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Summary
Summary
A kid who considers himself an epic fail discovers the transformative power of love when he deals with adoption in this novel from Cynthia Kadohata, winner of the Newbery Medal and the National Book Award.
Eleven-year-old Jaden is adopted, and he knows he's an "epic fail.' That's why his family is traveling to Kazakhstan to adopt a new baby--to replace him, he's sure. And he gets it. He is incapable of stopping his stealing, hoarding, lighting fires, aggressive running, and obsession with electricity. He knows his parents love him, but he feels...nothing.
But when they get to Kazakhstan, it turns out the infant they've travelled for has already been adopted, and literally within minutes are faced with having to choose from six other babies. While his parents agonize, Jaden is more interested in the toddlers. One, a little guy named Dimash, spies Jaden and barrels over to him every time he sees him. Jaden finds himself increasingly intrigued by and worried about Dimash. Already three years old and barely able to speak, Dimash will soon age out of the orphanage, and then his life will be as hopeless as Jaden feels now. For the first time in his life, Jaden actually feels something that isn't pure blinding fury, and there's no way to control it, or its power.
From camels rooting through garbage like raccoons, to eagles being trained like hunting dogs, to streets that are more pothole than pavement, Half a World Away is Cynthia Kadohata's latest spark of a novel.
Author Notes
Cynthia Kadohata was born on July 2, 1956. She is a Japanese American author of children's books. Kadohata won the Newbery Medal in 2005 for her title, Kira-Kira. She also won a PEN award in 2006 for Weedflower and in 2013 she won the U.S. National Book Award for The Thing About Luck.
Kadohata was born in Chicago, Illinois, and was a high school drop out. She attained a BA in Journalism from the University of Southern California and went on to attend graduate programs at the University of Pittsburgh and Columbia University.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (6)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Romanian-born Jaden knows fear and anger but has trouble feeling love and trust. He was abandoned by his biological mother at age four, then shuttled to several foster homes before being adopted by an American couple. Now 12, Jaden thinks his adoptive parents must not be "satisfied" with him because they want another child, and they expect Jaden to go with them to Kazakhstan to meet and bond with his new adoptive baby brother. In this candid novel about three individuals struggling to become a family, National Book Award-winner Kadohata (The Thing About Luck) offers a rare insider's view of a boy with attachment difficulties searching to find security and purpose. While visiting the orphanage in Kazakhstan, Jaden is drawn to a special-needs toddler, even as he has trouble feeling anything for the baby his parents plan to adopt. Jaden also forms an unexpected and eye-opening friendship with the family's outspoken hired driver. Without sugarcoating the complexities and mishaps that can accompany overseas adoption, Kadohata creates an inspiring story that celebrates hope and second chances. Ages 10-14. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
Twelve-year-old Jaden, adopted from Romania at age eight, travels from the U.S. to Kazakhstan with his parents, who have decided to adopt a second child. Sadly, Jaden believes he is defective and that his parents' disappointment with him is the reason they are adopting an infant. He suffers from attachment disorder and is keenly aware of their exhaustion and exasperation with him; several therapists have attempted to curb his hoarding, lying, and fire-setting, having success only with the last. Jaden knows that Penni and Steve (as he thinks of them) love him, but he doesn't feel much of anything for them except annoyance -- for taking him away from Romania and his birth mother, who gave him up when he was four. As Jaden's parents struggle to bond with an emotionally unresponsive infant at the "baby house" in Kazakhstan, Jaden bonds with Dimash, a disabled toddler there. The novel makes it clear that Jaden's parents feel bad for Dimash and see Jaden's poignant relationship with him as a real breakthrough for their son, but their decision to adopt both "emotionless" baby and special-needs toddler is hard to swallow. (Don't they already have enough on their plate?) Nevertheless, readers will undoubtedly feel happy for Jaden, and this story about a deeply troubled adoptee and the equally troubling issues of international adoption is both compelling and emotionally involving. jennifer m. brabander (c) Copyright 2014. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
