LENNY’S SPACE

In this deceptively simple gem of a novel, Banks tells the story of Lenny Brewster, a bright but lonely nine-year-old who is gifted with a curious mind and a strong mechanical ability, but lacks the facility to see the world from another person’s perspective. Lenny believes that his father, who deserted the family, is stuck in space and unable to get home. The reader soon realizes that Lenny is stuck himself, that his lack of empathy and emotional immaturity restrict his capacity to fit in, follow the rules of everyday behavior and make friends. This frustrates the adults around him, especially his emotionally taut mother, cleverly conceived as a hand model unable to touch her son because of her protective gloves. In the course of the story, which is rendered in straightforward, unvarnished prose, Lenny gets help from a wise therapist and makes friends with a boy who has leukemia. As Lenny opens up to the feelings of himself and others, he gains a measure of compassion, taking his first steps in growing into a better person. Graceful and touching. (Fiction. 8-12)