Far from Fair, written by Elana K. Arnold, reviewed by Klaudia Janek

Summary:  Far from Fair is a perfect title for this book as we follow the events of Odette’s life.  Her father is laid off from his job.  They are selling their house and most of their things in California and preparing to live in a camper as they make their way up to Oregon.  They are going to Oregon because Odette’s grandma has cancer and is very sick.  Odette’s brother is autistic and she feels that it’s unfair that her parents have different standards for both of them.  Finally, Odette has to leave her friends behind and start over.  Oh, and to top it all off, mom and dad are having marriage problems. She is not happy and lets it be known throughout the story.  When they get to the island that Grandma Sissy lives on, Odette meets a boy, she gets to help run the bakery and the pace of life is a bit slower.  The underlying message of this story is that life is not fair, but you have to make the best with what you have to work with.

Straight Talk for Librarians:  I thought the cover of this book was beautiful and really went with the camper life theme.  I think most readers would sympathize with Odette.  She is having a lot of hardships in life and a lot of changes are coming too quick.  This story explored friendships, family dynamics and grief.  This book is targeted to ages 9-13 (grades 3-7) and I certainly believe that grief has a place in fiction and it needs to be explored.  However, I think the author went too far with diving into Oregon’s Death with Dignity law and sort of compared euthanasia to putting down a pet.  It got even more political when Odette’s brother had an exotic animal as a pet (ferret) which is illegal in California, but legal in Oregon.  It’s these political state laws, which are complex, that really hinted at ideologies that might not yet be appropriate for the age group targeted.  Depending on religious leanings, parents might be completely opposed to the POV presented in this book.  I think the intended age group is too young for the level of detail of grandma taking the drug cocktail to die.  There is also the possibility that younger readers are not well-schooled in individual state rights and might not fully understand what is going on between California and Oregon.  Only one of the professional reviews mentions this and others are ambiguous about the details.