Genre: Social and Family Issues
The Analysis:
I was kind of floundering after I finished with the comic book as what to read next. Reading a chapter here and there of random books. But this is what won out. Sprite By Peter Meredith lets book review it.
Heres the Blurb:
Her name is Odd.
Ten-year-old Audrey Wyatt bears the unfortunate nickname “Odd,” a name even her bar-hopping, alcoholic mother uses when she’s sober enough to recognize the girl. Cowed by life, Odd doesn’t protest, not when she’s deformed as she is.
Born with a combination of rare birth defects, Odd’s eyes are a startling and dreadful red. Demon eyes are the first thought that springs to mind. The little girl takes care to hide them behind dark sunglasses, something her mother insists on, except when she’s trading freak-show peeks for dollars or drinks. A practice that is a nightly torture for Odd.
Yet when her mother abandons her, Odd discovers that loneliness and fear of the unknown are far worse than being a freak. Desperate for the least love, and without a cent to her name, the girl with red eyes begins a quest through the American underclass that takes her halfway across the country. Odd thinks her adventure is a search for her mother, but in truth it’s a journey into the soul of humanity, where she discovers along the way everything that is both ugly and beautiful in each of us.
Now The Story:
So out of the gate, the lack of a table of contents and the odd copyright page had me like, this guy is weird. But if the story doesn’t grab you from page 1, then I don’t know what will.
It was a fast read too. Zipped past the first 7 chapters in one day.
The only thing that annoyed me was the black guy at Goodwill. Of course this annoyance, eventually stopped me from reading altogether.
Any man thinking and acting the way the Goodwill cashier did, doesn’t work at places like Goodwill. As such the scene seemed to pander to stereotypes. When in actuality she would have gotten help, especially if she looked as bad as the author claimed. He could have even shown a scene of a man sneaking her a pair of shoes because it was against the rules to hand them out for free. Instead, he took the evil way out and made sure we knew the cashier was black.
I thought the Catholic Priest’s answers to Odd, the main character, questions were a rather bare minimum take and feel to it. I also haven’t found that to be the case when they’re giving someone help. So this too also felt like a stereotype. Although to a lesser degree.
But I kept reading.
When Odd comes into contact with more black men and they bring up her race again. I put the book away. Like you not going to keep doing this on my watch.
Odd, the character, is extremely likable. She’s kind of fish out of water. Only 10 years old and on her own. Trying to navigate survival. I wanted to keep reading, but on the chance that I would keep running into stereotypes of black men. I passed and didn’t finish it*.
Black men do not spend 95% of there time discussing race at every moment that comes up. Especially to an innocent 10-year-old kid.
*I normally don’t post book reviews for books that I haven’t finished. But I felt like maybe I should with this one to simply warn people away.
Story At A Glance:
Recommendation: No.
The Ratings:
My Thumbs Up For:
- Odd
My Thumbs Down For:
- Stereotyped Characters
THE TRS BOOKS SYSTEM:
Book Cover Appeal:
🍓🍓🍓🍓
Story & Narration:
🍓🍓
Romance:
Not Applicable
Sex Scenes:
Not Applicable
Book Info:
Pages: 368
Author: Peter Meredith
Available: On Amazon
