ARC Review: Mobile Library, by David Whitehouse

Title: Mobile Library

Authors: David Whitehouse

Publisher: Picador

Date of Publication: January 15, 2015

Number of Pages: 272

*I've received an ARC of the book via Netgalley. Thank you to the publisher.

Summary

From the award-winning novelist David Whitehouse, hailed by "The" "New York Times" as "a writer to watch," a tragicomic adventure about a troubled adolescent boy who escapes his small town in a stolen library-on-wheels.

"An archivist of his mother," Bobby Nusku spends his nights meticulously cataloging her hair, clothing, and other traces of the life she left behind. By day, Bobby and his best friend Sunny hatch a plan to transform Sunny, limb-by-limb, into a cyborg who could keep Bobby safe from schoolyard torment and from Bobby's abusive father and his bleach-blonde girlfriend. When Sunny is injured in a freak accident, Bobby is forced to face the world alone.

Out in the neighborhood, Bobby encounters Rosa, a peculiar girl whose disability invites the scorn of bullies. When Bobby takes Rosa home, he meets her mother, Val, a lonely divorcee, whose job is cleaning a mobile library. Bobby and Val come to fill the emotional void in each other's lives, but their bond also draws unwanted attention.

After Val loses her job and Bobby is beaten by his father, they abscond in the sixteen-wheel bookmobile. On the road they are joined by Joe, a mysterious but kindhearted ex-soldier. This "puzzle of people" will travel across England, a picaresque adventure that comes to rival those in the classic books that fill their library-on-wheels.

At once tender, provocative and darkly funny, "Mobile Library" is a fable about the intrinsic human desire to be loved and understood--and about one boy's realization that the kinds of adventures found in books can happen in real life. It is the ingenious second novel by a writer whose prose has been hailed as "outlandishly clever" ("The New York Times") and "deceptively effortless" ("The Boston Globe").

Review

Mobile Library is a book that no bookworm could ever resist it! It's a book about a mobile library, a boy that archives his mom's traces, and a woman that escapes in a mobile library. Plus, this gorgeous cover is really a reader's dream. So, what could go wrong? 

Well, if I have to be completely honest with you, I would have DNFed this book by chapter 2 if I didn't have to write this review. And I'm sorry to say that the book didn't get any better as the story progressed. 

First of all, I want to talk about the thing that initially turned me off. The first phrase of the book is "Lips, sticky, not how his mother kissed". A bit weird, but I thought that I misunderstood something. But then we have "“No,” he said, and kissed her again", "“I love you,” Bobby said, and Val flinched like she had never before heard those three words strung together in that certain painful order", "“I know you will,” she said, “you’re my man.” She held him even more tightly, so that their bodies creaked with a realization—this might be the last time", "Then she put her hands on Bobby’s face to pull him close, and they kissed a final time". And then, in chapter 20 we also get "Bobby kissed the soft skin where her neck became her collarbone". Seriously? Am I the only one that gets a weird vibe from this, while Bobby is supposed to be 12 years old and Val is Rosa's mother? 

After this rough start, I thought that continuing with the story would make me feel more invested in these characters. And, at this point, we get introduced to the cyborg sub-plot. Bobby is been bullied at school, and so, his friend Sunny decides to become a cyborg to save him. How he plans on doing that? Of course, having Bobby break his arms and legs to get metal pieces in him. He even falls from a high place, so he can have metal pieces in his skull as well. 

And this, had me wondering what is the intended audience for this book. The writing feels like an older middle grade, but the violence and what happens is more suited for adults. It's an absurd story, where things happen just because they can, or at least, that's what I felt all through my reading of Mobile Library.

However, I have to recognize that this book deals with important topics, even though I didn't like how they were handled. Bobby is a neglected child with no adult really caring for him. Rosa, on the other hand, is severely bullied because she's different. So, Val acts with their best intentions in mind. Do I believe that she made smart choices though? Not really.

All in all, Mobile Library is a take on a found family story. It has the ingredients to be an interesting book, but the execution left many things wanting. I'm really hesitant in recommending this book for the reason I've explained above.