Where I Belong

August 4, 2014
Ostracized for his long hair and standoffish attitude, sixth-grader Brendan Doyle takes solace in his art and his belief in the legendary Green Man, an ancient spirit who protects the forest and its inhabitants. When Brendan stumbles upon an imposing tree in the woods and builds a tree house where he can escape from bullies, as well as his nagging foster mother, he’s certain that he’s finally “found the place where I belong.” The 12-year-old meets two kindred spirits—Ed, an elderly man he thinks is the Green Man, and an insightful girl named Shea who is his own age—and believes that both of them, like him, belong in “the real real world, not the fake real world.” After Brendan is brutally beaten by thugs, his two friends help him, in very different ways, to better understand what is real and where he truly belongs. Hahn (Mr. Death’s Blue-Eyed Girls) gives Brendan a narrative voice that is urgent, contemplative, and believable in this nuanced story about transformation, trust, identity, friendship, and loss. Ages 9–12.

August 1, 2014
The prospect of flunking doesn't bother Brendan; given what he's heard about middle school, repeating sixth grade seems the safer choice. A bright kid and talented artist, Brendan's thoroughly disengaged-and very good at it, too. Dreamily sketching the Green Man he's read about in a book of British myths, he tunes out teachers, school bullies, and his elderly, Oprah-addicted foster mother, Mrs. Clancy. The only person Brendan can depend on is Brendan, and soon, a mishap involving a vicious gang leader's motorcycle forces him farther down the path of self-reliance. Fleeing into the woods, Brendan stumbles into a forest clearing that surrounds a tall tree. The wilderness and the treehouse he builds there become his refuge; the mysterious elderly man who's been observing him just might be the Green Man. Meanwhile, Mrs. Clancy-not about to let Brendan flunk on her watch-enrolls him in summer school, where he's surprised to find a sympathetic teacher and makes a friend. Unfortunately, after he's witnessed their robbery of a jewelry store, his enemies stick close as well. Brendan's one survival strategy (trust no one) looks less and less viable-even to him. If the plot offers few surprises, the characters more than sustain readers' interest: Brendan-droll and desperate, uncertain yet inflexibly judgmental-is immensely appealing, and strong secondary characters (Mrs. Clancy especially) are standouts. Another solid outing from veteran Hahn. (Fiction. 9-12)

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June 1, 2014

Gr 5-8-No one expects much from troubled sixth grader Brendan Doyle. His grades send him to summer school, and his foster mother Mrs. Clancy bears him no great love. To add to his troubles, a local group of miscreants taunts and attacks Brendan on a regular basis. His life changes when he discovers a neighborhood forest replete with magical serenity. It reminds him of J. R. R. Tolkien's books and the other fantasies he loves to read. He decides to build a treehouse there as an escape from the outside world. Under his tree, Brendan encounters the "Green Man," a disheveled man who resembles Brendan's idea of the mythical spirit who protects forests. Together with Shea, a girl Brendan meets at summer school, the three outcasts enact idyllic forest living even as reality threatens to destroy this fragile peace. Readers expecting one of Hahn's signature ghost stories may find this story something of a departure. Much more a traditional "issue" novel, Brendan's mystical tale blends in issues associated with urban youth, homelessness, and crime. Hahn's prose continues to target reluctant readers. Short, declarative sentences make for an approachable middle school title. The first-person narration is appealing, and the story goes down a predictable path kids can easily follow. For readers who, like Brendan, might prefer art and nature to other school subjects, Hahn's novel will likely be a winner. Give this to fans of Katherine Paterson's Bridge to Terabithia (Crowell, 1978) for a forest hide-out story with a tween twist.-Caitlin Augusta, Stratford Library Association, CT

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2014
Grades 5-8 Brendan doesn't want any part of real life. For him, real life includes a mother who abandoned him, teachers who mock him, bullies who threaten him, and a grouchy foster mom who is too old to care for him well. It's no wonder that when he stumbles on a majestic tree in the woods, a tree that seems to call to him with the voice of the Green Man, the ancient spirit of the forest, he builds a refuge there. With a homey tree house and a new friend in a homeless man named Ed, whom he mistakes for the Green Man, it's easy to escape reality. His fantasy world is shattered, however, when the bullies make good on their threats and leave him badly injured. In Brendan's dreamy first-person narrative, Hahn powerfully evokes his anger and frustration as well as the heartbreaking internal monologue of a kid who assumes no one loves him, all of which softens as Brendan learns to live comfortably in his less-than-ideal reality. A gentle and moving story.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)

September 1, 2014
"How come some kids are lucky and others aren't?" Brendan is anything but lucky: abandoned at birth by his mother and now, on the verge of failing sixth grade, living with Mrs. Clancy, a foster mother who is dutiful but apparently unloving, Brendan is smart but alienated from schooling and picked on by playground bullies and even actual hoodlums. He finds refuge in a secret tree house he builds deep in the woods, and tentative friendships begin with a girl named Shea, a fellow outsider at school; and with an old man in the woods, whom Brendan initially believes is "The Green Man," an ancient supernatural entity charged with protecting the natural world. Most readers will quickly understand that this is only Brendan's wishful fantasy, but they will also empathize with the urgency of his desire to create for himself a safer and more benevolent world. This is quintessential middle-grade realistic fiction, with an unvarnished depiction of the miseries that can be visited upon a quiet sixth grader and the succor that can be found in the hard-won friendship of peers and the attention of understanding elders. Even Mrs. Clancy comes around in the end. roger sutton

(Copyright 2014 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

January 1, 2015
Foster kid Brendan finds refuge in a tree house he builds. He also builds tentative friendships with Shea, a fellow outsider at school, and with an old man whom Brendan believes has supernatural abilities. This is quintessential middle-grade realistic fiction, with an unvarnished depiction of the miseries that can be visited upon a quiet sixth grader and the succor that can be found in hard-won friendships.

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