Monkey Island and Missing May were both very well written fictional books. I did not think Missing May was believable though. I don’t expect a child will relate to a young orphan girl whose uncle is trying to contact the spiritual realm in search of his wife, May.
Monkey Island on the other hand was quite believable. It sounds like the thoughts of an 11-year-old boy whose parents deserted him. I feel he should have been angrier with his mother for acting like a child herself but then again he’s a lonely child who will do anything to be with his family again. In Monkey Island, Buddy collected things from everywhere and in Missing May, Cletus also collected things.
Both collected things for different reasons. Buddy collected things for survival and because you never know when you might need it. Cletus collected things because he felt everything had a story in it. He mostly collected pictures and pamphlets.
Cletus and Calvin (from Monkey Island) are both a little “strange” but they both mean well. Cletus collects stories and Calvin writes them. Ob from Missing May and Clay’s mother from Monkey Island both seemed lost. They were both caught in a world of disillusion and denial.
Ob couldn’t believe that May was gone and Clay’s mother had a baby coming and was terribly confused. In the end, they both seemed to find peace. I preferred Monkey Island because it seemed the most real to me. I couldn’t “exactly” relate but I know what it feels like to be alone and scared.
A friend and I were once homeless for a day. We went to New York with two dollars and a blanket. It was the most horrible experience of my life. I was cold and hungry and then it had to start raining.
More than ever, I just wanted to be in my nice warm bed with my mother in the next room. I was about 16 at the time. I can imagine how devastating it must be for a helpless 11-year-old alone on the city streets for weeks.
