Set in Israel, this is a book about an insight­ful and artic­u­late sixth-grad­er, Avi, who uses a home­work assign­ment as an oppor­tu­ni­ty to express the many feel­ings bounc­ing around in his head. Avi is a unique child; he’s deeply in touch with his inner self, and has a flair for describ­ing the com­plex­i­ties of his most pro­found thoughts.

Avi writes to his teacher about the past and present, about his par­ents and his fam­i­ly rela­tion­ships. He explores his view of the world around him and probes his dreams. Though he may not real­ize it, he’s a philoso­pher in the mak­ing. He spends a good deal of time think­ing about World War II and his own fam­i­ly’s his­to­ry with­in it. He reflects on the lost mem­bers of his moth­er’s fam­i­ly and search­es for his own place with­in that family.

This unusu­al sto­ry is accom­pa­nied by black and white sketch­es of the young boy, which echo his thoughts. In the final pic­ture, Avi, exhaust­ed from the hard work of writ­ing, has fall­en asleep at his desk sur­round­ed by writ­ten pages and pic­tures. Hav­ing com­plet­ed his work, he’s final­ly able to enjoy a well-deserved rest.

This is an inter­est­ing, off-the-beat­en-track book which some inter­est­ing and off-the-beat­en-track read­ers ages 9 to 12 may enjoy.