Parked

by Danielle Svetcov

For fans of Rebecca Stead and Joan Bauer comes a scrappy, poignant, uplifting debut about family, friendship, and the importance of learning both how to offer help and how to accept it.

"A big-hearted novel with characters I wish were my friends in real life." --Gennifer Choldenko, author of the Al Capone at Alcatraz series

Jeanne Ann is smart, stubborn, living in an orange van, and determined to find a permanent address before the start of seventh grade.

Cal is tall, sensitive, living in a humongous house across the street, and determined to save her.

Jeanne Ann is roughly as enthusiastic about his help as she is about living in a van.

As the two form a tentative friendship that grows deeper over alternating chapters, they're buoyed by a cast of complex, oddball characters, who let them down, lift them up, and leave you cheering. Debut novelist Danielle Svetcov shines a light on a big problem without a ready answer, nailing heartbreak and hope, and pulling it off with a humor and warmth that make the funny parts of Jeanne Ann and Cal's story cathartic and the difficult parts all the more moving.

Genres: Middle Grade, Realistic Fiction, Friendship, Contemporary, Fiction, Young Adult, Social Justice

400 pages, Hardcover

First published February 4, 2020

Reviews

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven’t picked up a young reader and read it cover to cover since...well, probably since I WAS a young reader! This book had me smiling, laughing, pondering, and crying just a little.

I loved that each and every character had their own little journey to move through and that Danielle Svetcov was able to subtly show us how each of their actions impacted one another. These characters were unique, flawed, and relatable. They showed the reader multiple versions of what it’s like to struggle and how to come to terms with acknowledging one’s own privilege and knowing the difference between helping someone along the way and making them a project.

I loved how she showcased that parents don’t always get it right when it comes to raising their children, even if they have the best of intentions. That adults struggle with insecurities and shortcomings just like adolescents do.

I loved how Svetcov touched on the topic of poverty and wealth, but didn’t make it something so blindingly apparent. The importance of empathy and understanding towards those who are not like you. She wove into the chapters that the people come from all variations of lifestyles and circumstances, but that doesn’t mean they are any less worthy of people’s time and consideration.

This book will be one to recommend to any age. I loved the dynamic between Cal and Jeanne Ann, and I loved that I could also relate to the mothers of the two kids.

This book is fantastic! May be the best of the year so far!

[Stephanie Fitzgerald · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book really puts a human face on the problem of homelessness. Anytime I read a book dealing with this subject, it makes me wonder what stories the people I cross paths with would have to tell. “Stray”, “Sleeping In My Jeans”, and “No Fixed Address” are books about this subject that I have read recently. I think books like these are important to have in classrooms and libraries; they can inspire students to show compassion for those less fortunate. I always feel like counting my blessings after reading such books.

[Darla · Rating 4 out of 5]

A unique perspective on the California housing crisis. When a mother & daughter buy a van and decide to relocate in San Francisco, they find themselves joining a line of other vans with a view of the bridge. Directly across the street are beautiful homes and a boy in one of those homes considers it his mission to save those vans from being towed. Jeanne and Cal give their views in alternating chapters. Also included are notes that Jeanne's favorite librarian from Chicago writes as she and her fellow librarians search for their missing friend and helper. BTW, 25 cents/day for each book. Yikes! Makes the 5 cents my system charges for each item/day a massive bargain. Spoiler alert: those library books that she is being charged for never really left Chicago. The book was a bit on the long side, but I hope take the time to read about these two kids and how their friendship helped transform lives.

Thank you to Dial Books and Edelweiss for a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Allyson Jamison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sooooo... I have such mixed opinions on this book. 😆 On one hand, it was the cutest story I've ever read!! The characters were adorable, the story was so sweet and perfect, and the message was amazing! But on the other hand...

It was so boring. 🙈

Seriously, halfway through it I was a second away from dnfing the book because I was not invested like I wanted to be. I am glad I stuck with it, however, because the ending was SO worth waiting for and wrapped everything up so perfectly. 🥰

So, yeah. I'm still unsure how I feel about this book. 🤣 A fun read regardless!

