Kyle's Island

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Kyle's Island

Book Information

Category
Realistic/Contemporary Fiction
Reader Personality Type
Publisher
Charlesbridge, Feb. 2010
Careful Content?

It's summer and thirteen-year-old Kyle is waiting impatiently for his family to get into the car to drive out to the cottage by the lake. This is where the family goes in the summer time and it's where Kyle is hoping he can find some peace and feel like himself. Kyle's father, an aspiring but unpublished author, has left the family to think things over and find himself. His mother has taken up smoking again. Nothing feels right at home with Dad gone and Kyle doesn't even want to talk to his father on the phone when he calls. He just feels as though his father doesn't care and his mother didn't do enough to make him stay. So the familiarity and sanctuary of the family vacation at the lake is a balm for Kyle. The family arrives at the cottage and goes through all the old rituals. But change lurks here too. Mom can no longer afford to keep the cottage and a For Sale sign goes up in the front yard. More betrayal. His summer is turning into more pain except for the time he spends with a neighbor, Tom, who pays Kyle to take him fishing early every morning. Man and boy spend most of their time in silence as the fish bite and as Tom eats or rather gorges himself on food. Kyle doesn't understand how someone can eat so much. He doesn't understand why his father isn't there. He doesn't understand how his mother can let the cottage go without putting up a fight. Day by day and person by person, Kyle is beginning to learn that he has never really understood things from his mother's perspective or his father's perspective and he certainly didn't know Tom's story. As he celebrates his thirteenth birthday, he gains the great gift of being aware that everyone has life experience that makes him or her a unique person and it's important to reserve judgment until you really know their truth. This is a coming of age story that mirrors the confusion and hurt of adolescent boys whose fathers choose to leave the family. 191 pages

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