Paper Things

by Jennifer Richard Jacobson

Overview

When forced to choose between staying with her guardian and being with her big brother, Ari chose her big brother. There’s just one problem—Gage doesn’t actually have a place to live.

When Ari’s mother died four years ago, she had two final wishes: that Ari and her older brother, Gage, would stay together always, and that Ari would go to Carter, the middle school for gifted students. So when nineteen-year-old Gage decides he can no longer live with their bossy guardian, Janna, Ari knows she has to go with him. But it’s been two months, and Gage still hasn’t found them an apartment. He and Ari have been “couch surfing,” staying with Gage’s friend in a tiny apartment, crashing with Gage’s girlfriend and two roommates, and if necessary, sneaking into a juvenile shelter to escape the cold Maine nights. But all of this jumping around makes it hard for Ari to keep up with her schoolwork, never mind her friendships, and getting into Carter starts to seem impossible. Will Ari be forced to break one of her promises to Mama? Told in an open, authentic voice, this nuanced story of hiding in plain sight may have readers thinking about homelessness in a whole new way.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780763670450
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	02/10/2015
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Lexile:	830L (what's this?)
File size:	1 MB
Age Range:	10 - 14 Years

About the Author

Jennifer Richard Jacobson is the author of several books for children and young adults, including the middle-grade novel Small as an Elephant and the Andy Shane early chapter books, illustrated by Abby Carter. She lives in Cumberland, Maine.

Jennifer Richard Jacobson grew up in a family of storytellers. “My brothers,” she says, “had the ability to make us laugh until our bellies hurt. I wasn’t as hilarious, but I learned how to take the mishaps in life (especially the embarrassments) and turn them into a dramatic story.”

Author of the Andy Shane series, Jennifer says that she can sympathize with both Andy and his counterpart, Dolores. Like Andy she can be a dreamer, a planner—someone who likes to take time to think things over. But like the boisterous Dolores, she’s also persistent. Once she’s decided on a goal, she doesn’t give up.

When writing stories, Jennifer often begins with a specific memory, a kernel of a story that she wants to expand and explore. But the idea for her middle-grade novel Small as an Elephant came to her in an unexpected way: “Ten years ago I was at a writer’s conference and the instructor (Virginia Euwer Wolff of Make Lemonade fame) suggested, as an exercise, that we try writing an irresistible beginning. I had a rush of an idea: What if a boy on a camping trip crawled out of his pup tent and discovered that his family (I didn’t yet know who he was camping with) and the camping equipment were gone? I shared this beginning with the other writers, received an enthusiastic response, and then let the idea go. Or tried to let it go. But it wouldn’t let go of me. Who was the boy? Why was he abandoned? I had to write the book.”

Jennifer is also the author of another middle-grade novel for Candlewick Press titled Paper Things. She lives in Maine with her husband and Jack Russell terrier.

Three Things You Might Not Know About Jennifer:

1. She sings her favorite childhood songs when she runs.

2. She was called “Jeffie” until she was eight years old.

3. She cries at the end of every good story.

Editorial Reviews

12/22/2014
Ari and her older brother, Gage, have lived with a strict guardian since their mother died four years ago, but now Gage, 19, wants to leave—and take 11-year-old Ari with him. The siblings’ mother implored them to “Stay together always,” but without an apartment or a job for Gage, they bounce around among friends’ places and a homeless shelter, even spending a night in Gage’s girlfriend’s car. As Ari falls behind at school, she wonders if she can still fulfill her mother’s wish for her to attend a middle-school for gifted kids. Despite an overly neat conclusion, Jacobson (Small as an Elephant) elevates her book beyond “problem novel” territory with an engaging narrator who works hard to be loyal to her brother—and to her mother’s memory. Small moments pack big emotional wallops, as when a teacher gives Ari “brand-new, trés cool shoes” to replace her “ratty” ones, or when Ari pretends that the people she cuts from magazine are a family, because, “With a big family you’re likely to have someone watching out for you always.” A tender exploration of homelessness. Ages 10–up. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

This novel will engender empathy and understanding of a serious and all-too-real problem. Jacobson’s story is poignant but never preachy.
—School Library Journal (starred review)

