Author Origin: Born in Newfoundland, lives in Waterloo, ON
Page Count: 216
Genre: Fiction, YA
Difficulty: Easy
Grade Level: 9/10
Key Talking Points: Mental health, Native Canadian treatment and perception, what makes a family, dealing with loss and trauma, LGBTQ, identity.
Sensitive Subject Matter: Suicide, Sexual Assault, Pedophilia, Neglect, Racism, Physical Assault
My blind date with a book teaser for this month read: "coming of age, a story of a hoarder and a runaway girl, set in Newfoundland." If these blind date books were real blind dates, I would have quickly proposed marriage to each of them so far. Both Ayesha at Last (January's blog review) and The Agony of Bun O'Keefe have been amazing reads. They were both highly enjoyable and offer numerous possibilities for the classroom.
Summary: Bun O'Keefe is a 14 year old girl who lived a sheltered life amidst the disorder of her mother's hoard. Burdened by her father's abandonment, her mother's neglect, and her own health issues, Bun tries to create order through repeating movie scripts in her head and reading medical textbooks. When her mother tells her to "Go on! Get Out!" she takes her at her word and heads to St. John's, a place "easy to disappear into" (Smith 1,3). Without even a coat, Bun's only plan is to find a homeless mission like the one from her favourite movie. However, the first person she asks about finding a mission is a young busker. He quickly recognizes Bun's naïveté and knows that the streets are no place for her. Instead of to a mission, he takes her home to his boarding house. Bun is then introduced to a cast of characters who quickly take to her and take her under their wings to teach her about life in a world far more compassionate, and also more dangerous, than the hoarded home she left behind.
In all honesty, I kept waiting for one of the twenty-somethings that take Bun in to turn out to be in some way evil or manipulative. It just goes to show what kind of reading I normally do that I expect the worse of people in books. However, all the characters that appear to be good, are good. And in the same way, the characters that are presented as bad right off the bat, are truly bad. There is something refreshing about that. Once I was able to let go of my skepticism and paranoia, the boarding house misfits were so enjoyable to read about. Each one has something about them that makes them diverse, and also is representative of a current social issue (see the sensitive subject matter and key talking points lists for some hints here). Even Bun herself, while it is never explicitly stated, seems to be on the Autism Spectrum. Some clues that helped me to this theory are her lack of awareness of social cues, love of random information that she remembers easily, and need to "rewind" situations in her mind to try and decode what was actually going on. The way she is represented is so careful and caring; she is in no way a stereotype, becoming very easily relatable. As she is the book's narrator, her perspective also helps to set this book apart as a unique and memorable story, all the more enjoyable for her quirks in the telling of it.
My blind date with a book teaser for this month read: "coming of age, a story of a hoarder and a runaway girl, set in Newfoundland." If these blind date books were real blind dates, I would have quickly proposed marriage to each of them so far. Both Ayesha at Last (January's blog review) and The Agony of Bun O'Keefe have been amazing reads. They were both highly enjoyable and offer numerous possibilities for the classroom.
Summary: Bun O'Keefe is a 14 year old girl who lived a sheltered life amidst the disorder of her mother's hoard. Burdened by her father's abandonment, her mother's neglect, and her own health issues, Bun tries to create order through repeating movie scripts in her head and reading medical textbooks. When her mother tells her to "Go on! Get Out!" she takes her at her word and heads to St. John's, a place "easy to disappear into" (Smith 1,3). Without even a coat, Bun's only plan is to find a homeless mission like the one from her favourite movie. However, the first person she asks about finding a mission is a young busker. He quickly recognizes Bun's naïveté and knows that the streets are no place for her. Instead of to a mission, he takes her home to his boarding house. Bun is then introduced to a cast of characters who quickly take to her and take her under their wings to teach her about life in a world far more compassionate, and also more dangerous, than the hoarded home she left behind.
In all honesty, I kept waiting for one of the twenty-somethings that take Bun in to turn out to be in some way evil or manipulative. It just goes to show what kind of reading I normally do that I expect the worse of people in books. However, all the characters that appear to be good, are good. And in the same way, the characters that are presented as bad right off the bat, are truly bad. There is something refreshing about that. Once I was able to let go of my skepticism and paranoia, the boarding house misfits were so enjoyable to read about. Each one has something about them that makes them diverse, and also is representative of a current social issue (see the sensitive subject matter and key talking points lists for some hints here). Even Bun herself, while it is never explicitly stated, seems to be on the Autism Spectrum. Some clues that helped me to this theory are her lack of awareness of social cues, love of random information that she remembers easily, and need to "rewind" situations in her mind to try and decode what was actually going on. The way she is represented is so careful and caring; she is in no way a stereotype, becoming very easily relatable. As she is the book's narrator, her perspective also helps to set this book apart as a unique and memorable story, all the more enjoyable for her quirks in the telling of it.
Teacher Note: This book hit on so many issues, in such a unique and novel voice, that it would be possible to use it for a variety of different purposes. Courses with themes of identity, diversity, and social justice would all find areas in this book to build really interesting educational content around. One option would be to have students develop awareness campaigns on the social issues in the book, involving additional research and real world connections. A character study of Bun herself would also be interesting to draw connections between the identity growth she shows when she is actually nurtured and cared for by her adoptive family, vs neglected and ridiculed by her blood family.
Bun's way of experiencing the heavy content in the novel, such as suicide and sexual assault, and relating her experiences to the reader reflect her innocent mindset, making the issues accessible to younger readers. As Bun learns from each new situation, students could also reflect on the life lessons represented.
On her website, Heather Smith describes herself as "Teller of tales and a bonafide twit. Likes a good slice of toast." This eccentric description exemplifies her writing in The Agony of Bun O'Keefe. Students could also be encouraged to find something unique about their own narrative voice and experiment with first person narration.
Final Thought: This book is nothing like I've ever read before. It is contradictory in such lovely ways. Simple, yet layered. Innocent, yet tackling very heavy issues. A unique voice telling some of the most common stories effecting our society.
Bun's way of experiencing the heavy content in the novel, such as suicide and sexual assault, and relating her experiences to the reader reflect her innocent mindset, making the issues accessible to younger readers. As Bun learns from each new situation, students could also reflect on the life lessons represented.
On her website, Heather Smith describes herself as "Teller of tales and a bonafide twit. Likes a good slice of toast." This eccentric description exemplifies her writing in The Agony of Bun O'Keefe. Students could also be encouraged to find something unique about their own narrative voice and experiment with first person narration.
Final Thought: This book is nothing like I've ever read before. It is contradictory in such lovely ways. Simple, yet layered. Innocent, yet tackling very heavy issues. A unique voice telling some of the most common stories effecting our society.
📚 Ms. CAN Lit
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