Book fifteen: The Key to the Golden Firebird

The Key to the Golden Firebird* (2004)
Maureen Johnson

Rating: 4/5

I loved this.

It was great: well written, funny, heartfelt and realistic.

I would give it the added recommendation that I read it one sitting – but that’s all I’ve been doing these last few days. Sitting around reading books. But I can predict that I would have read it this way anyways. Honest.

Johnson has a really terrific writing style and she is just as funny in print as she is in her blog. Which isn’t always the case. I read the books of a few authors for the first time after reading their blogs and was just disappointed. I guess it’s a case of my expectations being too high? I still read their blogs though, so I guess I do enjoy their writing still.

Usually when a book has more that on point-of-view, I get attached to one character more than the others, and that happened here. I liked reading about May the best, and she is sort of the central character, so I guess that makes sense.

I thought that Johnson handled the father’s death really well. The prologue really shows the difference between the carefree fun of the three sister’s playing a prank, then the shock of finding out that he had died.

Despite the huge issues being dealt with here – death of a parent, coming of age, oh-my-god does that boy like me? – I think that the story is very subtle. I’m not sure if that makes sense, but I really liked the fact that it was so interesting, without having to resort to being overly dramatic. This makes the whole story feel so realistic. I mean, the things that happened in the book, is stuff that happened to people I knew growing up, stuff that I experienced when people I loved died. The reactions are just exactly right.

[spoiler] I also liked the fact that Pete dated, and slept with, Nell. I know that sounds weird, after all he should have been pining after May the whole time like a good little hero, ha ha. Obviously, this was more realistic than that romance novel ideal. What teenage boy sits around pining when he could be sleeping with someone willing? Umm, none. [end of spoiler]

That’s really why I love YA – they are just so much more interesting and real than those in the adult market. It’s hard to go wrong with a YA title, which is really something you can’t say about the general popular fiction market.

Did I mention I loved this book?

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* Read on Tuesday, 20/3.