*Starred Review* Jaden is fascinated by electricity, which always relaxes him. And relaxation is important to the 12-year-old who was abandoned by his mother when he was 4 and adopted from Romania when he was 8. He has been told by doctors that he is a textbook case of a troubled, older adopted child: he has set fires, hoards food, steals, lies, sleeps on the floor instead of in a bed, and, worst of all, seems incapable of feeling love. And now his American parents are taking him along as they fly half a world away to Kazakhstan, where they plan to adopt a baby. How is Jaden to feel about this? And, once there, what will happen after he bonds not with the baby but with a special needs child at the adoption facility? Newbery medalist and National Book Award winner Kadohata has written a remarkable, insightful study of a troubled boy, the challenging circumstances in which he finds himself, and his painful journey to bonding and, perhaps, to love. Along the way, she has given readers a candid and often disturbing look at the adoption process in a remote country, while her memorable novel is further enriched by the depth of her characterizations; even minor characters come alive on the page. Thought provoking and emotionally engaging, this is wholly satisfying.--Cart, Michael Copyright 2010 Booklist
New York Review of Books Review
THERE WAS A family living near my junior high school that fostered a gang of seven children; they fought viciously among their sibling pack, but pity the outsider who glared at a single one of them. I thought of them while reading "Kinda Like Brothers" and "Half a World Away." Both show how fragile yet electric the cord that joins families through foster care and adoption can be. In "Kinda Like Brothers," Coe Booth, a winner of The Los Angeles Times Book Prize for young adult literature, tells a painfully funny story about younger children in foster care and their ersatz siblings. As the novel begins, 11-year-old Jarrett would like nothing better than to sleep peacefully in his own bed, but his harried-yet-handling-it-all mother announces the arrival of another foster child. "Babies have been coming and going in my house since I could remember," Jarrett says. This time it's an injured toddler, Treasure, along with Kevon, her older brother. Jarrett balks at life's unfairness - especially having to share his room. Popular and taller, Kevon soon overshadows Jarrett at the community center where they hang out. At "Man Group," the boys are coached on the facts of life, including, after witnessing a counselor's humiliating treatment by the police, what to do during a stop-and-frisk. Booth lends a deft touch to this as well as to the sorts of struggles experienced by tweens everywhere. When it appears that, miraculously, Jarrett's crush, Caprice, likes him - in spite of his penchant for spying, and his need for a toenail clipper and some deodorant - Kevon reveals to Caprice that Jarrett is being held back at school. Jarrett is furious and seeks revenge, at great cost to Kevon and himself. Even with glimpses into the desperation that has led Kevon and Treasure to foster care, and the survival skills that are, sadly, mandatory for male African-American children, it is the barbs, jabs and, ultimately, bonding between the "brothers" that Booth's readers will appreciate. On my wish list: a follow-up about Jarrett's best friend, Ennis, who is questioning his sexual orientation. Compared with Jarrett, Jaden, the narrator of the Newbery Medal winner Cynthia Kadohata's "Half a World Away," seems to be one breadcrumb away from blowing over the edge. It isn't enough that Jaden's adoptive mother, Penni, has extended her heart; Jaden feels no love for her. He does love Thomas Edison, holder of more than a thousand patents: "Jaden wouldn't hate life like he often did, if only he could invent that much," Kadohata writes. Adopted from Romania as a 4-year-old, he retains enough memory to know his mother abandoned him to an orphanage, a gulag existence where he learned to disconnect emotionally and fight for every morsel of food. Eight years later, only mistrust, stashing away hunks of bread, and the wonderment of electricity keep him going. Jaden pushes Penni and his adoptive father, Steve, beyond tolerable limits - yet they endure. We learn that a psychiatrist has provided explanations of Jaden's behavior while offering Jaden coping strategies like "aggressive running" and flicking electric switches on and off to quash an impulse to set things aflame. Now Jaden faces a new crisis: He must fly to Kazakhstan with his parents to adopt a baby boy. Although Jaden's mistrust hackles are raised by this possible "replacement baby," once in Kazakhstan he finds himself drawn to the orphans, especially Dimash, a cheeky, grunting toddler at the "baby house." Jaden ably navigates the multiethnic, multilingual Central Asian village, complete with a staring camel or two, while his parents adjust to the stark realities of adoption Kazakhstan-style. Kadohata's stunningly intimate narrative reveals a complex boy, as self-protective as he is a danger to himself, but oh so clear about the true nature of things. When he begins to change, it is largely thanks to some new connections: Sam, the family's avuncular driver, and little Dimash, with whom he feels the spark of magic. Booth's and Kadohata's characters face problems that might seem overwhelming. Yet both books leave us hopeful about these bonds forged out of imperfect systems. We finish them not just rooting for the cohesion of these families, but believing in them. RITA WILLIAMS-GARCIA'S0 latest novel, "Gone Crazy in Alabama," will be published next spring.