[Maggie Carr · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is the epiphany of #librarylove and the care and concern librarians have for their patrons. This middle-grade book will stay with me much like The Remarkable Journey Of Coyote Sunrise (Gemeinhart) did two years back. All the emotion and hardships Jeanne Ann had to deal with when being removed from her surroundings. Those she meets in San Francisco are different than her native Chicago yet still tight bonds are created and tested. Being homeless isn't romantized at all and Jeanne Ann's money management could make this title a perfect math lesson companion. 5☆

[Kateryna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jeanne Ann and her mom have just arrived in San Francisco and they are "temporarily" living in an old orange van parked in the street so that Jeanne Ann’s mom can pursue her dream of becoming a chef. There's a lot of sweet details to like about the book - from the Bay Area's food culture to the quirky characters. I liked the ending the most - it was happy but realistic. However, the mom was behaving so irresponsibly and selfish, and it was really annoying. Also, I couldn’t get away from the thought of how similar this book is to No Fixed Address by Susin Nielsen. Overall, I really enjoyed the story but it didn’t quite reach five stars for me.

[Alicia · Rating 2 out of 5]

This felt like too much of a rip off of others in the category of unlikely friendships and I couldn't enjoy it. Then add the fact that there's a general backstory for both of them and they get connected but I don't see how it makes a story fit together like good middle grade stories could. Maybe because there's just so much extra? Or because we're supposed to just roll with the quirkiness to get to the social commentary about fair, living wages, housing insecurities, the value of neighborhood libraries, etc.

This is the kind of book that I think adult readers will enjoy but actual kid readers wouldn't because all the extra isn't weaved well into the general story itself- it's always sitting right outside the focus.

[Bonnie Grover · Rating 3 out of 5]

“First rule of business: go back to what worked before.” But what do you do if nothing works? Parked is a debut novel about real life issues, homelessness, unemployment, and the price of chasing your dreams. For Jeanne Ann and her friend Cal, learning about the value of friendship and family are the beginnings of life lessons that they learn together.

[LS Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adding this to one of my favorites for 2020! This book is so needed. It is a great mix of compassion, noticing others, the need to rescue vs being helpful, family and friendship. One of my favorite quotes from the book “If you are alive, you are responsible, and if you have your eyes open, you don’t get to choose what you see.” That is going to be my directional quote for awhile!! I am inspired by the insightfulness of this author. I think she speaks truth in such a compassionate way that it forces you into the heart of the story. She almost lost me when the food truck came into the story, but my concerns were quickly alleviated. This is a hefty book at over 380 pages, but they go by so quickly. I didn’t want to put it down. I am already wondering about how 7th grade goes for Cal and Jeanne Ann. Any book that includes librarians who love their patrons, especially children, is a sign of an excellent book to me!! (Librarians Rule!) According to the author’s note at the end of the book, it sounds like it may have taken her some time to get this book finished, but I can hardly wait to read something by her!

[Brooke Boznango · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book with one of my Audible credits without having any real context to what the book was about. I had never heard of it before, but it was a middle grades book and the synopsis sounded interesting, so I decided to give it a shot. Boy, am I glad I did. This book is equal parts heartbreaking, frustrating, and inspiring. As a teacher, I know some of my students have experienced homelessness before. Reading a book about this very topic from the perspective of a 12yr old was incredible. I experienced the gambit of emotions and will probably be buying this book for my classroom shelves!

[Ardin Patterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't tell you how much I love this book...like, when I say it's one of my favourite reads, it is definitely in my top 5. I loved everything about it, the characters, the plot, the way it made me laugh and cry.
This is a book I want to share with everyone I know, young and old. There's a charm to it that just captures your attention, and makes you want to sit with it for hours.
I can't wait to read it again.

