Barnaby Brocket has always been a bit different. From the moment he was born, his mortified parents realised that their third child wasn’t
normal. Alastair and Eleanor Brocket pride themselves on being very normal, and anything but normal is unacceptable. But Barnaby isn’t just normal, he’s exceptional!
Barnaby can float. If not tied to a string (when he’s a baby) or weighted down so he can walk on the ground like normal people, Barnaby will lift off and blow away in the wind. After being sent to a school full of other children who don’t fit the norm, and then singled out by the media on a school trip across Sydney Harbour Bridge, Barnaby’s parents have had quite enough. They put their heads together one night and hatch a plan.
The next day, Barnaby is invited on a lovely walk in the sunshine with his mum, while wearing his specially weighted backpack of course. But Mum, after checking no-one is looking, finally solves her most embarrassing problem – her youngest son, Barnaby.
The Terrible Thing That Happened to Barnaby Brocket is in the hands of his own mother, with his father backing her up. Is Barnaby angry? Is he shocked?
While Barnaby experiences his first adventure with two eccentric and kind elderly ladies, then travels to Africa, South America, New York and Canada, all Barnaby can think of is finding his way home.
On his travels, he meets a struggling artist, an art critic, an evil freak show owner and a kind dying man. All of these people have been shunned by family for their differences, and they all ask him why he wants to go home.
Finally Barnaby reaches home in Sydney Australia with new astronaut friends, via a space ship. He also discovers why he floats, and is promised a solution. He will finally be normal. But whose type of normal?
The Terrible Thing That Happened to Barnaby Brocket was published 8 years ago, and is still an entertaining and thought provoking read my second time round. Barnaby himself is remarkable, unable to stand on the ground like the rest of us, and floating until a ceiling, scaffolding, hot air balloon or even a space ship stops or catches him.
His adventures are full of people also deemed abnormal for things far from their fault. A burn, a love of art, or the love of another are just some of these differences shunned by others, even by those closest to them. This made me think how common this is in society as people are judged by their differences instead of celebrated for them.
I enjoyed this read as much as the first time in 2014, and its tale of empathy, acceptance and inclusion is even more important in our fracturing world today.
Author – John Boyne
Age – 8+
Other covers around the world
(2014, Penguin Random House, Award Winning Author, Belonging, Family, Forgiveness, Otherness, Differences, Diversity, Empathy, Kindness, Sharing, Family, Betrayal, Love, Friends, Adventure, Journey, Around the World, Coffee Farm, New York, Art, Acceptance, Growing Up)