Wink: Surviving Middle School with One Eye Open
Rob Harrell
We’re starting the year off strong with this captivatingly raw, yet polished contemporary middle grade novel. There is only one thing keeping me from giving it a full 5 stars, which I will get into below. If you liked School of Rock, or are a fan of fictionalized memoirs (a la Raina Telgemeier) for middle grade readers, and don’t mind your tear ducts pricking, Wink needs to be added to your TBR pile.
Ross has eye cancer. It’s super rare, and super aggressive, and there’s nothing like having cancer to make you stick out when all you want to do is blend in. Then the memes start, and Ross suddenly has a lot more to deal with than a best friend ghosting him, lasers being shot into his head, and yeah…maybe dying.
Ross is a fantastic narrator, at home in his awkwardness and inability to put words to emotions. His development over the course of the book never feels rushed, even if his story isn’t told in a completely linear fashion. He is a captivating narrator, and while he goes through heavy emotions, Harrell doesn’t crush the reader with them — though tears may be emitted.
I find that in a lot of popular middle grade fiction, adults tend to get the short end of the stick as they tend to be shown as antagonistic figures. This isn’t to say there aren’t terrible adults out there that kids, teens, and other sundry young adults have to deal with, but it’s always reassuring when parents, teachers, caregivers etc are shown in actual light. They are not saints, they are messy, but they give a damn and do their best. So for the positive adult representation, I want to give Harrell a hearty high-five.
It’s a little challenging to place a firm setting on Wink. There are crawdads mentioned briefly, but then someone’s southern accent is a surprise… so maybe somewhere in the flyover states? Not to mention just what year it is. There’s talk of using an mp3 player, Gwen Stefani’s Hollaback Girl on the radio, putting us in the early 00’s…however then there’s a mention of Fortnite which only was launches in 2017 so… when exactly is this book taking place?
I don’t know if a younger reader might notice these things or even care, but these kinds of incongruities stick out to me and wreck my ability to fully immerse myself in the story. It’s not a bad thing to place your story in the early aughts, but don’t pander to kids with mentioning Fortnite when the other lingo, pop culture references, and tech you’re using don’t line up. It feels like an attempt to pander, and very reminiscent of “How do you do, fellow kids?”
Other than that small bloop that, again, I don’t know if other readers will pick up on, Harrell tries keeping the setting bland and generic enough to be Anywhere, USA and it works since the focus is really on Ross. There’s ultimately good, if not awkward communication, happening between the characters which allows them all to have and express their emotions — positive and negative. The additional characters are incredibly well fleshed out, and really show the polish and effort Harrell put into this story.
Because that’s what it comes down to for this story, the characters. Yes, there are little nuggets of emotional vulnerability and growth that definitely had me a little weepy on desk as I read, and those moments really let everyone shine in their own way.
I can see the appeal for this book, and I think it was correctly marketed and written for middle graders. Older teens might enjoy it, but it really isn’t intended for them (and that’s the beauty of middle grade). I think this is an excellent family read, or a good solo read as well that deals with heavier topics in a way that’s respectful and authentic without coming across as ‘after school special’-like. There is no sugar coating, just honesty without brutality. If you haven’t yet put this on your shelf for the middle schooler in your life, do yourself a favor and add it.
The Little Book Witch 