School Library Journal Review
Gr 4-6-Twelve-year-old Jaden Kincaid is fascinated by electricity, admiring its powerful constancy and connectedness to everything. Electricity is one of the many things Jaden didn't know about when he was adopted from a Romanian orphanage four years earlier. More importantly, it serves as an emotional salve against the deep-rooted pain the tween feels from having been abandoned at age four by his birth mother. But Jaden doesn't feel connected to Penni and Steve, his adoptive parents. He lashes out by hoarding food, stealing, and lying to those around him. With his parents preparing to adopt a baby from Kazakhstan, Jaden feels confused and worries that he is being replaced. While the Kincaids busy themselves with the adoption, Jaden bonds with Dimash, a special needs toddler with whom he feels an instant kinship. Kadohata writes compellingly about the convoluted issues surrounding overseas adoption, including profound psychological and physical traumas suffered by children who are abandoned and neglected in orphanages of developing countries. Jaden is a multidimensional character who will likely frustrate readers but also draw their sympathy. Though it has strong characterization, the story suffers from issues that strain credibility; for instance, Jaden's parents don't see anything wrong with adopting another child when they already have a son with so many psychological issues. The pat conclusion feels like a letdown given the narrative's complex arc. Despite these slight flaws, Kadohata's candid exploration of adoption and attachment disorder is a timely choice that fills a gap in middle grade literature.- Lalitha Nataraj, Escondido Public Library, CA (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Four years ago, Jaden, 12, was adopted from Romania, but he still grieves for the birth mother who abandoned him; accompanying his parents to Kazakhstan to adopt his new brother, Jaden's confused feelings intensify.Jaden doesn't remember his biological mother, and memories of the years between her abandonment and his adoption are vague but horrific. He's learned to use his passionate interest in electricity to calm himself. After years of therapy, he's stopped setting fires, but he continues to hoard food and to steal. He recognizes that his behaviors cause his parents pain and exhaustion. In Kazakhstan, everyone's expectations are upended. As his parents struggle to accept new adoption ground rules, Jaden befriends a toddler and the prickly driver assigned to his family, with whom he finds common ground. Kadohata excels at turning complicated realities into compelling middle-grade fiction, but this is difficult narrative terrain. Children traumatized by abandonment, abuse and neglect; well-intentioned but nave affluent parents adopting children in impoverished countries where corruption is rife: These subjects challenge adult comprehension. No surprise then that distilling these matters into compact storytelling for young readers proves problematic. Much-needed exposition slows the pace, yet troubling questions remain: Jaden's parents don't question the ethics of an adoption that requires paying a facilitator $14,000 in crisp new $100 bills, even after things go wrong. Despite flaws, a realisticand much-neededportrait of older-child adoption. (Fiction. 10-14) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Excerpts
Excerpts
Half a World Away Chapter One Jaden sat on the floor, holding on to a half loaf of unsliced bread. He switched his lamp on and off, the bedroom lighting up and darkening over and over. Electricity had always relaxed him. For sure it was the most amazing thing about America. He bit off the biggest chunk of bread that could fit in his mouth. It was sourdough, which he liked because it was so chewy. On, off, on, off, on off on off onoffonoffon. Thomas Edison had called electricity "a system of vibrations." Jaden loved Thomas Edison. Edison had more than a thousand US patents. He had invented things left and right. Jaden wouldn't hate life like he often did, if only he could invent that much. He mostly wanted to invent anything related to electricity. Atoms were in constant motion, even when you were asleep. When you died, your personal electricity kind of turned off. And yet everything on the earth held constantly moving atoms. So even if your personal electricity died, your body still had a system of vibrations. Jaden hadn't figured it all out yet, but he would someday--he'd promised himself that. He closed his eyes and stayed very still, concentrating on his electricity. He could feel a slight tingling in his hands. He hadn't even known what electricity was when he was first adopted from Romania four years earlier. In Romania he'd lived in four different group homes, and none of them had electricity. Anyway, here he was at twelve, and now his adoptive so-called parents were adopting another child, a baby boy from Kazakhstan. He figured he knew why they were adopting again: They weren't satisfied with him. Whenever he thought that, he felt tears welling up. He didn't know if he was upset for himself, because they weren't satisfied with him, or for the baby, because if the baby was up for adoption, it meant the mother had abandoned him, and Jaden knew what that was like. The baby's name was Bahytzhan. In his picture he appeared Central Asian, and he had scabs on his forehead--from bugs? That's how Jaden had gotten scabs on his face when he lived in Romania. Steve, his "dad," had made three copies of the Bahytzhan picture: one for himself, one for Penni, and one for Jaden. Jaden kept his copy in a drawer in his night table. Off. He sat in the dark. He could hear Penni calling him. He called her "Mom" to her face and "Penni" in his mind. He only had one mother, and she'd given him away when he was four. He could still remember her vaguely. But what he really remembered was the home where she'd placed him--twelve people, one room, one bed. He'd slept on the floor. And he remembered being afraid. When his mother left him, he'd been so out of his mind that he