YA Review: GATHER

Title: Gather by Kenneth M. Cadow

Book Beginnings quote: 

You see people doing things they shouldn't. Sometimes you mind your own business. Other times you might say something, but it's hard to do that if you've been caught red-handed yourself.

Friday56 quote: 

After class, I duck into the nurse's office. I take my time using her Old Spice [deodorant], but finally, Pam's like, "Ian, you'll be late for advisory," and I'm like, "Advisory is the worst twenty minutes of my day. Mr. Z pretty much gave up after we wasted two weeks talking about kindness. You want to torture people? Talk to them about kindness for two weeks. What's kind about that?"

Summary:

Ian Gray isn’t supposed to have a dog, but a lot of things that shouldn’t happen end up happening anyway. And Gather, Ian’s adopted pup, is good company now that Ian has to quit the basketball team, find a job, and take care of his mom as she tries to overcome her opioid addiction. Despite the obstacles thrown their way, Ian is determined to keep his family afloat no matter what it takes. And for a little while, things are looking up.  Ian makes friends, and his fondness for the outdoors and for fixing things lands him work helping neighbors. But an unforeseen tragedy results in Ian and his dog taking off on the run, trying to evade a future that would mean leaving their house and their land. Even if the community comes together to help him, would Ian and Gather have a home to return to? (Publisher)

Review: This book, written in a unique first person perspective, just about broke my heart. Ian is trying to hold everything together even though the main adults in his life don't or can't help him. What with a mother who is an addict, a father and grandmother who have abandoned him, and a grandfather who has died, Ian just keeps on scrambling trying his hardest to save his beloved land. But one young teenager battling against the world is a big ask.

I loved Ian's voice in Gather. It is just what one would imagine a teenager's voice would sound like. The Friday56 quote is a good example of that voice: You want to torture people? Talk to them about kindness for two weeks. What's kind about that?" Irreverent and wise at the same time. Ian is also irresistible. He can fix just about anything and manages to make friends along the way because of his skills. It is a refreshing to have a teenage character who can rely on his own know-how and ingenuity rather than a sullen one who feels sorrow for himself while he wittles away time playing video games or watching TV.

As an old retired high school librarian I can't help but ask myself the big question, "What teen would be attracted to this book?" It won a Printz Honor in 2024 for good reason but are teenagers attracted to award books like I am? Not usually. I think the kids that need this book are the kids like Ian, who walk the halls in every school -- the loners, on the surface anyway, who are trying to hold their worlds together with baling wire and spit. There are plenty of those kids in every school. Your assignment, school librarians, go out and find them. Get this book in their hands. Let them have plenty of time to read it since the book is rather long, 325 pages. And when they return it, be open to talking to them about it. Good luck! It just might change their life.

Every year, now that I'm retired from my role as a teen librarian, I tell myself I no longer need to read the YA winners of the Printz Award. Then I read books like Gather, and I say, "Nah, I'm gonna keep reading YA books. They help keep me young."

Rating: 5 stars.

 

-Anne