Kimberly Brubaker Bradley's newest novel, Fighting Words, is one of the most compelling books I've read in 2020. I was cataloging it at work, and I read the dust jacket copy, and I wondered how a book written for a middle-grade audience (ages 10-14, give or take) would possibly successfully deal with its topic in a way that was both authentic and age appropriate. (It's about child sexual abuse--as an adult reading the copy, this is fairly obvious.)
So I decided to take a look at the first page, to see how it seemed--and I was immediately hooked, despite the fact that I almost never enjoy realistic fiction for tweens & teens, never mind "issue-oriented" fiction. It's narrated by a ten-year-old girl, and the author gets her voice just right: she's angry and wants to swear, but she's been told not to, so she substitutes the word "snow" or "snowy" or "snowman" (as applicable) for all the swears she cannot say. It sounds a bit hokey when I write it like that--which is why I'm not the award-winning author of this or any book--but it's so well done, and so wonderfully explained that it just works.
Naturally, I had to see if the second page would be as good as the first... and then I absolutely inhaled the story over the course of my lunch hour that day and the following day. It was all I could think about for a few days there--despite the utter insanity of 2020, this book truly took my attention and was where my mind went during spare moments. I don't go in for awards, much, but I'd love to see this book nominated for a Newbery.
Fighting Words manages to walk a thin line between an accurate portrayal of trauma that won't be traumatizing for its young readers. It faces hard topics head on without becoming self-pitying or hopeless or bogged down in despair. It leaves open the possibility for healing while acknowledging the efforts required from many people for healing to happen. It shows some adults who are truly terrible, some who are unintentionally harmful, some who are addicts, and some who are actually kind and caring (without having their flaws and being realistic). Whether you think you'd enjoy this or not, just read the first page and see if you're not drawn in, too.
I read this in December but Blogger was having a tantrum and wouldn't let me comment! Anyway, this sounds super intriguing. I might have to check it out despite the difficult subject matter.
ReplyDeleteOh, Blogger! It does do weird things sometimes. But thanks for reading! :) It's not normally subject matter that I'd seek out, but I was really impressed by the sensitive handling of the content while neither denying its difficult reality nor wallowing in despair: truly an impressive feat.
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