What ‘he’ saw
Up until he saw it, Jamie’s life was a cycle of domestic violence. Soon after that incident, Jamie, together with her baby sister, Nin, were taken by their mother to live in a friend’s house and into a trailer, into an isolated trailer near the foot of a mountain.
Without a job, Patty must learn to support her children while Jamie must deal with his trauma. While healing their own scars, Patty unknowingly recreates the trauma to Jamie and Jamie is left to mend his wounds by himself. But when Van threatens to comeback, Patty and Jamie discovers that: to overcome their fears and break the shadow of their past, they must learn to depend on each other.
What ‘I’ saw
‘What Jamie Saw” is a book of courage, how Jamie and his mother lived in constant fear, how Jamie created a world of his own and how Jamie acted upon towards his teacher, school and mother is all a clear indication on how domestic violence affects the behavior of the juvenile.
The story may be too cliché but its real. I hear quite a number about Jamie everyday, from the television to radio and even read about him in newspapers. I guess I’m just like most people, I know it happens though I have not seen it happen and just don’t know what to do for a single Jamie.
What he wants us to see
The author may have created Jamie with something more in mind than just a published work. It is a satire for readers to realize how it affects the life of those involved, that the gripping scene of baby Nin is not just a scene, it speaks more than just a fun reading and entertainment.
The book in general offers a good read but the story offers a call to go beyond reading. The characters are well presented and that Jamie’s love for magic is his way of escape from his cruel yet inspiring world.
In the end, the story is not about what Jamie saw but it’s what Jamie wants us to see.
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“What Jamie Saw” is a 1995 Newbery Honor book written by Carolyn Coman.
hindi ko maintindihan. haha.
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