It was a Friday afternoon, and school was almost over. My fourth-grade teacher had assigned each of the students in my class a book to take home and `qawread for a report. I was assigned to read A Likely Place by Paula Fox. With no prior knowledge of the author or the book title, I was not sure what to expect. At first glance, the cover did not seem too exciting, nor the title. Nevertheless, I knew I had to read it for homework, and it would be my only source of entertainment as I had been grounded that week.
The following day, I would spend the entirety of the afternoon reading the short illustrated 57-page chapter book. Finishing it before dinner, I felt a sense of warmth and comfort. The plot was nothing too exciting, yet it was not uninteresting. Some of my favorite books to read at the time were fantasy adventures, especially ones with female protagonists. A Likely Place was slower paced, the main protagonist, Lewis, was a Caucasian boy, and his conflict in the story was not too high stakes. Despite these things, I was still able to enjoy the story because I could relate to Lewis in some ways. He was nine years old, and I was about nine or ten at the time. Lewis had parents who were overprotective and always assuming how he feels. If I ever felt sad, frustrated, angry, or confused, my parents might start out asking how I feel. However, it would soon turn into them telling me about what I could have done or should have done or that I am ridiculous. Lewis was not doing too well in school, and his teacher berates him. Luckily, my teacher at the time was caring and understanding, but I was still having a hard time with school work. Lewis quickly made friends with an older gentleman named Mr. Madruga in a park. Similarly, I found it easier to make friends with older people than people my age. However, that was where our similarities ended.
Lewis planned to find a cave in the park to hide from his parents until he was ready to run away to Alaska. He wanted to run away because he felt misunderstood. I understood how he felt, but even then, I did not feel it was enough to justify him abandoning his parents. If it were me, I would run away if I felt that my parents did not love me anymore. I knew my parents did not understand me all of the time, but that was ok. I did not understand them all of the time, either. One thing I knew for sure was that they loved me very much and that I loved them. Even if I wanted to run away, I would not have been able to do it because I knew that the outside world was dangerous and at home was where I was safest. As a young adult, I now know that if I were to commit to running away from home, I would have a high chance of not making it out on the streets. A young African-American girl like myself would have been kidnapped, and it would not make the news. Lewis, a young Caucasian boy, would have a better chance of being found if he were kidnapped. He would make news headlines, and the police would send out search parties to look for him. I do not think that the author, Paula Fox, a Caucasian woman, would have thought about those things while writing the novel. Her main goal was to have it appeal to a broader child audience. It was and still is typical for the default character to be a Caucasian male in stories, and at the time, I did not question it. Since race was not an essential factor in this book, I am particularly upset with the way the story was handled.
Another aspect of the story that mainly stuck with me was Lewis’s relationship with his elderly friend, Mr. Madruga. The two meet on a park bench and form an instant bond over how they both find the English language to be particularly challenging to understand at times. Lewis learns that Mr. Madruga is an adoptive citizen from Spain. He has up and left his home because he no longer wants to be treated as an invalid by his caretaker son-in-law. It is easy for Mr. Madruga to empathize with Lewis because of their similar situations. As someone who knows what it is like to not have a say in the way they are being cared for, Mr. Madruga is not like the other adults in Lewis’s life. Mr. Madruga treats Lewis as an equal and with respect, caring to listen to how he feels genuinely. This special bond is what allows them to strike up a deal with one another. If Mr. Madruga helps Lewis find a cave to hide away in, then he will help Mr. Madruga write a letter to his son-in-law. Both characters uphold their respective end of the deal and surprisingly gain something more from their time together. Mr. Madruga’s letter to his son-in-law causes him to write a letter back to him apologizing for the way he treated him and agreeing to give him more freedom and be more sensitive towards his wants as much as his needs if he were to return home. The letter provokes a change of heart in Mr. Madruga, and he decides to return home, encouraging Lewis to do the same. In the end, they both learn that if they were to start the line of communication with their loved ones, then they could work towards a healthier relationship. Fourth-grade Sky was someone who found communication with her parents to be complicated. The overall message of the book probably did not stick with me as well as Lewis and Mr. Madruga’s unusual friendship. I did not wholly agree with it at the time. I believed that even if I told my parents how I felt, they still would continue to patronize me. In reality, that was how our relationship turned out to be. It would take several years before my parents would begin to show me the respect I felt I deserved. Although the book has its flaws, I feel like if it serves as a good starting point for a conversation about child to adult relationships. The book did have discussion questions at the end of small groups. Paula Fox did intend for her short story to be a conversation piece between adults and children, allowing them to open up about their feelings and strengthen their relationships. If this discussion were to happen in class among my peers, it could have made a significant impact on me. However, I am quite content with the fact that A Likely Place brought me peace during a tough time.
