I enjoy reading a book I know nothing about, finding a new author without any preconceived ideas. The Nest by Kenneth Oppel certainly threw me for a loop! Unforgettable.
"There was something wrong with the baby, but no one knew what." In the house there is tension, sadness, fatigue as Steven's new baby brother was born with something wrong, it may never be right, they use the word 'congenital'. His Mom and Dad spend their time taking the baby back and forth to the hospital; Steven is too old now for a baby sitter but they have one for his younger sister Nicole. The first time he saw them, he thought they were angels - arriving in his dream with large eyes and glowing manes. "We've come because of the baby" she said. "We've come to help". Night after night a creature he calls the queen - a giant wasp as big as himself - enters his room and describes how they are building a special nest. There is a new wasp nest under the eaves, and one day Steven is stung, finding himself allergic. The queen explains it is complex, but they needed his DNA - they are beginning at that level to grow a perfect new baby in the nest to replace Steven's real brother. Wouldn't everyone rather have a baby that wasn't broken? They don't say at first what they will do with the old one, but it was a little hair raising. His dreams bring Steven inside the papery grey nest where he watches it develop from a larva to a pupa to a fully grown baby and the time comes to perform the switch. All they need him to do is open the window...
Steve deals with anxiety and OCD issues, and when he tells his parents of his dreams they wonder if he needs to revisit his therapist - they may be the fantasies of a child dealing with unknown change. Which would make a tidy ending - but that is not what you get. The tension ramps up into an unexpected battle I could not put down, thinking "isn't this a kid's book, with a happy ending?".
Kenneth Oppel has won several awards for his YA novels (including the Governor Generals Award). He got his start when Roald Dahl read his work and passed it on to his agent. We are in Dahl territory (The Witches), but this is also in the style of Neil Gaiman or Stephen King; there were wasp details that creeped me out, and the action in the last 50 pages does not let up. The dangers faced are menacing and emotional, the type of mental whirlpool boys his age go through. Steven must face deep ideas of acceptance and the importance of difference, what society would see as broken can be the most valuable.
The writing was excellent and easily flowed form reality to fantasy. I found this curious, ominous and then terrifying, but it's recommended for 9-12.
The Nest was wildly popular, winning over ten major awards. It has been called a KidLit horror classic. Satisfying on many levels. Definitely not what I was expecting.
2015 / Hardcover / 244 pages
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