TCBOB

Monday, June 11, 2018

Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage

I finally finished Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage laying by the pool while watching my kids take turns throwing each other into the water.  It is exactly the setting you want to be in while you are reading this novel.  It's a great summer/beach read but you will want to keep your kids close and hug them a lot while you are getting through this one.

The Good Parts: Zoje Stage sets a very vivid picture of the place where they are living.  I love that the mother, Suzette, has a prominent facing battle with Chron's Disease.  I feel like that detail played into some of the desperation that she feels towards needing time to rest and gave an interesting plot device.  The plot as a whole reads as a modern telling of an Oedipal story to great effect.  I loved how her actions were completely different around her father than her mother which was credible after seeing how my own kids act differently between each parent.

The Bad Parts: Hannah was too young for some of the thoughts that she was having.  Even with her advanced intellect and powers of observation, I had a very hard time grasping that a 1st grader would be able to formulate some of these elaborate plots, much less be able to execute them.  The second challenge that I have with the novel is that after multiple neurology and speech pathology exams, there was no mention of a psychiatric evaluation until things reached critical mass.  I know that it is definitely difficult to source psych services for children but I can't believe that after 7 nonverbal years not one medical professional suggested mental help for her.  I understand the mother's reluctance toward doctors, etc due to her chronic illness but she did not seem to have a problem with the medical testing.

All in all - if you can keep a reasonable disbelief suspension, you will likely enjoy this novel.  For me it was a solid 3 stars - not great but I'm not mad that I spent the time to read it.

Many thanks to St Martins Press and Netgalley for the advanced copy of Baby Teeth.  Available 07/17/2018 at retailers.


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