Review: THE LOST LANGUAGE

Sixth grader Betsy informs her best friend, Lizard, that thousands of the world's languages are currently threatened by extinction. Betsy's mother is a linguistics professor working frantically to study dying languages before they are lost forever. But it is Lizard who, gripped by the magnitude of this loss, challenges Betsy, 'What if, instead of writing about dying languages, like your mom, you and I saved one instead?' As the girls embark on their quest to learn as much as possible of the near-extinct language of Guernsiais (spoken on the Isle of Guernsey), their friendship faces unexpected strains. With Lizard increasingly obsessed with the language project, Betsy begins to seek greater independence from her controlling and charismatic friend and from her controlling mother. Then tragedy threatens Betsy's life beyond what any words can express, and Lizard does something unthinkable. Maybe lost friendships, like lost languages, can never be completely saved.

The Lost Language by Claudia Mills is a coming-of-age story written in verse. The target audience is middle grade students and I think Ms. Mills got everything about this book just about perfect, very spot-on. First, the friendship between Betsy (aka Bumble) and Lizard is like so many friendships I encountered  growing up -- a mixture of lovely and terrible. Lizard, the more gregarious of the friends, always has to be first. She has to be the one who decides, chooses, and thinks things up. Betsy is expected to go along and is not expected to have any opinion on plans. And if she does, Lizard will shoot them down. If Betsy thinks up a good plan, suddenly it is Lizard who had the plan in the first place. But never mind all this, because having a best friend like Lizard means you always have someone to sit with at lunch, walk home from school with, and someone to hang out with. 

When the girls embark on their lost language project, they realize that they will need to get others at the school to also learn the near-extinct language to make any impact at all and they attempt to teach others a few words and phrases. But these other girls are interested in other things, like the upcoming school play tryouts. Betsy decides that she'd like to try out for the play as well, which garners a sniff from Lizard. When she gets a role, a small role as a non-talking flower, Betsy discovers that she really enjoys spending time with other girls, broadening her friendships. Now Lizard is really on the defensive and she does the most unkind, thoughtless thing to Betsy, something so horrible it really can't be forgiven. Or can it?

Both Betsy and Lizard have to come to grips with events and facts beyond their friendship and what are the unspoken elephants in the room, namely what is happening with their parents -- the depression of Betsy's mom and the alcoholism of Lizard's dad. The story gets pretty dark and sad at this point, but ultimately other adults help out and both girls grow from the experiences which causes growth in their relationship.

I liked this book so much. I think it is important for students to read about other kids who experience troubles in their life and some how make it out the other end. The first poem in the collection really sets up the book beautifully, so I will close with it in hopes that it provides a catalyst for you to read the whole book and recommend it to your middle grade readers.

Things I've Lost: A Partial List

Pooh Bear.

I took him on vacation

and he got left behind in the hotel bed,

but my dad called and two days later

a lumpy package arrived in the mail.

and the lump was Pooh.

My jacket on the bus

for the class trip to the planetarium.

Well, I almost lost it, 

but Lizard noticed in the nick of time

and raced back to our seat

and grabbed it for me.

My special lucky button,

when I had a hole in my pants pocket.

Lizard found that for me, too.

My glasses, in Buddha Delight,

when my mother had already said

shoe couldn't handle One More Thing,

and I knew that losing my glasses

would have counted as One More Thing,

but I told my dad, and he took care of it

and my mother never had to know,

so whew for that.

Pencils.

More pencils.

You may have noticed that I got 

everything back again,

except the pencils,

but everyone loses pencils,

and anyway the world is full of pencils.

You also may have noticed that it's always 

other people who get the lost things back for me.

So what would happen if you lost those people?

Who would help you get them back again?

-Anne