#MMGM--REVIEW & AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Not Nothing by Gayle Forman

 

NOT NOTHING

written by Gayle Forman

Aladdin, 2024

ISBN: 978-1-6659-4327-7

Source: publisher for review

Ages 10-14

All opinions expressed are solely my own.

Book cover, author photo, summary & interview provided by the publisher.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Award-winning author and journalist Gayle Forman has written several bestselling novels, including those in the Just One Day series, Where She Went, and the #1 New York Times bestseller If I Stay, which has been translated into more than forty languages and was adapted into a major motion picture. Her first middle grade novel, Frankie & Bug, was a New York Times Best Children’s Book of 2021. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her family.

AUTHOR INTERVIEW

*What is the 'story behind the story'?

The story is the culmination of multiple threads—an apt metaphor in a book where sewing plays a pivotal role. It’s partially my own family history: My grandparents were German Jews who believed they were so assimilated they would be fine. They were not fine, and they escaped Berlin in 1938. That history felt quite potent to me in the aftermath of the 2016 election when we saw a resurgence in hate groups and I found myself pondering that Hannah Arendt quote about how good or evil are rarely choices but something you fall into. This got me thinking about how a person becomes “evil” and how they become “good.” Around this time, I came across the love story of Jerzy Bielecki and Cyla Cybulska, a young interfaith couple—he was Catholic and she was Jewish—who fell in love while both were prisoners at Auschwitz. They survived, thanks to a daring escape in which Jerzy, wearing an SS uniform, marched Cyla out of the camp. And what finally clicked it all together was a nonagenarian named Sam who I met at an assisted-living facility. He was the inspiration for Josey. So once I had all the pieces, it only took me six years to stitch them all together.


*What is the best thing about writing for children?

The best thing about writing, period, is knowing there are people out there, complete strangers, people who I may never meet, with whom I may not share a country or a language or culture in common, but who I am nevertheless connected to by the invisible string of story. When you write for children, that becomes even more powerful because they are just at the beginning of the process of becoming the people they want to be and to possibly have a role in guiding them toward their better selves is a massive privilege, and responsibility that I take very seriously.


*What is a significant way that Not Nothing changed since the first draft?

There’s a term in Yiddish called ungapatchka. It means garish, or tasteless or just TOO MUCH. The first draft was ungapatchka. Also, it was an adult novel, with the Alex character being a young person in their early twenties. Once I realized it was a middle-grade story about a 12-year-old, all of the superfluous stuff fell away and the essence of the story was revealed.


*Which of the characters in Not Nothing do you relate to the most and why?

Josey! Maybe it seems strange that I feel such kinship with a 107-year-old man, a man who is an excellent seamster —I take clothing to the dry cleaners when buttons come loose—but so it is. He’s my ethical twin. I loved being able to share his view of humanity. I have not been through anything like what Josey has but I hope that if I were, I’d be able to face it as he does, to rise to the occasion as he does.


*What comes first for you — the plot or the characters — and why?

It’s a Reese's-Peanut Butter-Cup-type situation with me. Plot is more tied up in the What if? scenario. Those scenarios are the peanut butter in this metaphor. But it doesn’t become a book/peanut butter cup, until the characters—the chocolate—arrive. Are you hungry now? I am.

ABOUT THE BOOK

To say Alex has had it rough is an understatement. His father’s gone, his mother is struggling with mental health issues, and he’s now living with an aunt and uncle who are less than excited to have him. Almost everyone treats him as though he doesn’t matter at all, like he’s nothing.

So when a kid at school actually tells him he’s nothing, Alex snaps, and gets violent. Fortunately, his social worker pulls some strings and gets him a job at a nursing home for the summer rather than being sent to juvie. There, he meets Josey, the 107-year-old Holocaust survivor who stopped bothering to talk years ago, and Maya-Jade, the granddaughter of one of the residents with an overblown sense of importance.

Unlike Alex, Maya-Jade believes that people care about what she thinks, and that she can make a difference. And when Alex and Josey form an unlikely bond, with Josey confiding in him, Alex starts to believe he can make a difference—a good difference—in the world. If he can truly feel he matters, Alex may be able to finally rise to the occasion of his own life.

REVIEW

Not Nothing pulled me in right from the beginning. Told from the perspective of a 107-year-old man who's waiting to die, the story blends the experiences of the narrator and a 12-year-old boy whose made an awful mistake. The old man tells of the boy's arrival at Shady Glen to do community service while his fate hangs in the balance. At the end of the summer, the boy will learn whether he will get a second chance or get sent to juvenile detention. Interestingly, the boy's name isn't used much in the book creating a unique perspective. Things don't look good for the boy at first, he clashes with Maya-Jade, the other young person volunteering at the nursing home, he's accused of theft, and of lying. 

But after meeting Josey (our 107-year-old narrator), Alex begins learning about the experiences of the home's residents. As a Holocaust survivor, Josey shares the story of how he met his great love, Olka, and their experiences during the war. While the two differ drastically in age, both have experienced the devastating loss of a loved one. As Alex learns about the residents, he also gradually opens up to Maya-Jade and they become friends. But will Alex find the courage to admit to what he's done and attempt to make amends or is he right, that opportunities are horrible and bound to go awry. Wrapped up in the idea of rising to the occasion of one's own life, the book addresses themes of friendship, mistakes, and forgiveness. With moments of joy mixed with heart-wrenching sadness and guilt, Forman takes readers on a powerful, inspiring, emotional ride. Highly recommended.

Note: References to the Holocaust and some of the horrible events that occurred during World War II make this a book more for mature readers. References to homophobia, hate crimes, and mental illness are included along with a diverse cast of characters.