Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life

Starred review from December 11, 2006
What is the meaning of life? Mass (A Mango-Shaped Space
) introduces a winning narrator who attempts to answer this question and ends up accomplishing much more. Jeremy and his best friend, Lizzy, are on a quest to discover Jeremy's purpose on earth before his 13th birthday. Set in New York City, the adventure begins when a mysterious box arrives. The package, assembled by his father before he died in a car accident five years prior (the man had a premonition of his early death), contains a sealed antique box inscribed with the message, "The Meaning of Life: For Jeremy Fink to Open on His 13th Birthday." The box can only be opened with a set of four keys, which have gone missing. Much of the novel's charm derives from Jeremy and Lizzy's unique friendship. Their personalities balance each other brilliantly—Lizzy the risktaker challenges Jeremy, who resists change. With less than a month to find the keys, the two meet a number of larger-than-life characters with their own life-lesson nuggets to bestow—most memorable among them the venerable pawnbroker, Mr. Oswald, for whom they make some surprising deliveries ("The harder something is to acquire, the more satisfying it is when you finally find it," says he). Jeremy and Lizzy find what they are looking for and more, but not where or in the way they expected. This exquisitely executed plot twist, combined with an ending that requires a few tissues, makes this soulful novel one not to miss. Ages 9-12.

December 1, 2006
Gr 5-7-An elaborately locked wooden box requiring four separate but missing keys holds the treasure in this modern-day quest. Jeremys father lived his life preparing for an early death, as foretold by a fortune-teller. He did, in fact, die when Jeremy was eight, but a package from him containing the locked box arrives one month before Jeremys 13th birthday, the day on which the box is to be opened. With his friend Lizzy, Jeremy searches for the keys while contemplating the words engraved on the box, The Meaning of Life: For Jeremy Fink. 13th Birthday. The search for the keys takes the friends around and about New York City, where they meet a large and increasingly convenient range of supporting characters, from members of a spiritualist congregation to a prominent astronomer, all of whom point them toward their own takes on the meaning of life. Mystery and adventure fans will be pulled in by the locked box, and, as a bonus, will get to know quirky, scientific Jeremy and impulsive Lizzy. Some readers might become impatient as the metaphysical quest lengthens, but those who stick with the story will find a warm picture of parental love and wisdom and of a boy growing into his own understanding and acceptance of life."Faith Brautigam, Gail Borden Public Library, Elgin, IL"

Copyright 2006 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 15, 2006
The summer he turns 13, Jeremy receives a mysterious box with the engraved words "the meaning of life: for Jeremy Fink on his thirteenth birthday." The box was left by his father, who has been dead for five years. It has four locks, but Jeremy finds no keys to open them. As Jeremy and his best friend, Lizzy, embark on a quest to find the keys, they travel across Manhattan from flea markets to fancy office buildings and museums, searching, as it turns out, not only for keys but also insights into science, religion, art, friendship, and family. The overlong plot lurches from one contrivance to another, and the end is a total setup, but readers will be hooked by the kids' fast, funny urban adventure, as well as by the quest and the "existential crisis." The many open-ended questions make this fun for group discussion: "Why are we here? Is that even the correct question?"(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2007
Jeremy receives a box purporting to contain the meaning of life, and he and his best pal, Lizzy, begin a quest to track down the keys. All the adults they encounter have thoughts on the subject, and while the advice is laid on thick, the clarity and variety of the messages (along with the novel's humor and intrigue) make them palatable.

(Copyright 2007 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

January 1, 2007
It's inevitable that in a book about the meaning of life, philosophical discussions will take up a good chunk of the story. Luckily for readers, Mass (A Mango-Shaped Space, rev. 7/03; Leap Day, rev. 5/04) also supplies two likable best friends and lots of laughs. A month before his birthday, Jeremy receives a box engraved with the words "The Meaning of Life: For Jeremy Fink to Open on His 13th Birthday." According to his mom, his dad filled the box seven years before, right before he died in an accident. However, the lawyer entrusted with the box has apparently lost the four keys needed to open it. Thus Jeremy, accompanied by best pal Lizzy, begins a month-long quest through New York City to track down the keys. The many adults Jeremy and Lizzy run into on their journey all have thoughts on the meaning of life. While the advice is laid on thick as the peanut butter Jeremy subsists on, the clarity and variety of the messages (along with the novel's humor and intrigue) make them as palatable to kids' taste as the candy that is Jeremy's constant companion. Readers suspicious of the coincidences that pile up along the way will find things satisfyingly explained in a neat conclusion that refrains from spelling out every detail, giving readers the pleasure of figuring out parts of the story on their own. Mass fashions an adventure in which both journey and destination are worth the trip.

(Copyright 2007 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)