David Almond, Eoin Colfer, Roddy Doyle, Deborah Ellis, Nick Hornby, Margo Lanagan, Gregory Maguire, Ruth Ozeki, Linda Sue Park and Tim Wynne-Jones,
Click
Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic, 2007

Rating: E*

Maggie is in junior high and her brother Jason is in a senior in high school when their beloved Grandfather Gee, a photojournalist, suddenly dies. They are surprised when they receive gifts from their grandfather through his lawyer! Jason, who has just found out that he is adopted, finds autographed photographs of famous people taken by his grandfather. His anger at his family fuels his plans to sell them and run away to find his birth father. Maggie is enchanted by her gift, a strange wooden box filled with sea shells. A card in the box tells her, "Throw them all back - Gee." What does it mean?

This novel is a combination of stories written by ten authors describing the life of George Keane (Gee) and his family as they journey through the past, present and future! All of the stories tie into Linda Sue Park’s original story about Maggie and Jason’s gifts from their grandfather. Stories are named for the people in Gee’s life. Some focus on Gee’s photographs: in Annie, David Almond tells a haunting tale of a disabled girl who finds new life through one of Gee’s photographs; in Lev, Deborah Ellis explains the photograph of a prisoner in a Russian prison who created Maggie’s beautiful wooden box; and in Vincent, Roddy Doyle tells the story of Gee’s photograph of Muhammed Ali autographed for Jason - years before Jason was even born!

Other stories explore Gee’s travels and accomplishments as a photographer and a humanitarian. In the story Maggie by Nick Hornby, we are socked to learn that Gee had another family in France. Several stories explore Jason and Maggie’s lives after their grandfather’s death. In Min by Tim Wynne-Jones, Jason learns that he wants to become a photographer when he falls in love with a beautiful but troubled girl named Jasmine; in Afela by Margo Lanagan and Margaret by Gregory Maguire, we see Maggie as an older woman reflecting on her life and coming to terms with her mortality!

This book is an amazing accomplishment! The title Click unites this beautiful tapestry of stories which are woven about the life of a photographer and his impact on his family and the world. Not only have ten writers been able to work together to tell a beautiful story, but they have done it for a good cause. All the proceeds of this book will be donated to Amnesty International! There is even a section at the end of the book which explains the organization and its aims. This book will definitely appeal to both male and female readers.

Thematic Links: Photography; Creativity; Travel; Family Relationships; Adoption; World War II; Russian History; Honesty; Prejudice; The Future

Myra Junyk
Vol. 13, number 2
December 2007

*Rating System:
E - Excellent, enduring, everyone should see it!
G - Good, even great at times, generally useful!
A - Average, all right, has its applications.
P - Problematic, puzzling, poorly presented.