THE MEANING OF
MAGGIE by Megan Jean Sovern, Chronicle Books, 2014
I learned a long
time ago I can’t pull an all-nighter the way I used to. That knowledge didn’t
stop me from wanting to see how Maggie’s life turned out when it began with her
dad in the hospital and ended in the same place except…
It’s the "except" part
that kept me reading. Maggie is sprightly, fun, bright, too bright some would
say, but smart girls should be IN not left OUT of things, especially when you
have Maggie’s temperament, are the future president of the United States of America and own stock in Coca-Cola. She loves, especially her family, cares, especially about other people, is
spunky, and thinks her dad and mom are the top guys on the planet. Mom and Dad
may be pushing that last part, however as Maggie gets older and begins to
realize her older sisters aren’t all bad and maybe Mom and Dad aren’t all
perfect.
Maggie is about to
turn 11 or as the book jacket puts it, “one year closer to college. One year
closer to voting. And one year closer to getting a tattoo. *” Footnotes
throughout the book tell us what Maggie thinks, and the tattoo footnote tells
us Maggie thinks tattoos are terrifying. It’s just nice to know she is one year closer
to getting one if she wants to.
As care-free as Maggie
seems, she is super worried about her cool dude dad whose legs have fallen
asleep. She tries hard to honor the family motto, “Pull up your bootstraps.”
Not easy. Author Sovern’s insights into how each member of the family handles Dad’s
increasing disability turn Maggie’s family into the reader’s family, too.
If you lose a night
of sleep reading this book, it’s not my fault. Tell the author. She lives in
Atlanta. Probably hangs out in coffee shops with a notepad and pencil. Or a laptop. Maybe a tablet. Smart phone? Happy
hunting.
