Book Review: The Dollar Kids

The Dollar Kids by Jennifer Richard Jacobson is a middle grade story about friendship, grief, and forgiveness. Lowen is a 12-year-old boy mourning the loss of his younger friend. Abe was constantly around, offering advice or friendly criticism as Lowen worked on his comic strips to the sound of his friend's constant babbling in the background. When Abe is shot, Lowen feels responsible and, as he won't admit why he feels this way to others, he is stuck with his blame with no one to come alongside and shoulder it with him and speak truth to him.

The Grovers, in an effort to reset the whole family, apply to purchase a $1 home in a small town that has struggled to survive since the mill closed. The Grovers gladly leave their city behind to start over when they are chosen as one of four families. The agreement for the $1 homes hinges on enough repairs being made before the end of the year.

Lowen has turned his back on art, as it's too raw. But throughout the book we get little snippets of comic strips as he uses that medium to process his grief. The illustrations are lovingly done and fit the text well.

Some of the plot points seemed forced -- the family has a litany of reasons for why they can't accomplish house repairs and the mom's success (or lack of it) in her pasty shop seems hot and cold. However, I was touched at the close of the book, and I did find truth in Lowen's struggle with how much to engage in forming new relationships when he sees himself as a bad friend to have.

I am a creative person. As such, I dabble in new hobbies and well remember the struggle of my first knitting attempt, or how long it took me to throw clay successfully on a wheel or to spin something that looked legitimately like yarn, I recall how my brain knew intellectually how it was supposed to come together even as my hands failed at the execution. The trick is to stick with it and not give up. I resonated with Lowen's observation about the essence of creating:

"To become good at something, you had to be willing to live through the maddening time when you don't have the skills, when you don't come anywhere close to what you can picture in your head. You try, you struggle, your performance stinks. You fail. A lot."

I think this is a solid book, even as I admit that I never fully entered the world.

(I received a free digital ARC of this book from NetGalley and Candlewick Press in exchange for my honest opinion. The included Amazon links are affiliate links; should you be inclined to complete a purchase, these links only mean Amazon will give me a small percentage of the cost, at no additional expense to you.)