Harvey, Sarah N. Three Little Words.

Harvey, Sarah N.  Three Little Words.     Orca  218p  $12.95      978-1-4598-0065-6 2012  hs    E-BN        Realistic Fiction    

Sid (short for Siddhartha)has spent virtually his entire life in the loving and supportive foster care of Caleb and Megan, and he considers them to be his mom and dad.  A bit of an introvert, Sid is also very empathic, making him a real asset in a home where foster children come and go.  But his normal life is shattered when a strange man arrives on the island with Sid’s half-brother Wain (short for Gawain). Sid, by choice and obligation, reconnects with his birth family, learning all kinds of things about himself and a variety of “three-word” phrases.   

This is an absolute gem of a book about what defines a family, as well as friendship, love, tolerance, and much more.  There are four relationships that swirl around each other in this story about one artistic, introverted teen’s life -- that with his “parents”, that with his best friend Chloe, that with Fariza (a newly arrived foster child from a very violent home), and finally that with his birth family, and especially Wain.  The story arcs twirl around each other like a DNA helix, showing how all of them work together to allow Sid to cope with such radical change, and making for a very moving read.  The author has chosen three-word chapter titles, each of which captures the emotions and foibles of Sid’s existence from moment to moment, carrying the reader through the book.  My assumption is that they are the premise upon which the title is based.  One could also create a poem using the chapter titles that would probably be representative of all of our lives at one time or another.

There are places in the book where the f-bomb and other such words appear, but they are in context and the book would be less “true” without them.  As a coming-of-age book, this is a winner.              

Family–Fiction, Foster Care–Fiction                   --Lynn Fisher