Review: Dream on, Amber by Emma Shevah

Hardcover, 272 pages
Expected publication: October 6th 2015 by Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Source: Raincoast Books

Poor Amber. She’s not having a good year. For one thing, her name isn’t even Amber.

Officially, my name is Ambra, which sounds fine in an Italian accent because the “m” sounds like you’re chewing a toffee and you’ve got that roly-poly “r”. But not when English people say it because they say Am bra. I am a bra. This is beyond embarrassing because I don’t even need one yet.

Amber’s full name is Ambra Alessandra Leola Kimiko Miyamoto which would be tough for anyone to handle but is especially taxing for a bite-sized little girl who is moving on to the all important 6th grade. What makes everything worse is that while everyone else is sporting new smart phones that do a million and one things, Amber has to make do with an old-timey phone that has the basic functions.

And what’s worse than both those two combined is the absence of a dad in Amber’s life. A loss that Amber and her sister, Bella, feel keenly.

I looked at Bella. She was staring at the plate and her lips were twitching like she was going to cry any second.

And even though she was a complete pain in the butt, I felt sorry for her because now she knew what the black hole felt like–the one my dad left behind when he vamoosed. Maybe she’d felt it a bit before, but the man in the park made her realize what I had known all along. Something major was missing. There was just this humungous hole where our dad was supposed to be. Someone we had completely trusted and loved had left us suddenly and never come back.

A thing like that can make you feel really small. And I didn’t want to feel any smaller. It was bad enough wearing clothes for nine- to ten-year-olds when I was nearly twelve.

“Was the party that bad?” Mum asked, reaching across the table and lifting Bella’s chin up. “Did Molly’s mother lock upi all in a cupboard? Because that’s not a bad idea. We could do that at your party, Bella.”

I didn’t smile and neither did  Bella. I knew Bella was thinking about the little girl in the park and so was I.

That little girl had a dad and we didn’t.

Amber’s feelings as an older sister are tested when Bella tearfully writes a letter to their dad asking him to attend her birthday party. Amber, being more clued in and realizing that there is no chance that their dad will attend and not wanting her sister to be disappointed, decides to respond pretending to be their dad. Amber’s attentions are noble but her plan backfires when Bella doesn’t seem to understand, no matter how Amber words it, that their dad will not be at the party.

Bella problems are not the only problems Amber has. Fitting into school is difficult and Amber has to try extra hard to find a place she belongs being half-Japanese and half-Italian. Her Japanese heritage is neglected because their dad left and cut off all contact with them not long after Bella was born but their Italian heritage gets extra workout thanks to their Italian grandma’s larger than life presence.

Emma Shevah manages to poignantly express the bewildered feelings that children must experience when one of their parents leaves and they perceive themselves as being abandoned by someone who is supposed to love them unconditionally. The narrative is sprinkled with drawings that Amber does and gives the book a lot of verve. The pacing is exactly right as is the tone which is in turns comic and serious. Because the book is from a child’s perspective, there are times when an innocent observation or action has a lot of impact than it would have had an adult observed the same thing.

Amber creates a father in her mind, someone to talk to when things get too tough and someone who will offer her advice when she doesn’t know what to do. She treats this imaginary dad as a real person and I think it’s the most heartbreaking moment when she realizes that he is her construct.

I found Dream on, Amber to be surprisingly profound–I expected something light and fluffy and walked away with a new appreciation of how children deal with difficult experiences. Obviously not having a parent is a big deal and I felt that Shevah does a great job in portraying Amber’s growth as she deals with her issues concerning her dad and comes out a better and wiser person. I also loved the portrayal of sisterhood in the novel. Bella is far from being an endearing little sister but Amber loves her fiercely and does all she can to make her happy. More of that please.

All in all, this was a wonderful read and one I strongly recommend for all middle-grade readers, teachers, and parents. Get this book. (Keep some tissues close by when reading because as I said, some things hit hard.)