...You. Will. Laugh.
Not only that, but you will laugh hard.
This ought to be impossible, considering the subject matter, but think otherwise! Since Doug is our narrator, we see the world through his eyes, and so what normally might be considered inappropriate for young readers is handled with tact and care. The result is enlightening.
But it gets better. Schmidt brings art into the picture, here - the art of John James Audobon, to be exact, connecting the emotions in the paintings to the emotions of the characters. Not only is this cleverly done, but with each chapter you come away more educated than the last.
Then, reader, there is the prose. I've heard it said that Schmidt's prose is flawless.
It is.
There were sentences that took my breath away and gave me chills, so that I simply had to read them again and again in order to drink up the words.
Wit, art, history, and the journey of many characters, whether or not they all get what they deserve. A companion novel to The Wednesday Wars, this is a story that, my dear reader, can only be described as fantastic.
Appropriate for ages 14+
