Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

When A Wish in the Dark was named a Newbery Honor book, I read the description and thought–weird. A Thai-inspired fantasy version of Les Miserables sounded bizarre to me, and if I love Les Mis, I don’t really love fantasy (not to mention that the world sounded dystopian-ish). My brain filed it under “might like but might really not”, and I put it off…until now.

I confess, I may have finally decided to tackle it because I needed the space on my library card, but tackle it I did–and what a delightful surprise it was. Pong’s journey brought me to tears by the end, Father Cham is more loveable than the Bishop, and I couldn’t help but cheer Nok on as well, despite her being a (teenaged and female) convincing version of Javert. Somkit made me smile, even if the narrator on the audiobook made him sound whiny and annoying (based on the Audible reviews, I’m not the only one who felt that way). If “Thai Fantasy Les Mis” makes you leery, don’t be–this is a jewel of a book, captivating even as it asks difficult questions about safety versus freedom and who deserves what. Don’t put off reading it like I did.