I have noted before that some books seem to find their own way to you; they chose their own time to be read. Here is a good example. I am currently in the middle of reading Terry Pratchett's final Tiffany Aching , a book I that have been eagerly awaiting. It is a fine book and I am enjoying it enormously. I confidently expect that it will be the subject of my next post. Yet when A Curious Tale of the In-Between landed on my doormat, in consequence of a pre-order I had almost forgotten, I just flipped it open to get a feel of the writing and virtually didn't stop reading until I had finished it.
It is clearly a compelling little tale. This is in no small part due to wonderful writing, both in terms of its language and of its narrative. It is strikingly original in concept and in realisation. Both its language and its story have a certain quirkiness, an arresting weirdness, and emanate from a very unique and special authorial voice. Lauren DeStefano adds to this a protagonist - twelve year old Pram, who is beautifully drawn and readily engenders empathy - and a supporting cast of equally vivid characters. In consequence, a reading experience which starts off as intriguing rapidly becomes engrossing. Beneath its quirky, sometimes humorous, cloak this book shelters much truth, warmth and humanity.
A children's book (key audience around 9-13?) is I think a new departure for popular US YA author Lauren DeStefano. The genre of this relatively short novel is rather hard to pin down. It hovers between ghost story and fantasy. However it is probably in the end closer to fantasy, or perhaps 'magical realism'. Within its own parameters as a fiction, ghosts, and Pram's ability to see and talk to them, are perfectly real. Others may think she is imagining them, but she is not. This ability is her 'magic', her gift. Yet underneath this her situation and her issues are very grounded. In this, the novel shares much with a strong tradition of American children's literature that uses fantasy to explore the issues of very real kids, often when they find themselves in challenging life circumstances. It is related to other wonderful, and equally 'spooky' books like Holly Black's Doll Bones and Anne Ursu's Breadcrumbs, although as with both these examples, it is never derivative, always totally its own work.
On many levels 'spooky' is too comfortable a term for this book. There are many things about A Curious Tale of the In-Between which are genuinely frightening and possibly disturbing. The story opens with a brief but vivid scene of a pregnant mother hung from a tree; this sets something of a tone for later developments. It is a book for children, but for children with a certain maturity as readers. Actually these opening paragraphs are quickly passed and the story settles for quite a while into a charming and entertaining one where the ghosts encountered are no more threatening to either Pram or the reader than those of, say, Neil Gayman's Graveyard Book; they are friendly little chappies. In fact the principal ghost at this stage is Felix, a young boy who fulfills much the same role for isolated Pram as would the imaginary friend, even though he is actually as real as it is possible for a ghost to be. At the same time Pram's growing friendship with, Clarence, a living boy from her school, is warm and reassuring.
However, about half way through, the story takes a decidedly darker turn and enters a long sequence which verges on the surreal. It is at least disquieting and potentially genuinely frightening. Even though the final denouement returns to something much more positive, if still somewhat ambiguous, this is overall quite a long way from being a cozy read. To put this in perspective, the darkest parts are no more dark than those, say, in the final book of Harry Potter. However there is something in the way this book treats with death, and sets ghosts and the spirit world against a otherwise comparatively realistsic setting, that could be very troubling for some. I do hope that not too many children (or parents) are put off by this, for within, and indeed through, this somewhat dark context, this book has a great deal of humanity and compassion. More than anything it has much of major importance to say about being a child of this age.
Many books for young readers concern themselves with growing up, with coming of age, with an individual starting to become 'what they were meant to be.' This is of course a crucial theme. However A Curious Tale of the In-Between is not really about growing up. It is about being almost-but-not-quite-ready-to-grow-up, not-really-a-child-but-not-yet-an-adolescent-either, and this stage is in itself a most important and valuable part of life. It is not simply a preparation for adulthood or even for adolescence, it is something in its own right. Further, at its very heart this book is a pean to that quality of love that abides in very special, close friendship. This can often and particularly be found at this age, for it is a love which is not yet ready to be sexual, it is not even really romantic. Nevertheless it is love, a very intense and poignant love. It is significant that the nightmares of the book are precipitated by the sudden absence of the ghost Felix, but even more so by what happens to Clarence.
The friendship Pram has for Felix is indeed a childish one, a friendship of shared laughter and silly games, and by the end of the novel she is ready to move past it. But the friendship she develops for Clarence is truly one of love, perhaps the purest she will ever know. It belongs to pre-adolescence and to that period alone. It may be that in the furture it will grow into something different for either or both of them. But for the present it is what it is. It Is important. Their present stage of life is important, for them and for all children, and it is important for children to know this. It is a worry when our society pressurises them to hurry through or past it.
At the very end of the book Pram can start to see some of the things she might do and some of the things she might become in the the future. However she also knows that she is not quite ready yet to be older than she is. Good for her. This is a very special and rather wonderful book. It is a tale of the in-between in more ways than one. It is a tale about and for the in-between.
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