In a departure from her verse novels, Karen Hesse’s new
dystopian book, Safekeeping,
envisions could happen if our government lost the respect and control of its
people. After the president is
assassinated, seventeen-year-old Radley immediately returns from volunteering
at an orphanage in Haiti to the United States. She is unable to contact her parents in Vermont before she leaves. When she lands in Connecticut, she
finds that the government, ruled by the American People’s Party, has instituted
martial law. Her parents are not
waiting for her at the airport, and she cannot cross state borders in a bus or
car without authorization. With no
one to call, Radley feels must walk from the airport in Manchester to her
Brattleboro home; however, when she arrives after days of walking on her own,
her parents are nowhere to be found.
Radley fears they have been taken into custody because of their
opposition to the government, and she believes that the police will come for
her soon as well. Convinced that
her life is in danger if she remains in the United States, Radley takes off on
foot for the Canadian border. With
little money and no food, she must scavenge out of dumpsters to eat and sleep
in the woods at night. Along the
way she meets another girl, Celia, who is also traveling north with her
dog. The girls journey together
and slowly develop a friendship as they struggle to survive.
Karen Hesse is a very skilled writer, but I don’t think the
dystopian genre fits her well.
Safekeeping is an interesting novel that offers a lot for young readers
to enjoy, but there are too many unanswered questions to fully embrace this
book. Why did the American
People’s Party come into power? Why was the president assassinated? Why is it so easy for Radley to fly
into the United States but so difficult for her to get a ride home? Given that Radley is very naïve, why
would her parents let her volunteer at a young age in a dangerous third world
country on her own? There is also a problem with all the photography in the
novel. Hesse includes her own
photographs, but they often distract more than add to the narrative. Finally, the ending feels abrupt and
artificial.
Safekeeping does
have certain strengths though. This
book is a page-turner. You want to
find out what happened to Radley’s parents and if the girls will find safety.
Hesse develops the complicated friendship between Radley and Celia in a slow,
believable fashion so that you care about what happens to them. Finally, unlike
most dystopian novels, there is very little violence or profanity.
Safekeeping is a
good novel, but it will not be remembered as one of Hesse’s great works. I applaud her attempts at a new genre,
but I hope that she will return to the historical verse novels that she does so
well.
3 out of 5 stars
Grades 6 and up
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