[Joy Kirr · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read as part of our summer reading choices, 2021. I wasn’t captured by the characters or the suspense - I was actually frustrated for most of the book - not knowing why Cal painted wings, not knowing why Jeanne Ann’s mom wasn’t working, and not having a clue how long they were going to be parked. Just not for me. Not for reluctant readers.

[victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really interesting book! I liked how the author told it in 2 points of view, and the characters were funny and relatable! Great middle-grade book, tells a good story, and there aren’t many books like this!

[Erica Henry]

I'm honestly not even sure what to rate this one. The most interesting part was the fact Jeanne Ann was an avid reader and that the book showed a list of all the books she had checked out from the library. I couldn't connect with either character. I was just so bored for most of this story.

[Anika Goyal · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was amazing

[Josie Terstriep · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely story


AWSOME characters

[Bella Resch · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think that this book was a amazing , I personal love this book

[Victoria Fay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book so much, it made my summer fly by. It captivating and the way its formated is nice because you know what happens each day. I kinda wish there was more, but the ending is nice.

[Kara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unique & Quirky in a good way. The characters really grew on me.

[Tami · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished Parked earlier today and there are so many things I want to say about it! This one was not on my radar at all until it showed up as a suggestion from someone in the Mock Newbery group I belong to on Goodreads. I had a hard time finding it--our local library didn't have it; I found it in a neighboring library system. It came in just before the Stay-at-Home order here in Minnesota. This book really blew me away in structure, content, character and quality of writing. It was so much more than I expected. 

Twelve-year-old Jeanne Ann and her mother, Joyce, are living in a crummy apartment in Chicago where her mother works as a cook in a restaurant where she is overworked and ill-treated. Jeanne Ann spend most of her time at the local library (where she has made a special friend of the librarian) or simply reading as many books as she can get her hands on. At the beginning of our story, Joyce is fed up with her treatment at work and their living conditions so they sell off most of their possessions to buy a used orange van and drive to San Francisco where they believe there is a job waiting for Joyce and they will be able to stay with a former co-worker. This turns out not to be the case and, having spent all their money on the van and the trip to San Francisco, Jeanne Ann and her mother find themselves living in the orange van parked on a public street in a wealthier San Francisco neighborhood by the Bay.

Twelve-year-old Cal lives with his mother in a big house across the street from the line of vans (now including Jeanne Ann's). He is a sweet, sensitive boy who sees the people in this homeless situation, is deeply concerned, wants to help and doesn't know how. When he tries to call attention to the situation the adults around him label his behavior as "acting out" and he finds himself helpless to articulate his true motivations and concerns.

Both kids are frustrated in their circumstances and by the really BIG feelings they are having in their situations. Cal notices when Jeanne Ann and her mother park their van at the head of the line at the beginning of the summer. What begins as Cal trying to figure out how to help a situation in general develops into a deeper friendship between the two children. Like all worthwhile relationships, theirs is fraught with missteps, anger, embarrassment and joy. It is a difficult journey for both Cal and Jeanne Ann, but one that both come to appreciate and value.

The story is told in alternating narration between Jeanne Ann and Cal. This structure allows Ms Svetcov to expose the blind spots of each child's experience while at the same time giving the most complete, realistic description of thoughts, feelings and circumstances for a homeless child/family that I have ever encountered in a middle-grade novel. Much of the story is heartbreaking--the moment when Jeanne Ann, who has been waiting to shower until she can do so in their own apartment, realizes--when she and Cal are in public--that she smells terrible and there is no apartment in her immediate future and the scene where she sells her beloved books for money to buy food is wrenching.

Is the ending a little unrealistic, given the more gritty realism of the rest of the story? Well, maybe a little. However, I think it's important to bear in mind that the target audience for Parked is middle grade students who still need, perhaps, a little more closure than real life sometimes offers us.

