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Summary
Summary
Not just an ordinary birthday...
"Two of the things Benjamin Hunter received for his twelfth birthday took him completely by surprise: A room and a letter. The room was from his parents. The letter was from his uncle."
Ben was just two years old when he and his uncle, Ian, were last together, so Ben didn't remember him. And no one in Ben's family ever talked about the man. Then the letter arrived, changing Ben's life, and changing his family in unexpected ways. And there was the birthday room...
Multiple award-winning and New York Times bestselling author Kevin Henkes brings his insightful, gentle, real-world insight to middle grade novels, including:
Billy Miller Makes a Wish Bird Lake Moon The Birthday Room Junonia Olive's Ocean Protecting Marie Sun & Spoon Sweeping Up the Heart Two Under Par Words of Stone The Year of Billy Miller The Zebra WallAuthor Notes
Kevin Henkes was born in Racine, Wis. in 1960 and graduated from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. One of four children in his family, Henkes grew up with aspirations of being an artist. As a junior in high school, one of Henkes's teachers awakened his interest in writing. Falling in love with both writing and drawing, Henkes realized that he could do both at the same time as a children's book author and illustrator.
At the age of 19, Henkes went to New York City to get his first book, All Alone, published. Since that time, he has written and illustrated dozens of picture books including Chrysanthemum, Protecting Marie, and A Weekend with Wendell. A recurring character in several of Henkes's books is Lily, an outrageous, yet delightful, individualist. Lily finds herself the center of attention in the books Chester's Way, Julius, the Baby of the World, and Lily's Purple Plastic Purse.
A Weekend With Wendell was named Children's Choice Book by the Children's Book Council in 1986. He recieved the Elizabeth Burr Award for Words of Stone in 1993. Owen was named a Caldicott Honor in 1994. The Year of Billy Miller was named a Newbery Honor book in 2014.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 5-7-On his 12th birthday, Ben's parents give him a present that he's not sure he wants-a room of his own to use as an art studio. He knows for certain, however, that he wants to accept his other birthday surprise-an invitation to visit from his estranged Uncle Ian. Ben's mother blames her brother for an accident that occurred when Ben was a toddler, which left the boy minus a pinkie. Henkes's cerebral, analytical style and his penchant for observation work better when he is exploring a character's interior landscape, as he did so well in Sun and Spoon (Greenwillow, 1997). Here, they are not as successful in moving the plot forward, and some of the descriptive detail seems gratuitous. Ben is a convincing, well-adjusted only child, apparently not traumatized by the loss of his finger, who shows potential for developing into a talented artist. He is torn between being his own person and trying to live up to his loving parents' expectations. The tension between Ben's mother and his uncle, and the steps toward its resolution, are dealt with offstage. Other small, but not particularly compelling, crises include Ian's pregnant wife's concern about a breech birth and the injury of a young neighbor for which Ben feels responsible. When Ben returns home, he has decided that the birthday room should become a guest room, ready to welcome his newfound extended family. Although the story's various threads fall short of forming a gracefully woven tapestry, Henkes does create a memorable character in Ben.-Corinne Camarata, Port Washington Public Library, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Two gifts on a boy's 12th birthday fortuitously bring an entire family closer together. Young Benjamin likes to draw and paint, but when his parents give him a present of a room to use as a studio, he feels pressured into becoming an artist. He is enthralled by his second gift: a letter from his Uncle Ian in Oregon, inviting Ben to come for a visit. Ben's mother, however, is not so enthralled; she still blames her younger brother for a wood-shop accident that caused Ben to lose a finger at age two. Not until Ben tells her, ""If I had to choose, I'd take the trip over the room,"" does she consent to the visit. As Ben spends time in Oregon with his mother, Uncle Ian, Ian's expectant wife, Nina, and the Deeter children who live nearby, he makes some important discoveries about his family and himself, and eventually finds a special purpose for his ""birthday room."" Once again, Henkes (Sun and Spoon; Protecting Marie) explores family relationships with breathtaking tenderness, showing how feelings of guilt, bitterness and fear can be quelled by more deeply rooted love. His understated narrative from Ben's perspective has a translucent quality that allows readers to discover the subtle dynamics among the adult characters right along with Ben. The characters here, especially Ben and the Deeter children, will be cherished. Ages 10-up. (Sept.)
