Deal with Past to live the Future



M.I.A
By Dean Hughes

Reviewed By Edgar Kabunga

The past can be hard to get over, but working with the present can help you deal with the past’s trouble. 

       Jay Thacker is a boy from Salt Lake City who is half Navajo. Jay has moved to Delta with his mom to live with his grandparents. His father is currently Missing in Action, hence the title of the book. He still believes his father is alive but everyone else around him has given up hope on that. The story starts off with Jay meeting a boy named Gordy and going to a park and playing baseball. Ken is another boy Jay meets when he works on his grandfather's farm. Ken happens to be a Japanese boy; tension starts off high due to the Pearl Harbor bombing, but as Jay gets to know more about him, his opinion starts changing. Ken and Gordy are about to be at the center of some big events that happen in Jay’s Delta life. 

       In my opinion I enjoyed this book. It wasn’t the funniest, most action filled or suspenseful but it was a good book. It didn’t move too fast or slow. The story has some very real aspects about it that could be very relatable. Jay not giving up on his dad and thinking he's still alive while everybody thinks the opposite is an interesting arch in the book. Jay keeps having this fading hope while everyone else gave up on his dad. The book got very deep when they started talking about his dad and what kind of man he was. It made you wonder a couple of things about his dad and if he is what would be considered a good dad. The book really showed some of the real things that went on during The Pearl Harbor Bombing. It was perfectly realistic, but not to a point where it was boring or dull.

       Jay himself was a pretty dull character, but some of the other characters brought back some life to the book. The two most important of his friends were Ken and Gordy. Ken was a Japenese boy who during the Pearl Harbor Bombing was in a camp just outside of Delta. He wasn’t like all the other Japanese boys, he was an outgoing, strong, and smart kid. He didn’t care what anybody thought of him. When he meets Ken things--to say the least--start off weird, but soon enough they become friends. Their friendship is a good one, but it becomes tested when the other boys find out Jay is friends with a Japaense boy. Gordy is one of those boys. Gordy is a boy who grew up in Delta and is also now one of Jay’s first friends. He is a boy who loves baseball and thinks he’s pretty good at it. Gordy really helped Jay settle into Delta and helped him make some friends, These two boys have their own weird relationship, but it eventually turns into a good friendship that supports Jay through his tough times. Also. there is a dance competition in the book where Jay steals the girl Gordy was trying get with ...but to find out more about that, you'll have to read the book.

       This book doesn’t really have anything special about it but it is a good book. Unless you're just looking for a quick read or you like Dean Hughes stories this book really isn’t for you. I would recommend this book to most people unless you're looking for something very specific. It’s reading level isn’t anything to high, so anybody could read it. The book also isn’t too long, so it doesn't have to be some long dragged out thing, and if you enjoy the book you can read the others in the series.

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