My Not-So-Great French Escape

February 1, 2023
What better place for an unhappy preteen Californian to get his head straight than a summer farm camp next to a derelict French ch�teau? As Rylan knows little about farming or French and is traveling with former best friend Wilder, the long trip shows every sign of being a dismal failure. But the revelation that his dad, who left when he was 3, lives in Paris and may be open to reconnecting prompts him to go anyway. And though Wilder immediately disappears into the sneering cool kids' clique, Rylan discovers that routine chores--milking a goat, laboriously clearing a garden, learning to cook--and bonding with fellow "weirdos" through shared moments, from setting up a competitive garden stand to being attacked by the pigeons that have taken over the adjacent stately home, make for an experience rich enough to compensate for other emotional trials. Some mild national caricatures in the largely White-presenting cast (one camper is from Hong Kong) lighten the tone as the cast members connect and go beyond first impressions. If Burke doesn't throw any twists wilder than that pigeon attack into the plot, he does leave his occasionally weepy protagonist with a better outlook on life and a new (if long-distance) set of friends. A light dose of learning to let go of the past, with goats, good times, and coq au vin. (Fiction. 9-13)

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February 6, 2023
Transporting readers to a French countryside chateau, this character-forward read from Burke (An Occasionally Happy Family) spotlights two Californian tweens heading to work on an organic farm for the summer. Though Rylan and Wilder were once lifelong best friends, they’ve begun to drift apart—an event that becomes more pointed after increasingly wealthy Wilder contributes to a cruel meme around Rylan’s family’s modest finances. Rylan nevertheless accepts an invitation from Wilder to travel to France for the summer, a trip that he hopes will repair their friendship. He also learns that his absent father, who left when Rylan was three, is suddenly seeking contact—and that he now lives in Paris. As the farm’s passionate owner reveals an interest in fate and divvies the kids into two camps, Wilder falls into another group of bullies, while Rylan develops his own friendships and enjoys the daily rhythms of farmwork. Detailing French cultural details with aplomb, the protagonist’s observant first-person narration captures the lingering emotional effects of turbulent relationships, the feeling of remaining “outside of the inner circle,” and his gradual acceptance of his own fate. Protagonists read as white; some portrayals rely on nationalistic clichés. Ages 8–12. Agent: Jim McCarthy, Dystel & Goderich Literary.