The best thing about reading is the opportunity to observe, discover, and reflect about somewhere else, and someone else, and maybe begin to imagine yourself in someplace else, with another situation. Some of the very best “old-school” YA novels from 1970’s and 80’s like A DAY NO PIGS WOULD DIE, by Robert Newton Peck, or Beverley Naidoo’s THE OTHER SIDE OF THE TRUTH, or MY SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN, by Jean Craighead George, these books gave me this kind of informational vibe, told me about things I had no idea about, and just showed me… a piece of the world. TIMBER CREEK STATION reminds me of those slice-of-life first person narratives. Unusual for a contemporary YA novel, this novel is all narrative, a tunnel vision, first person point-of-view – which means that we’re treated to the protagonist’s opinions on everything, with little deconstruction. Deeper questions about what any of it means are simply not answered, for good or for ill.
This book was first published in 2011 as EVERYBODY JAM (that flavor of jam that “everybody” likes, which is apparently a bizarre way to refer to apricot), and was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal.
