"Two of the things Benjamin Hunter received for his twelfth birthday took him completely by surprise: A room and a letter. The room was from his parents. The letter was from his uncle."
Ben was just two years old when he and his uncle, Ian, were last together, so Ben didn't remember him. And no one in Ben's family ever talked about the man. Thenthe letter arrived, changing Ben's life, and changing his family in unexpected ways. And there was the birthday room...
00 Riverbank Review Magazine's Children's Books of Distinction Award Nominations
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"Two of the things Benjamin Hunter received for his twelfth birthday took him completely by surprise: a room and a letter. The room was from his parents. The letter was from his uncle."
A room and a letter--both so vague in the abstract, and so full of possibility. On Ben's birthday, however, both weigh heavily on his mind. The room is given to Ben as an artist's studio: his mother tells him, "'If you could paint Yellow Sky among all the clutter on the kitchen table,... just think what you could do here.'" Ben thinks getting a bicycle or big-screen TV might have been easier, and wishes he'd never painted the award-winning Yellow Sky. The letter creates an entirely different set of pressures. It is an invitation to visit his mother's brother, uncle Ian from Eugene, Oregon--the same brother she blames for the accident where Ben lost his little finger. Ben wants to meet his uncle: "Who wouldn't want to meet the person responsible? Wasn't it more weird not to think about it?" But Ben's mother has pushed Ian out of her life, and out of Ben's life, too, until she finally agrees to take her son to Oregon.
From here the story weaves in and out, exploring the complications of love, blame, and guilt. Ben's uncle--about to become a father himself--feels guilty for the accident, Ben's mother blames him. In a plot twist that further accentuates this theme, Ben makes an innocently offhand comment that leads to a little boy falling out of a tree and breaking his arm--a parallel to Ian's own sense of guilt about the accident that hurt Ben. If all of this sounds rather heavy, it is, but Ben's developing relationship with 13-year-old Lynnie and the breezy relief of the goofy interplay with Kale and Elka, the 5-year-old twins, keep the story buoyant. The happy ending, where the dreaded birthday room finds a new and noble purpose, doesn't hurt a bit either. Kevin Henkes, author of the award-winning novels Sun and Spoon, Words of Stone, and Protecting Marie--as well as picture books such as Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse--has a talent for getting straight to the heart of things, lucidly and compassionately portraying the emotions of his characters like few can. (Ages 10 and older)
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Book Description Condition: New. Henkes, Kevin (illustrator). Seller Inventory # 496041-n
Book Description Soft Cover. Condition: new. Henkes, Kevin (illustrator). Seller Inventory # 9780064438285
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Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. Henkes, Kevin (illustrator). Paperback. Not just an ordinary birthday."Two of the things Benjamin Hunter received for his twelfth birthday took him completely by surprise: A room and a letter. The room was from his parents. The letter was from his uncle."Ben was just two years old when he and his uncle, Ian, were last together, so Ben didn't remember him. And no one in Ben's family ever talked about the man. Then the letter arrived, changing Ben's life, and changing his family in unexpected ways. And there was the birthday room.Multiple award-winning and New York Times bestselling author Kevin Henkes brings his insightful, gentle, real-world insight to middle grade novels, including:Billy Miller Makes a WishBird Lake MoonThe Birthday RoomJunoniaOlive's OceanProtecting MarieSun & SpoonSweeping Up the HeartTwo Under ParWords of StoneThe Year of Billy MillerThe Zebra Wall When twelve-year-old Ben visits his uncle in Oregon, he feels caught in the strained relationship between his mother and her brother while he also begins to accept himself as an artist. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability. Seller Inventory # 9780064438285
Book Description Condition: New. Henkes, Kevin (illustrator). Buy with confidence! Book is in new, never-used condition 0.35. Seller Inventory # bk0064438287xvz189zvxnew
Book Description Paperback / softback. Condition: New. Henkes, Kevin (illustrator). New copy - Usually dispatched within 7-11 working days. Seller Inventory # B9780064438285
Book Description Condition: New. Henkes, Kevin (illustrator). When twelve-year-old Ben visits his uncle in Oregon, he feels caught in the strained relationship between his mother and her brother while he also begins to accept himself as an artist. Illustrator(s): Henkes, Kevin. Num Pages: 160 pages. BIC Classification: YFB. Category: (J) Children / Juvenile; (Y) Teenage / Young Adult. Dimension: 194 x 130 x 9. Weight in Grams: 113. . 2001. Reprint. Paperback. . . . . Books ship from the US and Ireland. Seller Inventory # V9780064438285
Book Description Condition: New. Henkes, Kevin (illustrator). When twelve-year-old Ben visits his uncle in Oregon, he feels caught in the strained relationship between his mother and her brother while he also begins to accept himself as an artist. Illustrator(s): Henkes, Kevin. Num Pages: 160 pages. BIC Classification: YFB. Category: (J) Children / Juvenile; (Y) Teenage / Young Adult. Dimension: 194 x 130 x 9. Weight in Grams: 113. . 2001. Reprint. Paperback. . . . . Seller Inventory # V9780064438285
Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. Henkes, Kevin (illustrator). Brand New Copy. Seller Inventory # BBB_new0064438287
Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. Henkes, Kevin (illustrator). Buy for Great customer experience. Seller Inventory # GoldenDragon0064438287