Jacobson elevates her book beyond “problem novel” territory with an engaging narrator who works hard to be loyal to her brother—and to her mother’s memory. Small moments pack big emotional wallops... A tender exploration of homelessness.
—Publishers Weekly

Powerful... It is well written, with a moving plot, and is told in an authentic voice that pulls the reader in. ... Jacobson tells a story that is authentic and relatable to a wide audience of readers. This novel is a definite must-purchase for a library’s collection.
—VOYA

Ari's plight vividly illustrates the myriad consequences of homelessness, and the adults around her who should be picking up on the numerous clues to her situation seem oblivious. Her perceptive first-person voice neatly captures her conflicted loyalty to Gage but also to Janna, as well as her valiant attempts to make an impossible situation work out. ... A thoughtful and moving exploration of homelessness.
—Kirkus Reviews

In this poignant view of one child’s experience with homelessness, Jacobson deftly shows how easily it can happen, an insidious downward spiral with heart-wrenching consequences.
—The Horn Book

Through Ari’s resiliency, Jacobson introduces readers to the precarious and frightening life of a homeless elementary-school student who holds fast to her dreams and the only family she knows. It is her mature sense of her own needs that informs the adults who love her and helps them to understand how they might build a future together.
—Booklist

Paper Things treats honesty, compassion and generosity as things we can never have too much of in life. Here’s hoping it inspires more of the same in its readers.
—BookPage

Ari’s struggle to stay afloat as the bottom drops out of her world is compelling...readers will be glad to see her successfully negotiate her divided loyalties and find a safe home.
—Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

Jacobson’s realistic fiction novel provides a rich context for dialogue about recognizing the signs of homelessness and providing resources to students and families.
—Literacy Daily

The novel is ideal for a booktalk featuring strong characters.
—School library Connection

From the Publisher

★ 01/01/2015
Gr 4–8—This gentle depiction of homelessness follows Arianna Hazard, a fifth grader who bounces between friends' couches and a shelter while struggling to hide her situation from classmates. Ari and her beloved 18-year-old brother Gage live with Jana, a caring but strict foster parent, until Gage decides they should strike out on their own. He plans to find them an apartment; when that doesn't work out, Ari and Gage spend months staying with Gage's girlfriend or buddies, or sneaking into a juvenile shelter on nights when couch surfing isn't an option. Ari has many of the same concerns as her other fifth grade classmates—getting a leadership role at her school, finishing her homework on time, maintaining her friendships—but her living situation makes everything more difficult. Ari's friendships are strained, and her grades slip as she tries to navigate homelessness. Everything becomes challenging, from personal hygiene to getting to school on time. Since her mother's death four years ago (her soldier father was killed before Ari was born), Ari has hoped to fulfill her mother's dream and go to Carter Middle School, a school for gifted students. However, the dip in her grades—and a detention for trying to revive elementary school traditions against the principal's wishes—may ruin her chances. Ari finds comfort in a "family" cut out from catalogs, her "paper things." This novel will engender empathy and understanding of a serious and all-too-real problem. Jacobson's story is poignant but never preachy. While the ending won't come as a surprise to many readers, this is a sweet and touching portrayal of a resilient young girl.—Miranda Doyle, Lake Oswego School District, OR

School Library Journal

2014-11-11
There is no safety net for Ari.Or if there is one, it's full of holes. Her parents are both dead, and a friend of her mother, Janna, has been guardian to Ari and her older brother, Gage, for the past few years. But 19-year-old Gage and Janna have never gotten along well. Gage lies to Janna about having a place of his own and moves out with 11-year-old Ari. As she struggles to keep up with her classes—her hopes of attending a school for the gifted next year rest on this unlikely feat—they move from place to place: friends' and acquaintances' homes, homeless shelters and even a car. Ari's plight vividly illustrates the myriad consequences of homelessness, and the adults around her who should be picking up on the numerous clues to her situation seem oblivious. Her perceptive first-person voice neatly captures her conflicted loyalty to Gage but also to Janna, as well as her valiant attempts to make an impossible situation work out. Small acts of kindness help the pair get by. It's Ari's poignantly depicted play with her "Paper Things," a treasured pseudo-family of cut-out magazine people, that conveys most effectively her loss and hope. If the resolution is too easy, it is also satisfying, the journey enlightening. A thoughtful and moving exploration of homelessness. (Fiction. 10-14)

Kirkus Reviews