over the years, we have enjoyed various Kate DiCamillo books. Her characters are always memorable and realistic, although the styles of the books vary greatly. I mean, everything from a talking mouse to a squirrel with superpowers on the one end, and highly realistic human stories on the other. Whatever the topic, her stories are full of nuance and real emotions. I’ll put a list at the bottom of this post.
Ferris is her latest book, and just happened to be available without a wait for our last camping trip.
The title character, Ferris, is a young girl, living in a fairly normal family. Mother, father, elderly grandmother living with them. Aunt and uncle down the street.
Except, she has a little sister, Pinky, who is…a handful. At all of age six, she has decided that she is an outlaw. And literally tries to rob a bank. And that is just one of the crazy things she does in this book.
But there are other, well, complications in Ferris’ life. Her beloved grandmother is on the decline with congestive heart failure. And not only that, but grandma Charisse can see a ghost, who apparently wants something from them. Ferris cannot see the ghost, but can feel the wind when the ghost enters.
Uncle Ted, meanwhile, is going through a mid-life crisis. He has unexpectedly quit his job and decided that God - or something - has called him to paint “The History of the World.” Her aunt wants nothing to do with this, and has kicked Ted out - he now lives in the basement at Ferris’ house.
And now it seems bees AND racoons have taken up residence in the attic. And her aunt, the beautician, keeps messing with Ferris’ hair.
Less troubling, but still yet another reason for Ferris to feel her life is being turned upside-down is that she is growing up, and has developed feelings for a boy her age - which seem to be reciprocated. He’s a nice kid, by the way. And the “romance” at their ages is more like friendship and talking about feelings, which is pretty darn healthy, actually.
As Charisse says, “every story is a love story,” and that is how this tale plays out. Not just romantic love, but love of all sorts.
This is a mostly realistic story, except for the ghost plot. Ferris is a delightful protagonist - the rule following, people pleasing first born that I recognize a bit of in myself. The tension in the story is mostly about relationship strains and complexities and how they might be put back together.
The book is also notable in that there are no villains. Everyone in the story is likeable. Quirky? Flawed? Yep. But basically they are all decent humans, realistic humans, and mean well.
It really is DiCamillo’s deft touch that makes the story come alive. It is gentle, generous, and subtle.
The author grew up in an abusive household, and has noted that she has had to work through a lot of trauma as a result. (This is also one reason she has given for choosing not to have kids herself.) What is striking in her stories is the incredible range of parents portrayed. In this book, they are pretty normal. In others, well, there is often abandonment and abuse depicted realistically. I continue to note just how great of an observer of the range of human behavior she is. Particularly how well she writes children.
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The Kate DiCamillo list:
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