What About Bob?

Bob by Wendy Mass & Rebecca Stead ill Nicholas Gannon

"You have a gift!  I think you're ...magic!"

• Mass and Stead have taken the most ordinary of names and created an extraordinary character with a story premise that is intriguing. Bob is the magical tale of ten-year-old Olivia's return visit to her grandmother in Australia. It's been five years since her last stay with Gran. Known as Livy, she struggles to remember people and events from so long ago. There are people and places that seem familiar. Livy wonders how and why she has retained these fleeting impressions. Gradually, with the help of Bob, she pieces together significant bits of information from the past. 

Who is Bob?

• Bob is ten years old. He has always been ten.
• Bob is short.
• Bob has smooth skin.
• Bob is skinny with knobby knees.
• Bob is green, like the inside of an avocado.
• Bob wears a chicken suit, with feathers that are falling off.

What's with Bob, anyway?

• ​Bob lives inside the closet of Gran's upstairs bedroom.
• Bob occupies his time with things located inside the closet: a Lego pirate ship and the dictionary.
• Bob knows how to play chess.
• Bob is a friend of Livy's.
• Bob has been waiting five years for Livy to return.
• Bob hopes that Livy will keep the promise that she made to him long ago.

I'm putting two and two together, as Dad says.
​Except it's more like trying to add the square root of seven and thirty-one to the fifth power.

In one sense this is a book like others by Stead: seemingly random pieces fit together in the most ingenious way. Words that are glossed over on first reading take on added significance when delving further into the narrative. Here are a few of the phrases that reveal key parts of the story.

"But chess is not about luck," Bob says. "It's about recognizing the strength of the little guy."

"Treats are always better when you save them," 
​

"The small pieces are really easy to lose," he mumbles.

The door swings open, and there is Bob, arms crossed tightly over his narrow chest. He is wearing my old tutu.

"She put a book under her pillow...She said it helped her dream."

I am going to have to think of something else. I sit down hard on the Sylvester rock. It wobbles a little.

This is a quick read. But don't let the scant page count fool you. It is brimming with charm and grace, humor and longing. And the ending. Ah, the ending. The final page totally melted me. Oh Bob, I love you so.

Review based on uncorrected text copy.

​Pub date: May 1,  2018       Publisher: Feiwel & Friends    ISBN: 978-1250166623