Even in harsh, unfamiliar territory, such as the painful, sudden loss of a young loved one, we have a companion in Park’s characters. One of my favorite aspects of Barbara Park’s writing is her ability to observe, and then word those observations in such a way that each reader can relate. MICK HARTE WAS HERE will stick with me, like printed letters in cement. But Barbara saved me, with utter wisdom, by suggesting that Phoebe, “Put him everywhere, why don’t you?”, just like God’s presence.īarbara Park has aptly woven a story of past and present, through recollections of a boy’s relationship with his cowboy dog, Wocket a mail carrier a florist deliverer and a school assembly. It is not until Phoebe shares her frustration about losing something that will never be returned, that I truly felt the weight of Mick’s death, right in the gut. His strong-will and propensity to tease kept me laughing, even though I was grieving right along with his polar-opposite sister, Phoebe. Mick’s trouble-making ways get you laughing from the start. It is difficult to start a novel with the death of a boy, a sibling, a friend….unless, he’s a prankster. MICK HARTE is an example of Barbara Park’s great wisdom she takes an awful outcome and creates a beautiful story about a fully dimensional 12 year-old boy.
Published by Yearling, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books
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