Kiki and Jacques: A Refugee Story

by Susan Ross

Overview

Can Kiki and Jacques be friends—or are they just too different?

Life could be better for twelve-year-old Jacques. His mother just died, his father is jobless, and his grandmother’s bridal store is on the verge of closing. At least he can look forward to the soccer season—after all, he’s a shoo-in for captain. But the arrival of Somali refugees shakes up nearly everything in his French-American Maine town, even soccer.

Jacques isn’t the only star anymore—Mohamed is just as good as him, maybe better. School, church, sports . . . everything suddenly seems different. So Jacques is surprised to find himself becoming friends with Kiki, a smart, kind, and strong-minded Somali Muslim girl with a mysterious scar.

Can kids as seemingly different as Jacques and Kiki be friends? Kiki and Jacques offers a realistic and heartwarming portrait of a town learning to embrace its changing face.

A Bank Street College Best Children's Book of the Year

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780823435180
Publisher:	Holiday House
Publication date:	08/17/2015
Sold by:	Penguin Random House Publisher Services
Format:	eBook
Pages:	128
File size:	1 MB
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Susan Ross is an author and writing teacher who divides her time between Connecticut and Maine. Susan grew up in an immigrant family in Lewiston-Auburn, Maine, and worked with refugee Somali teenagers in writing Kiki and Jacques’ realistic portrayal of the experience of New Mainers in her childhood home.

Editorial Reviews

07/27/2015
Jacques, a middle-school student in an economically struggling Maine community, grapples with a boatload of challenges in Ross’s debut novel. When a few Somali families relocate to Jacques’s neighborhood, their presence is noticed, but not appreciated by everyone. Although Jacques was a shoe-in for soccer captain, he suddenly faces tight competition from an incredibly talented Somali boy. More stressful for Jacques, however, are a dangerous older kid threatening him and his family, and a classmate, Lucy, who gives him the silent treatment after he initiates a friendship with a Somali girl, Kiki. To top it off, Jacques’s widowed father has lost his job and is drinking, and his Grandmère’s bridal store, the family’s main source of income, faces closure. With a good heart and a powerful sense of right and wrong (Jacques tells his grandmother, “I have some babysitting money. You can have it”), Jacques is a model for readers facing their own ethical dilemmas. His friendships and social interactions ring true, but the enormity of problems he faces and the book’s picture-perfect resolutions strain credulity. Ages 8–12. Agent: Susan Cohen, Writers House. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

"Captivating. . . A stunning debut."—Patricia Reilly Giff, two-time Newbery Honor-winning author

"Jacques is a model for readers facing their own ethical dilemmas."—Publishers Weekly

"This ultimately rosy picture of an unexpectedly diverse town coming together is heartening and gratifying."—Booklist

"Every middle-schooler (and you too) should read this novel."—Bangor Daily News

From the Publisher

09/01/2015
Gr 3–5—Jacques has been bullied by an older boy for years, and lately the older boy has been telling Jacques to do illegal things. Jacques has been trying to avoid the older boy and has resisted him until now. But new pressures come down on the 12-year-old: Jacques's grandmother is having money troubles and may lose her bridal shop, and his father has been drinking more and was fired from his job. When Kiki and her family, refugees from Somalia, arrive in the small Maine town, Jacques starts to look outside himself. He soon becomes friends with Kiki, but her brother, a star soccer player, doesn't approve. Jacques, who had hopes of being the captain of the soccer team, now has to deal with Mohamed, who is a much better player and doesn't seem to like him. Meanwhile, a kind of love triangle develops among Jacques, Kiki, and another local girl. Readers will come away with a sense of cultural differences between the American residents of Jacques's French-speaking town and Kiki's Somali family. Unfortunately, there are too many subplots packed into this slim novel, which lend the overall work a rushed and incomplete feel. The ending is happy, though predictable and a bit too neat. VERDICT An additional purchase for larger collections.—Terry Ann Lawler, Burton Barr Library, Phoenix, AZ

School Library Journal

2015-07-27
Soccer becomes a cultural bridge for a Franco-American boy and a newly arrived Somali family in a Maine mill town. Jacques Gagnon and his father have lived with Jacques' grandmother since his mother died, his father sinking into alcohol-fueled depression while Grandmère Jeannette supports the family. Middle schooler Jacques hopes to be captain of the soccer team, but taciturn newcomer Mohamed might challenge him. Mohamed may be unfriendly, but his little sister, Kiki, has got a sparkling smile, and soon she and Jacques enjoy a tentative friendship. Ross tackles a lot here. In addition to Jacques' family and school situations, he must cope with neighborhood petty crook Duane, who seeks to enlist Jacques. Jacques is as earnest as the story he stars in, manfully acknowledging Mohamed's superior skills and holding out the hand of friendship to Kiki even as he tries to resist Duane. A violent confrontation forces Jacques to make a hard choice, but that it will be the right one is never really in doubt. The story is too slim to handle both its characters and its issues. Jacques' many classmates and teammates are hard to distinguish. Ross deserves praise for looking at the many everyday difficulties children must face, but she doesn't give herself time to develop them with nuance. Disappointingly, the vigor and distinctiveness of Jacques' Franco-American culture is flattened, coming across as generically French. A well-meaning novel that aims high but misses. (Fiction. 8-12)

Kirkus Reviews