A 400-POUND GORILLA casts a large shadow. In 2013, Katherine Applegate won the Newbery Medal for "The One and Only Ivan," the story of a gorilla kept in a strip-mall circus. Ivan, the gorilla, frees himself and a young elephant by communicating with humans through fingerpainting. "Ivan" was a winning tale for many reasons: It was based, loosely, on a true story; it addressed the issue of animal cruelty honestly, but in a manner that children could handle; it was technically original, telling the story from Ivan's perspective, in short chapters that read like prose poems. But the primary reason "Ivan" has become such a beloved book is Ivan himself. His frank wisdom about life, both human and animal, provokes laughter and thought; his aspirations - to become an artist, and to liberate himself through art - feel universal. So when I picked up Katherine Applegate's next novel, "Crenshaw," I was immediately excited. On the cover is a giant cat, sitting on a bench beside a small boy. Hurray! I thought. Another huge mammal! But "Crenshaw" is not the book I was expecting. Crenshaw the cat is the imaginary friend of a boy named Jackson. So far, so good. Jackson sees Crenshaw on a surfboard. We learn that Crenshaw likes purple jelly beans (the only unbelievable element of the book up to that point; everyone knows that purple candy is gross). But another story line begins nosing its way in. Jackson's family, it turns out, is very poor. Jackson and his sister, Robin, never have quite enough food. Jackson's mother, a music teacher, was laid off during recent school budget cuts. Jackson's father has multiple sclerosis, which forced him to quit his job building houses. And a crisis is coming. Jackson's family has been homeless before, when Jackson was in first grade. Now that he's going into fifth grade, it appears they may become homeless again. Applegate explores the world of working-class poverty with understated empathy and quiet humor. "'You do realize we can't live in the minivan again,' my mom said. "'No,' said my dad, 'we can't.' "'Aretha's a lot bigger. She'd take up the whole middle seat.' "'Plus she farts a lot.' My dad sighed. 'Who knows? Sunday at the yard sale somebody might give us a million bucks for Robin's old highchair.' "'Good point,' said my mom. 'It comes with extra Cheerios stuck to the seat.'" But as Applegate draws this world closer to us, Crenshaw the cat recedes. We go 10 pages, 20,40,100, with Crenshaw barely resurfacing at all. It's as if Applegate set out to write a book about a huge mammal and ended up with a human family that she cared about more. As in "The One and Only Ivan," repression is a primary theme. Jackson has decided that facts are his friends. He hides his pain from himself and his parents. This is why Crenshaw appears to Jackson, after having vanished from his life for several years. He says to Jackson, "You need to tell the truth, my friend ... to the person who matters most of all." Crenshaw stands for Jackson's psychological freedom - to imagine, to love, to be honest with himself and his family. Psychologically, it works. Narratively, less so. We don't care for Crenshaw the cat. He is insouciant without being witty, wise but not particularly kind. He isn't a character. He's a symbol. SOME CHILDREN WILL be disappointed. I was, initially, disappointed. But if we manage to get past our personal agendas for Applegate and her huge mammals, we may find something very valuable indeed in "Crenshaw." Applegate's prose is simple and poetic enough to appeal to literary adults, children who struggle with reading and just about everyone in between. And in "Crenshaw," her human characters are everything the huge cat is not. Jackson is witty and wise and struggles against problems too big for him. His parents' hardships are achingly real, but their love for Jackson is equally palpable. We love this intermittently homeless family - not because we pity them, but because we admire them. "Crenshaw" is not for every child. But if the reader can handle some tough facts of life, she will be richly rewarded. Not by the huge mammal. By the humans. ADAM GIDWITZ'S books include "A Tale Dark and Grimm" and, most recently, "The Empire Strikes Back: So You Want to Be a Jedi?" |