hadn't even screamed and cried; he'd howled. He could still remember the feeling when he'd howled, the feeling like someone was cutting through his skull and pulling out his brain, all while he was awake. Even today, sometimes he was in so much pain about it that he thought it would kill him. He did admit that this home in America was different and, yes, better than anywhere he'd lived in Romania. And yet he always came back to how Romania was his true home and how Penni and Steve had had no right to take him from there. One of his psychologists had told him he should be grateful to Penni and Steve. The shrink didn't understand that they didn't adopt him for him, but for themselves. But what the guy really didn't understand was that it was impossible for Jaden to feel grateful, for anything ever. It wasn't personal to Penni and Steve. Jaden had a distaste for parents in general. And he knew he wasn't alone. There were hundreds, maybe thousands, of kids in America just like him--adopted when they were older, hating their new parents. He knew this because one of his psychologists or psychiatrists had said so. He couldn't remember at the moment which doctor it was. So he pretty much was nothing special. "Knock, knock," Penni said from behind him. He turned around, saw her shadow in the doorway. "I'm ready, Mom." They were going out to eat with Penni's older sister, Catherine, and her family. Things could have been worse for Jaden--he could have been adopted by Catherine: yuck. He let the bread slip from his fingers so Penni wouldn't see that he'd been eating before dinner. He got up and followed her through the house. It was a nice enough house, but not his house. He didn't have a house. Never had--he'd only thought he had one. His mother, the only person he figured he'd ever loved, had given him up. He refused to feel love again, ever. Every day all he wanted to do was cry. He hated school, sitting there like a soldier in the army. He hated home, with Penni always trying to get through to him. He wished she would ignore him more. Steve had just gotten home from work, so he was wearing a suit and tie. His suits were all slightly too small because he'd gained weight recently. "I hear you didn't go to school. Whatcha been up to all day?" Steve asked Jaden. "Packing," Jaden lied. Steve took off his wire glasses, cleaned them, and gazed at Jaden like he wanted to see him better. "It's unbelievable, isn't it? In forty-eight hours or so from now we'll be in Kazakhstan, meeting your baby brother." Steve smiled. Jaden looked at Steve's face. The smile looked real, not phony the way Steve's smiles sometimes looked. Steve used to be a smiling, lovable geek. But he'd changed. That is, Jaden had changed him. "Yeah, cool," Jaden said. It was raining, so the three of them sprinted out the door to the car. Jaden always sat in the middle of the backseat, so that if someone came from one side and tried to pull him out to take him to a foster home--or wherever--he would have a better chance of getting away, out the other side. That was only a theory, of course, but he believed it. He saw Penni and Steve meet eyes, and then Steve started the car and said, "When we get Bahytzhan, we'll need to put the baby seat in the middle. That's where experts say it's safest." Jaden didn't even answer. He couldn't sit on a side. Period. "I won't ride in the car anymore," he said. "I'll ride my bicycle everywhere." He felt bitterness well up inside himself, moving up from his stomach to his mouth, and he gagged slightly. He knew he was overreacting, but he couldn't help it. Steve and Penni met eyes again. Penni turned all the way around. "Jaden, it's just that Steve read an article saying the baby seat should be in the middle. Okay?" So this was all Steve's idea. Jaden didn't answer. He shook off the bitterness and stared out the side window at the rain falling hard on front lawns, at porch lamps lighting up the houses. It was hard to believe that this lit-up neighborhood existed on the same planet that he'd lived on before. If--if--he decided to go to college, he would study electricity, which he'd done a science project on at school. He'd hooked up a cocoon so that a tiny light would go on every time the future moth moved inside the cocoon. Then, when it was born, a bell would ring. He'd gotten his only A ever on that project. He didn't get an A for the class, though. He got a C. That was because the only thing that interested him was electricity. Jaden knew it didn't make sense, but he felt like if his real mother could have had electricity, if she could have only plugged in a light and turned it on, she wouldn't have had to give him away. He'd told this to one of his former psychiatrists--a man whose name he couldn't remember--and the psychiatrist had asked, "Why do you think that, Jaden?" "Because electricity is magic," he'd answered. That same psychiatrist was the first of many to say that Jaden couldn't attach properly to Steve and Penni because of being betrayed by the one caretaker he'd ever had--his mother. From age four to eight, he'd had to fend for himself in group homes. "I kind of wish I hadn't let Catherine talk me into this dinner date," Penni was saying. "We've got so much to do before we leave." "I too wish you hadn't let her talk you into it," Steve replied. "I too" was exactly the kind of thing Steve said. "Perhaps" for "maybe," "distressed" for "upset," and so on. He was a word nerd. Catherine was kind of strange because she was so different from Penni. Jaden had to admit that Penni was a nice person--he just didn't love her--but Catherine was less than nice. Much less. But Penni refused to see this because of "the importance of family." The importance of family was one of Penni's themes. Penni told him that the more family who loved him, the better. Jaden didn't even know for sure what anyone meant when they used the word "love." Was it like an electrical charge that developed between two people? He didn't know. Excerpted from Half a World Away by Cynthia Kadohata All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
