RITS

Diaries are for girls. That’s why Maurits Hofmeijer, a 13-year-old Dutch boy, keeps a journal. After suffering “sagging brain” from all that is on his mind and possibly scurvy from the lack of nutritious food in his out-of-work uncle’s cramped apartment, Rits reveals why he is there: His overbearing mother has been institutionalized and his artist father has left to travel the globe with his new girlfriend. When he picks up his movie camera and a cookbook and makes friends with Rita, a girl with a loving but equally disjointed family, Rits begins to take control of his own needs and dreams. His slowly emerging independence also inspires his friends and family to act upon their own desires. Boeke’s smooth translation combines with Rits’s vulnerability and lovable voice to allow this fictional journal to transcend cultures. Despite the stress, the boy’s honest and often amusing depictions of his feelings and observations will leave readers smiling. (Fiction. 10-14)