Jeanne Ann is angry with her mother for putting them in this position, yet loves her mother deeply and feels guilty for feeling angry. Cal struggles to navigate his intense desire to help Jeanne Ann while simultaneously feeling overwhelmed by the problem and unable to think of what, exactly, he can do to make a difference. Both of these situations are familiar and easily accessible for young readers who are struggling with the same types of issues and overwhelming thoughts and emotions--particularly at this time in the world. 

Parked provides an extraordinary opportunity to initiate discussions with young people about managing overwhelming situations and feelings, the homeless issue (of whom the majority in the US are single mothers with children), and how we can each find a way to be part of a solution. Parked is about finding your way through, forging ahead despite making mistakes along the way, learning how to offer help while preserving the recipient's dignity and how to accept help when it's offered constructively and with true compassion.

I would not hesitate to read this aloud to a 5th or 6th grade classroom or at home. I highly recommend Parked as a middle grade read--or for any adult who relishes a well-crafted middle-grade novel!  Regardless of whether or not it wins any awards (which I hope it does) I want to put Parked into as many hands as I possibly can!

[Melody · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a good story that sheds light on what many low income families experience every day.

[Safiye · Rating 3 out of 5]

Boy: Kind but stupid and a little unreasonable
Girl: Mean but reasonable and also kind of stupid

I like the story but it wasn't a well written story and also kind of.. no, boring story. I could not enjoy it and the switching around part, well that's another story. I would give this in all a 3.5

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

A worthy addition to the middle grade shelf addressing social issues. two kids, one living in financial comfort the other in financial crisis. Both have single moms and both have vibrant creative lives. Jeanne Anne spends her days in Chicago in libraries the helpful darling of the branch librarians; this is where she waited for her Chef mother to get off work. Cal draws his way through his days in the Marina in San Francisco. For months drifting into years he has watched the street across from his beautiful house fill with campers, vans and cars as more and more people have been priced out of San Francisco's increasingly expensive housing. He feeds meters, leaves money where vehicular residents can finds it, he drops off food from his mom's restaurant.... and feels deeply that this social problem has solutions that are beyond his imagination.

When Cal graffiti's his school wall in hopes of sparking a conversation about the issue, he finds himself suspended and firmly in his mom's sights as she flounders with what to do with him.

Enter Jeanne Anne and Joyce new residents just in from Chicago following an ephemeral dream concocted by Joyce hoping that there is a place near the Golden Gate for her culinary talents.

Offering no solutions while humanizing the homeless and their problems, frustrations and hope issues (hopeful/hopeless) Parked introduces young readers to this issue that they will face in just a few years on one side or another of this complicated problem.

[Jennybeast · Rating 2 out of 5]

On the one hand, this is a lovely story about a struggling family creating community and finding a way out of temporary homelessness. There's a lot of sweet details to like -- from the concerned Chicago librarians to the Bay Area's food culture, to the quirky and endearing characters. I really enjoyed it.

However. And it's a big however -- this is a very white book. It's also a feel-good story about homelessness, and as someone who has worked with people experiencing homelessness on a regular basis, I find it a little too candy-coated. I see the value in a gentle story that starts to talk to kids about what living in your van might be like, and that advocates for not being jerks to the homeless who camp in your neighborhood. I'm just not sure that if I handed this to a kid, especially a kid of color, who was experiencing homelessness, if they could relate to this story or if they would just find it upsettlingly untrue, and wonder why their neighbors haven't banded together to get them a home and their parents a job. I think about How to Steal a Dog or Crenshaw, which also inhabit this gentle space, and this book just feels like a little more of a miss than a hit.

Props for taking on the topic of cities behaving in a financially punitive manner to their camping residents, and for calling attention to the extreme housing gaps in San Francisco and other west coast cities.

Advanced Readers' Copy provided by Edelweiss.

[Jacqui Isser · Rating 4 out of 5]

The 2 main characters in PARKED are absolutely charming. Cal is nervous and a loner but a fabulous artist; Jeanne Ann the bookworm is proud (that royal chin) and yet terrified of her current living situation: in a van! The pair become friends slowly and not without missteps - they're a great example of the resilience necessary for any friendship to bloom. I highly recommend this book for all readers who enjoy a good story and especially middle school libraries in urban areas - your students will immediately recognize the issues dealing with homelessness.

