Sunday, July 12, 2009

I Wanna Be Your Shoebox

I Wanna Be Your Shoebox by Christina Garcia (Simon&Schuster)
Yumi Ruiz-Hirsch has a varied background; grandparents from Japan, CCuba and Brooklyn and a home life which isn't exactly traditional, either. Her mother is a published author (with a music professor suitor) and a punk-musician father straggling as a would-be song writer.
Interlaced throughout the story is Yumi's dedication to saving the school orchestra and her devotion to grandfather, Saul, whose daily council resounds in her decisions, "Whatever you want, you gotta go after it like them horses running toward the finish line."
The title "I Wanna Be Your Shoebox" comes from a poem Yumi's father adapts for a concert which brings success to the orchestra.
This is truly a believable story with fresh dialogue and clever plot twists. The pathos at the ending of Yumi attending her grandfather's death is tender and sweet. Certainly there must be another Yumi story from this talented author.