Teodora’s Book Reviews: “Joe All Alone” by Joanna Nadin (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, London, 2015)

Reality can be tough sometimes… and no one knows it better than Joe Holt, the main character of the story.

The 13-year-old boy lives in London, in a Peckham flat, with his mom and her boyfriend, Dean, who swears a lot and ends up drunk every day. Predictably, Joe shows to the readers indirectly that he doesn’t like Dean at all: “I’m not your son, I think. And it’s not up to you, it’s up to Mum.” (page 4) The story begins on a cheerful note because the boy is relieved that he won’t be seeing Perry Fletcher, the biggest bully at school, for a whole week. The upcoming “holiday” turns out to be even more interesting when Joe’s mom announces that she’s flying to Spain with Dean. Since they can’t afford too much and Dean is busy with “a little job”, Joe is left home and he is told to stay out of sight and trouble, so nobody can ask too many questions.

Joe is feeling positive about the holiday and tries to make the most of it, having a Mars bar and a packet of Hula Hoops for breakfast, playing Xbox and watching TV for hours. Everything is going perfectly well and the boy is having fun just like Huck Finn, only without a boat, the Mississippi or Tom Sawyer at his side. The character is very nicely shaped. Joe thinks and talks like a true boy. He jumps from one idea to another in a few seconds, always letting the readers know how he feels and what is going on his mind. At times it felt like he was right next to me, ready for a lively conversation:

“I could set a new world record for the most hours playing, say, Grand Theft Auto, in a row. Only I don’t know what the actual record is because I can’t Google it because Mum spilt Coke on the laptop and the screen went black and Dean went mental though I don’t know why because he didn’t even pay for it, he got it off Gerry Finn down the Wishing Well in exchange for an Alsatian puppy called Fritz, which he got off the Dooleys in exchange for something else Mum won’t tell me about.” (pages 15-16)

After a while, though, loneliness sets in. Like in any other story, a new character appears and saves Joe from boredom. We’re talking about Asha, a girl who is hiding out at her grandfather’s flat next door. When Joe meets her, he notices that she is different from other girls since she barely has any make-up on and her hair isn’t covered in gel. She talks like any other girl, without a doubt, but she is definitely more intelligent. Asha has a vivid imagination and comes up with exciting stories about the people around her:

“But Asha, she has the man down for an international money launderer called Miles Black who’s on his way to the basement of the Ritz to meet the head of the crime ring known only as “Slim”. And the woman is a double agent working for the CIA and the KGB who’s been hunting Slim for ten years for killing her partner Shades. I wish I could see inside Asha’s head.” (pages 80-81)

Joe starts to like her more after they talk to each other a few times: “She stops, looks back over her shoulder. “I’m Asha,” she says. “Asha,” I repeat. “Yeah,” she says. “Don’t wear it out.” And she smiles, and when she does it crinkles the corners of her mouth and that dimple dips down in her cheek. Asha, I say in my head, and I smile inside like it’s me that won the lottery.” (page 44)

In the end they form a strong friendship that anyone would be envious of. It’s actually quite sweet when Joe begins to have feelings for Asha.

Just as I had expected, Joe’s mom and Dean don’t come back home when they’re supposed to. School starts and Joe has to face Perry Fletcher again. He also has to survive with no electricity or food. He is tempted to take Dean’s two thousand pounds, but he is aware that he could get into trouble for that. Dean had no idea that Joe knew about his secret money. Luckily, Asha encourages her friend to be brave and have hope.

Throughout the story, Joe tries to look upon life from a positive perspective: “If this had been a film, or one of Asha’s stories, I’d have opened my eyes and there’d have been my mum. Her and Dean would’ve had a fight and she’d have said he was no good and she’d have left him for ever in Spain and come to rescue me instead, her handsome prince.” (pages 224-225)

But the boy soon learns that you don’t always come across a perfect, fairytale-like ending: “But this is real life. So, when I opened my eyes, there’s this crowd of faces staring down at me, blocking the light…” (page 225)

Although Joe goes through a lot of tough moments, the series of events lead to a wonderful surprise. His mother returns back home and apologizes to Joe for everything that had happened. She explains the unpleasant situation and mentions she left Dean, so the boy immediately feels much better. He knows that, in order to overcome your fear and worries, you always have to believe in yourself and the good, the fairytale. Luckily for him, he finally has his happy ever after ending:

“And on sunny days – when the parakeets swoop and soar, and the rocks stretch out their legs and turn into turtles, and Asha traces circles on my jeans and arms and cheeks – it feels enough like paradise to me.” (page 233)

The story is full of hopeless plans and wrong decisions, but it’s definitely heart-warming. After you read it, you feel like you’ve already found your own paradise.