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Odd Child Out by Gilly MacMillan


Title: Odd Child Out
Author: Gilly MacMillan

Cover: I really like the cover of this one.  The investigation in the book is trying to find out what happened to cause young Noah Salder to end up in a river, so it is fitting that the river is the main focus on the cover.

Review: This adult fiction book was a pretty quick and enjoyable read, though I did find at least three of the characters unlikable at times.  Let's talk about the writing style first.  Two of the characters' chapters, Noah Sadler and Detective Inspector Jim Clemo, are written in first person, while the rest of the book is written in third person.  This always throws me off a little bit.  It's normal for a book to be in first person and then talk about the other characters in third person, but to have chapters from their point of view in third person, and then switch back to first person for the other characters just makes it feel a little too disjointed for me.  I've actually complained about this once before in another blog post years ago.  The other thing that threw me off a little at first was that the book is written in present tense, though it was about events that had already happened.  There was a moment when the Detective even said something like "in hindsight...." and that part is in past tense, but everything else is in present tense.  I was able to get past this pretty quickly though and enjoy the book.

Now about those characters and the plot.  The book is about two teenage boys, Noah and Abdi, who are great friends. There's been an accident that has put Noah in the hospital, and there's some question as to whether or not Abdi has any responsibility in that as he was the only one present at the scene, but he has stopped talking, perhaps in shock.  The detective that gets the case has his own past troubles, which took place in a prior book by the author (What She Knew).  As the Detective does his thing and learns more about the case, we are introduced to Noah's parents, Abdi's parents and sister, a schoolmate, teachers, and a now journalist/former detective/ex girlfriend of the detective.  We learn that Noah is sick -- he was diagnosed with cancer when he was eight, and has been in treatment since then.  Abdi knows Noah is sick, but not how serious it has gotten.  Abdi has also recently found out something about his own life that is life-changing.

I should mention that Noah is from a white, wealthy family, while Abdi is a black kid from Somali on a scholarship to the school they attend.  There is a Somali refugee community in the neighborhood, and the book takes place in Bristol.

At first Noah is likeable, until you start to realize that he does not want Abdi to have any other friends.  He has latched on to him, and tests his friendship many times.  His parents are even more unlikeable -- at first his dad seems okay, except that he's not around much to help and support Noah's mom with Noah's illness.  He travels for his documentary type photography, and he's a man's man.  I especially didn't like the mom, probably because of her judgmental attitude towards Abdi from the beginning.  When the boys first became friends, she always thought the friendship was bad for Noah.  Later in the book she claims she's not racist, but says that those people's struggles and hardships probably gave them PTSD, and did we really want them in our neighborhood?  Did not like her.

I didn't like the journalist either, because she had a holier than though attitude.

I think my favorite characters were Abdi, his dad Nur, and his sister Sofia.  I wasn't all that fond of his mom, but that gets better.

I have just realized that I never really formed an opinion about Detective Inspector Jim Clemo, even though he's one of the main characters.  He's alright, I suppose.

Overall, the read was enjoyable, and the plot was good.  There is a subplot involving Abdi that feels like it takes over the story right at the end, but it is wrapped up, and then the narrative returns to the original plot and Abdi and Noah's story is finished.  At the end though, you are left wondering what happens to Abdi though...

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