RETURN TO SENDER

RETURN TO SENDER by Vera Brosgol

Return to Sender is a middle grade read that deals with the topic of not fitting in. Vera Brosgol confronts some hard issues, but she pairs it with some odd whimsy that for some kids may help break the toughness of the subject matter, and for others it may frustrate them to deal with in the middle of such seriousness.

Oliver and his mom have moved around a lot since his dad passed away. For the first time in a long time, they finally have a place to settle down, and his mom has a steady job. She's taken the position of janitor at the exclusive private school close to them, and because of that, Oliver will now attend school there.

The new school is a nightmare for Oliver. From his out of date clothing to his lack of the newest technological devices to the fact that he doesn't jet around the world on exclusive vacations, Oliver is seriously out of his depth. And, if the kids ever found out that his mom was the janitor, it would be complete social suicide. So, how does one compete with this world? Serious issues, right?

Okay, the whimsy parts. I'm not going to cover or spill it all, but I'm going to share a bit. Inside the apartment that Oliver and his mom now share is a letter slot located in a wall. There is no backside of this letter slot to see where things may be going that are dropped in Through a series of events, Oliver discovers that he can write a wish and stick it into the slot. As a result, he will receive a paper with directions that seem strange, but will ultimately end up granting his wish. What he doesn't realize at first is that there is a price to pay for every wish that may not be affecting him directly, but still is happening somewhere in the world. Still good so far. The story finally hits a point where Oliver ends up on the other side of the slot where he finds SPOILER ALERT strange creatures that look borderline alienish handling all sorts of these requests from even other planets. A huge confrontation happens in this space that affects the rest of the story. There are several other little quarks that happen throughout the story, but you get the idea.

Ultimately, Oliver learns some valuable lessons that will help him decide what is truly important in life

HEADS UP- Oh my G** is used a handful of times. The one thing that took me a minute to get straight was that Oliver was the one with long hair (and looks a bit girlish), and his friend Colette is a girl who has short hair and looks a bit boyish. The story does mention in passing that sometimes when people see them they get mixed up as to whether they are a girl or boy, and that's all that is mentioned about the subject.