Book Memories From Youth — One of My Favorite Reads
The young-adult novella Mick Harte Was Here recently emerged in my consciousness after being buried deep in my long-term memory for 25-plus years.
As a young elementary school student, I was quite the bookworm and savored each new work I could get my hands on. In late 1995, Park’s new book was a wonderful new treasure. I became deeply engrossed in the book’s moving and revealing — while also tragic — world.
In the novella, thirteen-year-old Phoebe Harte’s world is turned upside down when her young brother Mick passes away in a tragic bike accident. Phoebe’s — and her parents’ — journey through grief and loss still reverberates strongly in my mind. Phoebe is able to recount multiple humorous and vibrant memories while also tackling tough spiritual and personal questions. At one point Phoebe creeps into her deceased brother’s room and falls asleep, dreaming of him dancing on a piano in heaven. She awakens in laughter as her grief-stricken mother coldly stares over her. Phoebe is able to describe her dream to calm her troubled parent, and the two genuinely start to bond again. What an amazing, powerful story for any young reader!
Barbara Park(who tragically passed in 2013) was the author of dozens of young-adult novels. Her famous Junie B. Jones children’s book series has sold tens of millions of copies. The above mentioned novel also had an imbedded deeper theme — bicycle safety. Phoebe’s brother Mick was not wearing a bicycle helmet during the accident. This tragic fact becomes a lingering source of grief for everyone — especially Phoebe’s parents — as a bicycle helmet may have helped prevent Mick from suffering grave injuries. What a powerful way to use writing and fiction to relay a deeper message and cause to readers. Park actually came up with the idea to write the book when she saw a bike accident near her home.
For sure, this book was one of my childhood favorites. Isn’t it wonderful how each of us has so many books or other written works that we read in our youth that become forever ingrained in our memories and deeper beings? Park’s amazing work is just one that sticks with me so closely, springing to mind so many decades after my first read and still offering new insights and riches not mined before.
