Navigating Connections

Navigating Early by Clare Vanderpool

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

"Our stories are all intertwined. It’s just a matter of connecting the dots."

There is something subliminal in the prose that made me shed a tear or two, or something sincere in the voices of the two boys, Jack and Early, that made me go on reading the adventures. The voyage may be a series of coincidences, but who are we to judge the technicality of fiction-writing to kids when we, kids-at-heart, are ready to receive the message being sent across..?

In the first point-of-view of Jack Baker we see the sentiments of being lost. And yet, it is through the characters around him that create a wonderful landscape, adding tones and texture and sensory overloads. Female readers might find the story too superficial, but again, who are we to judge the book that caters kids of all ages?

The part that marked so special in my heart is when Jack and Early stayed with the "big whale", looking at the stars. I remember imagining myself hearing the telltales - the Sagas - that for me, adds us to the essence of life. Or in Icelandic, I might say, is kvöldvaka.



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