Paper Things

December 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.

Starred review from January 1, 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

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2014
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)

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January 1, 2015
Before her death four years earlier, Ari and Gage's mother had urged them to "stay together always." Now it has been two months since nineteen-year-old Gage and eleven-year-old Ari left their overbearing guardian's home to strike out on their own, and the challenges of finding a permanent job and stable living situation have frayed Gage's confidence. As for Ari, she hopes to earn a place at Carter, a middle school for gifted students, but as the two scramble night after night for a secure place to stay, enough sleep, clean clothes, and decent food, keeping up with her schoolwork is becoming problematic. Deeply ashamed of their couch surfing and occasional nights in shelters, Ari does her best to present a normal face at school; however, her increasingly disheveled appearance and attempts to avoid detection result in heartless teasing from classmates and hurtful misunderstandings with friends. As the goals of having a real home and attending Carter begin to seem more and more remote, the increasingly emotionally fragile Ari seeks comfort in her Paper Things, an ideal family and their belongings that she's cut out of catalogs, even though she knows she's too old for paper dolls. 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. monica edinger

(Copyright 2015 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)