Book Review: PEANUT

Sadie desperately wants to fit in at her new high school.  She was not popular at her previous school, and she believes she needs an interesting story to get her new peers to notice her immediately.  Peanut allergies get a lot of attention.  Everyone knows the kids who could die if they ingest the wrong thing in the cafeteria, and it’s an easy conversation starter.  What could go wrong if she faked a peanut allergy?  Sadie gets a personalized medical alert bracelet online and a lie is born. After she gives an oral report about her “medical issues” in her homeroom, a couple of classmates invite her to sit with them in the cafeteria.  Then an attractive boy starts fawning over her.  With a boyfriend and new friends, Sadie is happy, but she finds that keeping up the lie is harder than she ever imagined. 

Ayun Halliday and Paul Hoppe’s graphic novel gives a realistic picture of the fears new students face.  Making friends and fitting in can be daunting. Over my years of the teaching, I have witnessed several new students telling lies about their past to seem more interesting.  When the truth is revealed, the consequences can be quite painful.  Sadie probably could have made friends by being herself, and fabricating her elaborate medical history never allowed her to really relax and enjoy her new friendships.  Peanut is a great cautionary tale for those kids who sometimes feel the need to fictionalize their lives.   Nobody likes to be caught telling a lie.  The novel also gives detailed information about allergies and how to treat them. 

Peanut would be an enjoyable book for middle school readers.  The characters are well developed, the plot is interesting, and the illustrations are nicely done.  However, a few mature words and drawings render the book inappropriate for middle schools.  I wish Halliday and Hoppe had left those out so that their book could be enjoyed by a wider audience.

3.5 out of 5 stars.

Grades 8 and up

Book Review: A GAME FOR SWALLOWS

Set during the Lebanese Civil War of the 1980s, A Game for Swallows takes place one evening in an East Beirut apartment building.  Zeina and her little brother are waiting in the foyer of their apartment for their parents to return from visiting their grandmother in West Beirut.  Bombings and sniper fire intensify in their neighborhood, and their neighbors huddle with them in what is the safest location of their building.  As the neighbors arrive, Zeina tells how each came to live in the building and how the war has impacted them.  All seven neighbors hope that the bombings and gunfire will end soon, but know they must come up with a contingency plan if it does not.  Some realize that they cannot continue to survive in the middle of a war zone, but others are more fearful of moving to a foreign place.  As hours pass, everyone worries about Zeina’s parents, and Chucri, the building’s caretaker, debates whether or not to venture out in the fighting to find them.

Zeina Abirached’s graphic novel gives a glimpse of daily life in the middle of a war zone.  Though many of them have suffered greatly, the characters manage to stay optimistic while realistically dealing with the challenges that surround them.  The standout character is heroic yet tired Chucri who risks his life to bring food, water, and electricity to the residents of his building. Abirached shows the importance of community as neighbors come together to comfort and support one another through an incredibly difficult time.

A Game for Swallows is bound to draw comparisons to Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis, but it really should not.  They are akin in their theme of survival during political upheaval.  Both are set in the Middle East and told through the eyes of children.  However, Abirached’s novel is very different in its single day setting.  You do not see the impact this war has on Zeina and her brother.   You get a snapshot of the characters, their fears and tension, but there is very little of the character development you see in Persepolis, which spans over years. A Game for Swallows is more plot-driven as the reader nervously waits with the neighbors to find out if the children’s parents are alive. Abirached also differs in her highly detailed, beautiful illustrations, which are much more expressive than those in Persepolis. 

I am surprised that School Library Journal recommends this graphic novel for grades 5 and up.  Though there is no objectionable material in this work, I doubt many fifth graders can empathize with the struggles of the adult characters.  Abirached gives ample historical notes and maps throughout the story, but the reader still needs some political and social context to fully appreciate this work.  For more older, more informed readers, A Game for Swallows gives a touching portrait of community during wartime.

4 stars

Grades 9 and up