Finn's Going

by Tom Kelly
CMSW, hardcover, 278 pages

This was a very challenging read. Not sure I can recommend it to my students. Even though the protagonist is only ten, the writer's style is very stream-of-consciousness. The British terms and expressions are beyond those I've ever encountered. It took me a while to understand some of them. Honestly, I still don't know which brother is which. It's obvious from the start that something tragic happened to one of the twins, but it takes to the very end of the story for the explanation to come out. In the meantime, the reader wonders what the deal is with otters. And is this Danny or Finn who's sharing his grief with us? He tells Airplane Kev that he's Danny. But then he responds to his dad's "Hello, Finn" at the end with an affirmative. The title also plays into this ambiguity. Is "Finn's Going" in reference to the boy who died? Or does it refer to the remaining brother's going through his grief? All in all, not terribly accessible for most of my readers.