Zack (1998) Book Review

 Hey everyone, I'm back with another book review. This one is a bit more obscure, as it's by a Canadian author named William Bell, and I honestly don't know how well known he is outside of Canada. So let's get into it.

Published in 1998, Zack is about a teenager named Zack, who is a mix of black and white and doesn't fit into the more intolerant small town of Fergus, Ontario. After discovering relics from the American Revolution in his backyard, Zack decides to travel to Natchez, Mississippi to meet his maternal grandfather, whom he'd never met due to his mom having a falling out with him after she married a white man. But, what he finds isn't at all what Zack expected or even wanted to find.

That's a quick summary of this book, because, like I said, it's pretty obscure. I first got it as a graduation/get well present from my grade 8 teacher in the summer of 2001 while I was stuck at home after having surgery on my right knee to remove the growth plates to prevent my right leg from growing even longer than it already was compared to my left leg. It became one of my favourite books as a teenager and I've read it numerous times in the last 23 years since it was given to me.

The book is written in first person, so we get all of Zack's thoughts, feelings and memories, and I really like him as a character. His feelings about getting dragged out of the city to the middle of nowhere are valid. Especially when there aren't as many black people in their new town. Yet, he also feels like a petulant child with the way he behaves towards his parents in the beginning of the book. Especially for someone who is 18 years old. I get it though. I also handled certain situations with my parents in less than stellar ways when I was 18.

While we see their relationship begin, we don't spend alot of time with Zack and his girlfriend, Jen. Especially in the back end of the novel as Zack takes his trip to visit his grandfather. Jen is pretty cool though and takes things in stride when there's a bit of tension between her and Zack after her cousin's racist comment in the park scene in the first quarter of the book. But otherwise the relationship isn't the focus of this book. Which is interesting for a teen book published in the late '90s.

I don't have alot more to say about this book. It won a couple of Canadian literature awards in 1999, but it wasn't one of those bestselling novels like Bridge to Terabithia or anything like that. I honestly still enjoy reading it though, even though I'm 20 years past the demographic this book was aimed at. 

Alright my friends, that's it for me for today. I'll be back soon with more blog posts. So until then have a great rest of the day and I will talk to you all later. Take care.