Nikki Loftin

This is going to be one of those times when I read a book that everyone else seems to love and I just don't get it. Riddled with sadness and ambiguity, I didn't truly enjoy the story at all. The closest I could come to liking this book was appreciating that author Nikki Loftin created something unusual and touching. There's a lot of good stuff here, but it didn't come together in a meaningful way for this reader. The writing was only so-so and the symbolism heavy-handed. Still, here we go:

Little John is a boy in a lamentable situation. His little sister recently died in a tragic accident. He's estranged from his best friend because he's too proud to admit that his family is nearing poverty and falling apart. Little John's teachers make him feel stupid, his mother makes him feel invisible, and his father treats him like a hired hand.

Enter a mysterious new girl who's taken in as a foster child by the awful Cutlin family in the same small town where Little John lives. She calls herself Gayle, though the Cutlins insist her name is Suzie. She reminds Little John of his sister because she's small and feisty, but her most marked characteristic is her beyond-beautiful singing voice and belief in her own magical abilities.

Little John and Gayle become friends. He tries to protect her and at the same time can't resist extorting her for money that his family desperately needs. The villain here is Mr. King, the richest man in town. Known by town folk as "The Emperor," Mr. King is obsessed with recording Gayle's voice to add to his collection. His villainous qualities are ambiguous, though. Gayle fears him and is traumatized by his presence, but why? We don't exactly know. She says he's like a crow. Little John has a built-in reason to loathe King: his father is employed by Mr. King and resents him for being haughty and rich.

The plot is driven by something you know is going to happen, even though it seems so unlikely. Gayle makes Little John promise to protect her tree and her nest because she believes her parents will use these as beacons to find her--but it's somehow inevitable that Little John will break his promise. It also seemed inevitable to me that Little John would redeem himself.

Just a few other details to mention:

1. Little John lives five miles from Mr. King and the Cutlins. In the heat of summer, he runs those five miles (ten round trip) so many times! At first, it's portrayed as a difficult journey for Little John, but then it becomes something he just does without comment. I thought this was convenient for the plot and not very believable.

2. It also bothered me that Raelynn's death was set up as a something the family still needed to deal with, but in the end they went around the issue instead of through it.

3. I'm not a fan of stories that end with poor people conveniently coming into a lot of money and voila! Everything's better! (Also it would've made more sense for Mr. King to leave all his money to Gayle instead of Little John. It's like Gayle was a just a tool that Little John controlled. I would've liked to understand the relationship between Gayle and Mr. King better. )

4. This story bears only a slight resemblance to Hans Christian Andersen's "The Nightingale". I wouldn't call it a re-telling or say it was based on it. I believe the book jacket says "inspired by" and that's fair. I encourage you to go read "The Nightingale" online. It's short and tells a very different kind of story--one about valuing an imitation above the real deal. Also, in Andersen's story the main relationship is between the nightingale and the Emperor.… (more)