Girl in the Blue Coat Survives a Scare from Dan vs Nature

Girl in the Blue Coat Survives a Scare from Dan vs Nature

Ok, maybe “a scare” is a bit strongly worded considering we were unanimous in our decision to move The Girl in the Blue Coat on, but darn it, there was some genuine affection for Dan vs. Nature. It had a few YA tropes I can generally live without like the awkward genius sidekick, the equally genius-level love interest who is also a curvy goddess and a host of “quirky” characters, including some uniquely determined animals, but overall, it all works. I think it is a testament to Calame’s vivid prose and his ability to establish a likeable and grounding central character and narrator in Dan, that he’s created a generally enjoyable read. I found Charlie a bit much from the outset, but the rest of the characters generally worked for me. I actually admired Hank as a good man caught in an impossible situation and dealing with it with almost superhuman good grace, but this only fully works because Calame establishes a reveal at the end that makes Hank both fallible and vulnerable, and ultimately, at least partially the architect of his own misfortune. That’s just one example of the author’s ability to keep his narrative on the rails despite more madcap hijinks than you can shake a stick at. As the novel wears on, the events strain believability, but the characters are both multi-faceted and consistent and this creates some reliability to the narrative in spite of some “Oh, no you didn’t!” (Picture me with my hands on my hips wagging my finger) moments. I’m not sure I’d go so far as to call it, as per the cover blurb, “Outrageously funny” - although it is often quite amusing- or “wickedly raunchy” - although it does have its gently naughty bits and some appropriately foul language- but I think this is a book that most people are going to take some small measure of joy in and I think a lot of kids would find it a hoot from start to finish.

I will not be using “joy” or “hoot” at any point moving forward, as Monica Hesse’s Girl in the Blue Coat has a mood, and a plot- for that matter- that is much more reminiscent of Spielberg’s Schindler’s List (which its cover seems to be channeling) than the teen comedy vibe that Dan vs. Nature was working. This novel works on a number of different levels: it has legitimate historical fiction bonafides -one of our group (Hi Christy!) has Dutch roots and discussed the novel with her mom who confirmed its historical veracity- but it also functions as a really gripping mystery thriller with various levels of intrigue and some heart-stopping moments. Ultimately, though, this is a character study of the highest order, with our protagonist and narrator Hanneke at once every teenage girl we’d ever met and also like no teenage girl we’ve ever met, thrust as she is into the quagmire of the Holocaust. Hanneke can see herself as equal parts hero and coward, but really she’s little more than a painfully young girl forced to deal with the doubts, fears and delicate duplicities that living in occupied Amsterdam in 1943 entails. One thing we discussed a bit as a group was what appears to be a slight inconsistency in Hanneke’s motivations: she defies all measure of good sense in launching and sustaining her quest for Mirjam and yet wavers when initially asked to support the resistance. Ultimately, this inconsistency may actually keep her true to a broader character arc that has her buffeted by normal experiences - her first true love, her first true friendship, her commitment to her family - that are perverted by the unique horrors of this war. I’m not sure that Hanneke can even make sense of her motivations throughout this novel and that makes perfect sense in a world where right and wrong are necessarily situational. Hanneke says it perfectly near the end of the novel: ”I would care that someone understood we were flawed and scarred and doing the best we could in this war. We were wrapped up in things that were so much bigger than ourselves. We didn’t know. We didn’t mean it. It wasn’t our fault.” (298) The plot is gripping and the characters, even beyond Hanneke, are, if not fully realized, then at least carefully crafted, but ultimately, I think it is Hesse’s prose that makes this a transcendent novel. In looking for a small section of text to illustrate this point I reread the first two pages and the last two pages of the novel and I’m not sure that we’ll find too many novels, YA or otherwise, that are going to provide such nuance and depth in their prose structure. Some of the most beautiful passages are either too revealing or too obscure to present here when taken out of context and that is the mark of a remarkably crafted novel. We were pleased, again, to have two good books come our way, but there was no debate that Girl in the Blue Coat should move on.