| Parents -- Death -- Juvenile fiction. |
| Pets -- Death -- Juvenile fiction. |
| Sadness -- Juvenile fiction. |
Available:*
Library | Collection | Material Type | Call Number | Status | Item Holds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Searching... Cobourg Branch | Searching... Unknown | Junior Fiction | JF Scr | Searching... Unknown | Searching... Unavailable |
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Summary
Summary
This humorous and heartbreaking KS2 novel about loss focuses on Fred, who is reeling from the loss of his beloved dog, Casey. Every day he walks home from school bouncing Casey's old worn-out tennis ball. One day, the ball falls down a sewer grate, and Fred can't bear to leave it down there. He pries open the grate and stumbles down. Through the sewer, Fred enters a parallel universe: Casey is alive, his mom and sister are happier, and there's a version of Fred who's happier too. Is it true that everything that's lost can be found again?
Author Notes
RICHARD SCRIMGER is the award-winning author of twenty books for children and adults. His works have been translated in many languages and have been critically acclaimed around the world. His first children's novel, The Nose from Jupiter, won the 10th Annual Mr. Christie's Book Award. His novel From Charlie's Point of View was a CLA Honor Book and was chosen as one of the "Best of the Best" by the Chicago Public Library. Richard's latest, Viminy Crowe's Comic Book, was listed as a Top Shelf Honoree by VOYA magazine. His books Ink Me and The Wolf and Me are part of the Seven series with six other well-known authors.
Reviews (3)
Horn Book Review
Sixth grader Fred discovers a portal to an upside-down, parallel world where dead dogs and people are alive and dragons roam. This other world helps Fred and his sister process their grief over the loss of their dog as well as--revealed much into the book--their father's death. Fred's moving first-person narrative and well-developed characters compensate for unbelievable plot points and a dawdling pace. (c) Copyright 2017. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
A boy deals with his grief.Fred is still overwhelmed by the loss of his beloved dog, Casey. One day, while walking home and bouncing Caseys worn tennis ball, Fred loses the ball down a sewer grate. Pursuing the ball, Fred finds himself tumbling down into a parallel universe where his mother and sister are happy, his doppelgnger, called Freddie, is popular and confident, and most importantly, Casey is still alive. As Fred explores this alternate reality with Casey and Freddie, he also delves through his own grieving process, which the author captures gently, letting readers soak up the ebb and flow of Freds emotions. As the dimensional differences increase and the author introduces more and more fantastical elements, readers have a sure footing in their emotional connection to Fred, allowing the author to introduce some strange, Miyazaki-esque ideas and imagery with ease. Less successful is the authors bizarre pivot regarding Freds true source of grief. The reveal is indeed stunning, and the emotional payoff is earned, but the decision to camouflage his pain feels like a bait and switch. An ambitious, touching work that goes a step too far. (Fantasy. 9-12) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
All Fred wanted to do was retrieve the ball that his dog Casey loved to chase after all, now that Casey is dead, it's the only link to his beloved pet that Fred has. When the ball lands in a sewer, Fred does not hesitate to head down. Somehow, the world is quite different when Fred climbs out. He is in an parallel world where Casey is still alive, and his mother and sister live in a house exactly like the one he knows. But then there's Freddie, an alternate-world version of Fred. Who would ever believe this is possible? This novel explores life and loss from an unusual perspective; in Freddie's world, loss is simply accepted as someone's time coming to an end. What seems on the surface a fantasy is actually a philosophical examination of how best to deal with loss, done with a subtle hand. Tie this to Neal Shusterman's Downsiders (1999) and Suzanne Collins' Gregor the Overlander (2003).--Lesesne, Teri Copyright 2016 Booklist
Excerpts
Excerpts
It wouldn't have happened if I hadn't been looking down. I think about that sometimes, what it means. Down. I was looking down, all right. I walked out of school bouncing Casey's old tennis ball, like usual. Until Lance Levy kicked it out of my hand and I ran after it. "Yesss!" Lance called. "See that? See the way I kicked Berdit's stupid tennis ball right out of his hand? Yesssssss!" His voice chased me across the playground, then passed me, fading into the distance as Lance raced away down the street. He was the fastest kid in sixth grade. Yesss he was. I was holding onto the ball when I came up to Velma Dudding, who was on the sidewalk in front of the school. I thought about saying hi to her. Or bye. Or see you tomorrow. But I didn't. Her mom drove up and Velma slipped into the front seat of the SUV. I walked on. Izzy was waiting for me at the top of Sorauren Park. "Hey, Fred," she said. "Hey." Now that I was closer to home I was bouncing the ball and catching it again. "I changed my screen saver. Wanna see it?" said Izzy. "Nah." My eyes were on the ground. Cracked pavement. Weeds. Ants. Dirt. The tennis ball made a flat, hollow sound when it bounced. "Come on, take a look. Harry has a new hat." "Nah." She's my big sister. Isabel. We both go to Sir John A. Macdonald Public School. She's in eighth grade, two years ahead of me. We cut across the bottom of Sorauren Park, crossed Wabash Avenue and headed down toward Wright Avenue. I bounced my ball off the paved path and caught it. Off the grass. Caught it again. Izzy walked ahead of me. Her runners were broken at the back. The red heels flapped up and down. They looked like little mouths, opening and closing. "Race you home, Fred!" she said. "Huh?" "Race you! Come on. From here to the back door. Ready . . . set . . . go." I gave up after a few steps. She stopped, turned back for me. Excerpted from Downside Up by Richard Scrimger All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.