Horn Book Review
(Intermediate) From the picture-book travails of Owen or Lilly to his novels about older children, Kevin Henkes's gift is depicting everyday events with disarming simplicity. His characters' experiences help them mature; meanwhile, gently but reliably, they offer vicarious insights for the reader. Ben is the latest such protagonist. When his proud parents surprise him with his own studio, the gifted young painter feels trapped by their expecta-tions; after all, he's only twelve. The question of this room frames events during a week with Mom's estranged brother Ian, who was responsible for Ben's loss of a finger at age two. Truths unfold: Ian will soon be a father; Mom admits she never did get along with him, even as a child, but quickly bonds with his new wife, Nina. Ben discovers in Ian a fellow artist whose drawings are inspirational for Ben, though Ian's true vocation is making beautifully painted furniture. Meanwhile, the boy makes friends with neighbor Lynnie. When Lynnie's little brother Kale is hurt as the result of a series of innocent acts, including one of Ben's (echoing Ian's negligence when Ben himself was injured long ago), the accident dramatizes the irrelevance of blame, and of guilt. A number of adult issues play roles here, as they have in the author's other novels: Nina's distress over the possibility of a breech birth, Ian's reluctance to have a child before making sure that Ben has turned out all right. And so he has, a nice, thoughtful boy on the cusp of adulthood; helping to resolve these adult concerns contributes to his own maturation. At the same time, the ""house"" he and Lynnie build for Ian and Nina's baby is a purely childlike project, and neatly parallels the conclusion: Ben comes up with a better use for his studio, one that signifies his family's reconciliation-a guest room. Told in spare, unobtrusive prose, a story that helps us see our own chances for benefiting from mutual tolerance, creative conflict resolution, and other forms of good will. j.r.l. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
Henkes (Sun and Spoon, 1997, etc.) peoples this oblique tale of a family healing an extended rift with his usual cast of disarming characters. Ben doesn't remember the shop accident in which he lost a finger ten years before, nor Uncle Ian, his baby-sitter at the time, who dropped out of touch soon afterward; when an invitation from Ian to pay a visit comes out of the blue, Ben is intrigued enough to persuade his still-angry mother to take him. Ian, as it turns out, lives in apple and peach orchards with an expectant wife and neighbors who include lively five-year-old twins Kale and Elka, and their older sister, Lynnie. Sharing baby-sitting duties, Ben and Lynnie hit it off instantly. Amid quiet discussions about blame and guilt the author gives everyone immediate worries; a sonogram shows the baby in a breech position, and, following a casual remark of Ben's, Kale climbs a tree and then falls, breaking an arm and a leg. The story is constructed of deft characterizations and pleasing, unforced symmetries. Ben's remorse for being at least indirectly responsible for a child's injury, of course, echoes Ian's, but other parallels spin out and curve back toward resolution. It's a beguiling story, with near tragedies, happy endings, and clear insight into the hearts of adults and children. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Gr. 5^-7. For his twelfth birthday, Ben Hunter receives a room that he can use as an art studio and a letter from his uncle--the one responsible for the loss of Ben's little finger when Ben was a toddler. The room seems overwhelming to Ben, as if he must make art to live up to it. But the letter, which contains an invitation from his uncle to come visit, holds more allure. Mrs. Hunter, who has been angry at her brother since the accident, reluctantly agrees to go to Oregon with Ben. Once there, Ben finds himself adrift in the storm of emotions that surround his Uncle Ian and his mother, his new aunt, Nina, and the baby she is about to have. When an accident occurs and the young brother of a new friend is hurt, Ben feels partially to blame, and he learns that making amends is one of the most important lessons life has to offer. This is a quiet story, gracefully written but with a focus on the adult characters that may distance it from young readers. On a more practical level, readers may wonder about the ability of two 12-year-olds to build the redemptive gift, a hut in the forest. In some ways as much allegory as contemporary tale, this story will find an audience among children who are sensitive to nuance and willing to ponder such eternal issues as family and forgiveness, and how both are forged by bonds of love. --Ilene Cooper