Sometimes all it takes is for one person to believe in you, and Matchit finds that person in an unlikely place, an automobile junkyard. Abandoned by his mother when he was just a baby, Matchit has been raised by a disinterested and irresponsible father, leaving him feeling angry and worthless. His father’s latest scheme finds Matchit left at the junkyard to stay with Babe, while he travels halfway across the country with Jewel, his new girlfriend. Babe immediately takes Matchit in, treating him as if he is the smartest and most talented boy in the world. Confused, Matchit initially resists the attention, but odd friendships with a pigeon, the local junkyard artist, and a taxidermist slowly help Matchit to defeat the voices in his head, leaving him with a sense of hope for the future. Desperate for love but scarred by his past, Matchit’s rage and sorrow are palpable as he acts out against anything or anyone that tries to get close to him. Glimpses at his internal dialogue include the reader in Matchit’s personal struggle as he attempts to overcome years of emotional abuse to find the one thing that he cannot bear to lose—himself. Successfully powerful without being didactic. (Fiction. 8-12)
