The Collected Works of Gretchen Oyster
The Collected Works of Gretchen Oyster
She stood up. “What are you doing?” I asked.
“I need to move.”
She got on her bike, which was leaning against the porch steps, and rode away down the sidewalk. I sat up to watch her disappear. What if she didn’t come back? What if my parents didn’t come home from work? What if all the things I thought were certain turned out not to be?
But I didn’t do anything, just lay back down and stayed there for a long time. I stayed there staring up at the clouds, which didn’t look like a dog or a shoe or anything else the way they had when I was little, but just clouds.
It’s hard enough dealing with kid challenges like graduating from middle school, but Hartley Staples has to cope with bigger problems as well. His family is coming apart after his older brother ran away. His former best friend won’t talk to him. He can’t come up with a topic for his final project for middle school. And somehow, Hartley has lost interest in just about everything.
Then Hartley finds a handmade postcard that fascinates him. He discovers more cards tucked in unusual places, and soon Hartley is searching for them at every opportunity, ignoring other responsibilities and determined to find the creator who signs the cards “g.o.”
As Hartley pores over his card collection, lingering over the unusual images and quirky words, Hartley begins to feel a connection to the creator’s ideas. Gradually, the random spokes of Hartley’s life begin to reform into a circle as he learns what he can control and what he must accept.
Interwoven with Hartley’s story are glimpses into the difficult life of the artist. Set in a contrasting font, Gretchen Oyster’s story hints about her broken family and the bullies who torment her as well as her thoughts as she creates the cards. When she and Hartley eventually meet, they learn how art – both creating it and appreciating it – builds a connection, and both of their lives begin to make more sense.
Cary Fagan’s short novel packs a lot into a middle-grade story. The art cards are beautifully reproduced in full colour, and their messages are philosophical and poetic but quirky, not academic. Fagan has also captured the voice of a 13-year-old boy accurately. Hartley, as narrator, speaks directly to the reader in a friendly, funny tone, and hides his pain behind immediate events.
Family dynamics for both main characters are realistic. Hartley’s sibling relationships are accurate – his push-pull battle with his sister, his repressed anger with his absent brother, and his irritation and affection for his little brother will strike a chord in young readers. Gretchen has to tread lightly on the feelings of her separated parents, and “sometimes it felt to her as if she was the adult in the family.” Fagan also effectively portrays parents who try too hard and kids who see clearly what they are doing. A few questions are never answered – for example, why Jackson ran away from home – but Hartley learns to accept what he might never fully understand.
The effortless writing as well as the mystery keep the reader engaged. Finding the postcards gives Hartley momentum, and his discovery of the identity of Gretchen Oyster helps him learn a difficult lesson about uncertainty in life. However, Hartley’s voice is always upbeat and amusing.
The Collected Works of Gretchen Oyster is a funny, beautifully illustrated coming-of-age novel that will leave young readers thinking about where art begins and what it can do to change lives.
Wendy Phillips is a former teacher-librarian. She is the author of the Governor General's Literary Award-winning YA novel, Fishtailing and the newly-released YA novel Baggage.