Jasper Jones - Craig Silvey
Holding something doesn't make it yours. You realize at some point you're just keeping it back for yourself because it's pulling away with equal force. You've got to cut the string from your finger and leave that wispy thread, like a baby spider on the breeze.
I would enjoy this novel more if the ending were less abrupt and had more explanation. The author deliberately created a huge mess for all characters in 8 out of 9 chapters but ended it shortly in the last chapter, which disappointed me a lot :(
Anyway, it's quite a page-turner, especially the part when Eliza and Charlie finally revealed the whole story to each other (this part took me a white night since it was too compelling to put it down). Though this book is listed as a children's book, it surprised me with a wide range of pressing topics namely death, racism, life purposes, and fear.
Beyond the exciting plot details, Jasper Jones is a novel about fear. The novel's three central characters, Jasper, Charlie, and his best friend Jeffrey Lu, a Vietnamese immigrant, are all feared for their difference. It’s Charlie's brain and books in a town of miners and tradespeople, Jasper's Aboriginality, and Jeffrey's Asian heritage that make Corrigan nervous. The racism that Jasper and Jeffrey have experience is enough to make your chest hurt and your eyes sting.
Though the book named "Jasper Jones" and the narrator is Charlie Bucktin but the one who impressed me most is Jeffrey Lu. I favor him not because I'm Vietnamese (well, maybe a little) but due to the fact that he is the best little man in the whole town. He takes on his chin every racist humiliation and ridicules, and responds boldly to all those nasty things by his glorious victory at the major sports match. What's more, Jeffrey is certainly the one who will do everything to stand for his loved ones no matter what happens. I reckon everyone needs the courage, intelligence, wit, and resilience of a Jeffrey among their friends - someone who not only believes in themselves but also in you and who will step up for you.
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