“‘Collecting is a slippery thing,’ said Mr. Falborg, bending down beside him. ‘The whole world becomes a curiosity shop. Your next discovery could be anywhere. And you know that looking at the world this way is making you distracted and strange, but you can’t help it, because the minute you stop looking, you might miss a genuine treasure‘” (West 2018, p. 103).
This was a delightfully fun little book, and one that felt very much like a Miyazaki movie in print form (even more so than Howl’s Moving Castle, which actually was made into a Miyazaki movie). The characters are unique, the premise is interesting, and the story is fast-paced and full of little twists to keep the reader engaged until the last page.
The Collectors follows the story of a young boy named Van (short for Giovanni) Markson, who has spent his entire life going unnoticed by others. While nobody seems to notice his presence, however, Van sees, hears, and collects things that most other people wouldn’t notice: an old key, a tiny figurine, a marble in the grass. One day, while standing by a wishing well, Van notices a girl his age with a silver squirrel on her shoulder stealing a coin from the water. Upon following her, Van learns that most people don’t seem to notice her, and feels instantly drawn to the strange world in which she lives. In this world, wishes are collected and preserved by Collectors, kept from coming true to prevent chaos.
Without a doubt, my favorite part of this book was the light-hearted whimsy and creativity that was clearly put into every word. As I said above, this book felt very much like a Miyazaki movie in written form. There was a heartfelt message, quirky characters, and zany moments that kept me entertained throughout the entire book. From talking animals to wishes being collected in jars, everything about this story screamed whimsy in a way that never felt gimmicky or too over-the-top. The book injects enough real-world problems (an unconventional family, having to move frequently, having a single parent date and potentially remarry, etc.) to help readers relate to the characters, while creating a really fun world that most readers would really want to live in if given the chance.
I also really appreciated the fact that Van is hard-of-hearing, as there aren’t many middle grade and YA books with differently abled protagonists. Much like Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson series, this book features a boy whose disability helps him in the fantasy universe he stumbles into. Where Percy’s ADHD and dyslexia prove that he’s wired for ancient Greek and combat, Van’s lack of hearing ability forces him to be an extremely good listener, a crucial skill for a Collector. Van can hear things many of the other characters can’t, namely the voices of the small animals that accompany most collectors. After reading the author’s note at the end, it was clear that West put a lot of thought and care into accurately portraying someone who is hard-of-hearing, and I appreciated the diversity in this story.
Another thing I enjoyed was that two very different sides of an argument are presented without anyone ever feeling like a strict bad guy. You have the Collectors on one hand, who are trying to keep the world safe from rogue wishes (wishes are established as being extremely unpredictable and hard to control), and Mr. Falborg trying to protect Wish Eaters on the other. As a reader, I saw both sides of the conflict: I understood that Falborg was trying to free and protect what he saw as beautiful creatures, while also understanding that Wish Eaters could become extremely dangerous and wreak havoc on the world. The book leaves it up to the readers to decide who they align with, which is incredibly smart for a middle grade novel. Much like real-world villains, the villains in this book are not black and white; they are nuanced and act a lot more like real people doing what they think is best.
My one gripe about this book is that it felt very rushed at the end, leaving a lot of loose threads untied. To be fair, it felt as though West was setting this up to be the beginning of a series, meaning these loose ends will likely be tied up eventually. Without knowing for sure, however, I have a lot of questions left unanswered at the end. Does Van’s mother ever find out what’s going on? What happens with Van and Peter, and do their parents continue to date? Does Van ever find Pebble? How do the Collectors treat him after learning that he freed their Wish Eaters?
So much was set up so quickly in this book that I felt let down when the plot was left open in the end. I felt very invested in Van and Peter’s growing friendship, wanting to know more about Peter’s conflict with his absent father. Peter was actually an extremely fascinating character, starting off as a kind of one-note bully and ending up as this vulnerable child who only wants his father to notice him and spend more time around him. Like Van, Peter feels jealous of his single dad’s new relationship, not wanting anything to come between them or take more from him. A lot of deep, complicated emotions were being explored in this book, and I felt sad to see it end without any of them being resolved. I can only hope this was the first book in a series, as I would love to see more of this developed in future books.
The friendship between Pebble and Van was sweet too, bringing two characters who initially felt like outcasts together for a common purpose. And, because this is a middle grade novel, it focused on their friendship rather than trying to create a romantic subplot. While I love romance, I can always appreciate a book that slows down and takes time to focus on more than just “who ends up with whom.” This was a clean, wholesome look at friendship, and I appreciate that I could easily recommend this to a middle schooler without feeling like I might be ruining someone’s innocence. This book is also highly appropriate for more conservative parents, who would prefer books without cursing or explicit imagery.
Overall, I genuinely enjoyed this book, and hope to see more in this series in the future. The author weaved a delightfully fun tale with characters who felt like real people, and injected enough suspense to keep me invested the entire time. She perfectly blended fantasy and reality in what was an extremely interesting and unique premise, and one that felt like it would be at home amongst some of my favorite Miyazaki films. Fans of light-hearted fantasy with a good moral center will love this book, and I can easily see it being the next big series to hit middle grade audiences. My one complaint (that the story did not tie up loose ends) is minor, and likely to be remedied in future books. I will definitely be recommending this to some of my young library patrons, and I honestly can’t wait to see what comes next in this series.
Reference:
West, J. (2018). The Collectors. Harpercollins Childrens Books. New York, NY: Greenwillow Books.
Adventures in Reading 