[Ryn Baginski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a heartwarming story about wanting to offer help and learning how to give help how the other person needs it. It’s also about the San Francisco housing crisis, friendship, looking deeper into people’s lives, and how to give and accept help from others. This is so important for kids to read when it comes out because it really delves deep into the idea that just having compassion isn’t enough; you need to listen and act on what you hear and see.

[maria martinez · Rating 1 out of 5]

dnf 15%

i mean what was i expecting it's a middle grade book

[Frie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book. I really did. Amazing premise but the writing fell flat and this book is riddled with one dimensional stereotypes.

[Minnie · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book was okay but it is just boring to read

[Katya M · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.6 stars

a heartfelt and realistic middle grade about homelessness; that is fairly well written, has a pretty great center friendship and characters, handles its topics and themes with care, respect and nuisance. really promising for a debut!

the writing was solid - it was very quick and easy to read, though at times it was lacking in descriptions in terms of what was happing and the description of things themselves. however, i feel that it had some vibe/feeling of San Francisco as a city and a more general summerish-feeling to it, which is something that i always love to read, even if its not that strong or distinct. i often feel that with books like this (middle-grade slice-of-life's tackling heavy/realistic topics) the characters are more often than not - badly written, thankfully it could not be farther from the case here! i cared about the characters a lot, and i think that the main friendship was written quite well in particular. they all had very distinct and well-defined personalities and general vibes, and their relationship dynamics between the entire 'main cast' were realistic and engaging to read about. the development in relationships over time is very slow, which is both a pro and a con, in that that it is realistic but also makes the main friendship between the two not really turn into that until farther into the book. the well written-ness of the characters, mainly Cal and Jeanne Ann, was the main reason that this book got as high of a rating that it did from me. they were primarily the reason that i was invested in the book, and i really got to care about them!

the writing being quite light, the very upbeat way the characters acted in parts and the happy 'everything's looking up' ending make the book feel fairly positive despite its main-plot topic. however, i don't mean it in a way like the book is romanticizing or downplaying its heavy themes, or that it is afraid to go into more emotional and heavy elements of the already serious topic of homelessness, or that it is disrespectful to its themes - i believe the opposite! the themes of homelessness and how people treat you because of it, both negatively and positively, in a form that is unwanted, are well developt and handled with care and respect. Joyce and Jeanne Ann both disliked and turned away any help that people outside gave them, and actually acted like real people might in their situation. people outside, like Cal and Sandy, who were despite to help, but at times felt frustrated about their lack of reciprocated care towards the help that they were giving, or frustrated at people who were not helping - and also themselves for not helping enough in their eyes.

the plot was engaging and kept me interested all the way through, mostly because of the aforementioned good writing of the characters. the book was fairly slow paced, and it rarely felt boring or dull, and most of the book was spent on relationship dynamics that do well with this sort of slow burn style of pacing. i feel that the main friendship was well written and realistic, in large part due to the absence of a instance friendship and very slow development of their friendship that felt very believable. around the middle of the book, i felt a bit worried that they were at this point, they were barely on speaking terms and wasn't certain how they would get to this 'best-friend' statis by the end of the book. i think that it sort of worked itself out, even though the ending half felt in general a bit rushed in all pacing-ways. as well, at points it felt like the plot was moving in circles and not much was happing or progressing for the overall middle section. i would echo the slight pacing problem for the ending too, that not much progress was made for most of the book, until the big, dramatic ending. perhaps the book is trying to say something about how hard it is to get things to change without sudden, drastic actions? or that the much faster pacing for the start reflects how easy it is to get into these situations, and the stagnation in the middle how hard it is to do anything while you are in them?

oh, and also need to shout out the nice writing for that one food scene!

did i enjoy it? -yep!
would i read it again? -probably not
would i have read it knowing what i do after? -100%