Book Review: Gather by Kenneth M. Cadow

Publisher’s description

A resourceful teenager in rural Vermont struggles to hold on to the family home while his mom recovers from addiction in this striking debut novel.

Ian Gray isn’t supposed to have a dog, but a lot of things that shouldn’t happen end up happening anyway. And Gather, Ian’s adopted pup, is good company now that Ian has to quit the basketball team, find a job, and take care of his mom as she tries to overcome her opioid addiction. Despite the obstacles thrown their way, Ian is determined to keep his family afloat no matter what it takes. And for a little while, things are looking up: Ian makes friends, and his fondness for the outdoors and for fixing things lands him work helping neighbors. But an unforeseen tragedy results in Ian and his dog taking off on the run, trying to evade a future that would mean leaving their house and their land. Even if the community comes together to help him, would Ian and Gather have a home to return to?

Told in a wry, cautious first-person voice that meanders like a dog circling to be sure it’s safe to lie down, Kenneth M. Cadow’s resonant debut brings an emotional and ultimately hopeful story of one teen’s resilience in the face of unthinkable hardships.

Amanda’s thoughts

Are we tired of me saying “this book is one of my top reads of the year”? Because, yes, here we are again. Another review where I just cannot believe the good fortune I’ve had of reading so many absolutely amazing books lately.

This book, Gather, feels like one that will stay with me forever.

Ian’s life is HARD. From the outside, from a privileged eye, it looks basically impossible. Ian and his mother live in the kind of poverty we rarely see in YA. They are in a rural area of Vermont and Ian does his best to help them get by. Yes, his life is hard, but it’s also just his life—this is the only experience he has known for a long time now, and while he knows it’s unfair and that he’s having to do so much to get by that other kids don’t ever have to think about, it’s just what he has to do. There’s rarely heat in their ramshackle home, there’s not much to eat, and none of his clothes fit. He relies on school lunches, on being able to stop into the nurse for deodorant, and on odd jobs to cobble together enough to do small repairs and upgrades at home. His mother is in the picture, but her struggles with addiction make it difficult for her to keep a job, to do much parenting. Ian is used to fending for himself.

When things fall apart at home, Ian is gathered up by his community while the state figures out what to do with him. He has such good, caring people in his life. The kind of people we would all hope to be when we see someone needs support. But they’re not his family. And when he’s shipped off to his long-absent father, Ian takes his faithful dog, Gather, and hits the road (or rather, hits the woods).

Ian’s life is not the kind of life I would wish on anyone, but it goes without saying that Ian’s life is one that so many children live. The fact that Ian gets up every day and makes it to school seems like a miracle. And thank goodness he does go to school, because school is where he has people who will absolutely support him no matter what. He has teachers who make it clear that they will do anything to help him, that they will always listen to him, that they care about him. They make it clear that Ian matters. They make it clear that they see Ian. Good people in his community, they see him, they work hard to help him, to cut him a break. Ian is carrying a load no child should have to carry. And even though there is no easy fix, even though he struggles HARD, the reader sees that he has support, that people are doing what they can. Is it enough? Of course not. But they’re helping how they can, with what little they have.

This is a survival story. Even when Ian is at his home, this is a survival story. I don’t want a book to be a lesson. I don’t want someone’s life to serve as a lesson. But… seeing this depiction of extreme poverty, this depiction of parental neglect and an utter lack of resources is important. It’s a story familiar to far too many kids. And it’s a story that we adults, especially in education, need to remember. Ian should be able to just be going to school and living some semblance of a normal teenage life (whatever that is, in its most idealized form). His life is not easy. This story is not an easy read. I spent a lot of it feeling upset and worried and how I think I would feel if witnessing this in real life—rather helpless. This well-written, moving story is one that will stick with me for a long time.

Review copy (ARC) courtesy of the publisher

ISBN-13: 9781536231113
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Publication date: 10/03/2023
Age Range: 14 Years

Filed under: Book Reviews