Slake's Limbo by Felice Holman

Most kids, at some point, wonder what would happen to them if something happened to their parents. Being kids, they usually envision rather wild scenarios.

So kids tend to like Slake’s Limbo because Slake is a child without parents who manages to eke out an existence in a cave in the walls of the New York subway system. It’s just the kind of wild scenario that they might imagine would work. And, in Slake’s case, it does… for awhile.

The is a well-told story about loneliness, survival, the kindness of strangers, and above all, hope.

There is passing, vague references to gangs/drugs (Slake is suitable to neither). There is the hard reality he was criminally neglected at home. And there is reference to people who were knifed in the subway. No details are given. These facts are pertinent to Slake’s hard life but peripheral to the story of his strength to cope.

This is actually written for younger tweens, and is an excellent story if you don’t mind your tweens reading about homelessness.

Rating: 3 Vatican Flags