YA review: I'll Be There by Holly Goldberg Sloan
Sam and his asthmatic, possibly autistic little brother Riddle have been on the run with their dad for a decade. Their dad, a small-time thief who is constantly paranoid about being caught, essentially kidnapped the kids when Sam was in second grade and neither boy has seen a school since. Emily Bell was forced into singing a solo at church of the Motown song "I'll Be There," and by chance Sam happened to have wandered into the church that morning, a chance that eventually wound up changing both of their lives.
The bookflap says author Holly Goldberg Sloan has written and directed a number of family feature films, and at time the narrative structure of this novel feels exactly like the script of something you might see Saturday afternoon on Disney Family Channel. The story is told from multiple viewpoints, primarily from the main characters Sam, Emily, and Riddle, but also from non-essential characters like an elderly motel operator, a sheriff, and a scientist in the Utah desert. While this format helps the reader more easily understand what's happening in a character's head, it makes the overall story flow a bit stilted.
The primary story lines of good overcoming evil and the good members of a family winning out over everything else come through loud and clear. At times, it's almost heavy-handed as Clarence, the father, and Bobby, a teen boy in pursuit of Emily as a girlfriend, see their wicked efforts foiled time and again. A sequence at the end might have students questioning the timeline of events as the divergent stories don't quite seem to add up to the same number of days, only to be forced into a Disney-esque final scene.
Yet, despite its flaws, this is still an enjoyable read. You root for Emily, Sam, and Riddle to overcome the obstacles each faces. Grades 7-10
The bookflap says author Holly Goldberg Sloan has written and directed a number of family feature films, and at time the narrative structure of this novel feels exactly like the script of something you might see Saturday afternoon on Disney Family Channel. The story is told from multiple viewpoints, primarily from the main characters Sam, Emily, and Riddle, but also from non-essential characters like an elderly motel operator, a sheriff, and a scientist in the Utah desert. While this format helps the reader more easily understand what's happening in a character's head, it makes the overall story flow a bit stilted.
The primary story lines of good overcoming evil and the good members of a family winning out over everything else come through loud and clear. At times, it's almost heavy-handed as Clarence, the father, and Bobby, a teen boy in pursuit of Emily as a girlfriend, see their wicked efforts foiled time and again. A sequence at the end might have students questioning the timeline of events as the divergent stories don't quite seem to add up to the same number of days, only to be forced into a Disney-esque final scene.
Yet, despite its flaws, this is still an enjoyable read. You root for Emily, Sam, and Riddle to overcome the obstacles each faces. Grades 7-10
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