Against the Odds

by Marjolijn Hof, Johanna H. Prins (Translator)

Kiki lives with her mother, father, and repulsive old dog. Life is good except that her father, a doctor, feels compelled to constantly embark on humanitarian missions to dangerous places. No matter how persuasive her arguments, Kiki can't convince him to stay home. Her mother explains the odds — there’s very little chance her father will die because, after all, how many of her friends' fathers have died? Unconvinced, Kiki dreams up ways to bolster those odds. If it’s unlikely that a girl would lose her father, wouldn't it be twice as unlikely that she'd lose a father and a pet? When her father actually does go missing, and her mother becomes increasingly distraught, Kiki feels she really must do something — but can she live with the consequences of committing such a terrible, irrevocable act? This perceptive and compelling novel deals with serious moral issues in a funny, deeply human way.

Genres: Family, Contemporary, War, Middle Grade, Childrens, Young Adult, Realistic Fiction

144 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Joni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Goed boek, MAAR JE TILT EEN MUIS NIET OP BIJ DE STAART.

[Alexandra Bazhenova-Sorokina]

Нидерландская детская литература опять невероятно крута. И как бы хотелось, чтобы текст был менее актуальным. Военный врач, ребенок и его тревога про родителей (обоих), отношения на фоне разной жести. О-хо-хо.

[Tihana Knjigožderonja · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://knjigozderonja.wixsite.com/kn...

Autoričino pisanje je izravno, bez dlake na jeziku. Napisan u prvom licu, roman nas ne štedi ničega, pod pretpostavkom da čitatelj želi znati istinu iz perspektivu malene djevojčice, a ne prigušenu verziju događaja skrivenu u pričama. Pojedinosti u romanu su ogoljene, toliko da ih gotovo ni nema – ne znamo koliko godina ima djevojčica, kako izgleda, koji su njezini interesi. To su detalji koji jednostavno nisu važni kada je toliko toga u pitanju, kada je riječ o životu i smrti. Ali ono što odluči podijeliti s čitateljima, dijeli u dubini.

Toliko se toga istražuje u Malim šansama: život, sudbina, tuga, užas nestanka, obiteljska dinamika, te posebna dilema: trebamo li nekoga smatrati nesebičnim herojem zbog odlaska u rat i pomaganja unesrećenima ili sebičnom osobom zbog napuštanja obitelji. Upravo nas zato Male šanse pozivaju na pravo i sirovo razmišljanje. Iznenadit ćemo se što bi mogli otkriti o sebi.

Vjerujete li šansama?

Grickajmo knjige zajedno!

[Kathrin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book presents the issue of war and fear of loss in an age appropriate way. It also gives a glimpse into the life of a kid in the Netherlands 🇳🇱.

Only so-so, because I thought the writing style was bland. But the second half was definitely stronger.

The book is available on Hoopla.

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

Translated beautifully from the original (in Dutch), this story of a girl, her mom, their ancient dog, and a humanitarian father lost in a war is fraught with poignant moments, stressful and suspenseful moments, and a sweet, without being saccharine, end. A fine example of realistic fiction. The characters and dialogue feel very real.

[Maria Zakruchenko · Rating 5 out of 5]

Лучшая книга про тревожность ever. Мне и сейчас не помешал был заслон-из-сов!

[Deborah Abela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marjolijn Hof has been a children’s librarian all her life and always dreamed of writing a novel. This is it and it’s a much-awarded work of art and beauty. Kiki’s dad is a doctor who travels to dangerous and far away places to help people. She doesn’t like him going, but he tells her he doesn’t want to be like the man who was afraid of everything. Who stayed in his home, convinced it was too dangerous outside and was killed when a tree fell on his house. Kiki again says goodbye to her dad as he leaves for another war, but soon they receive news that he is missing. Her mother tries to comfort Kiki by telling her that the odds of having a father are big and of not having a father are small, so the odds are in their favour that he will come home. Kiki still worries and decides to embark on a series of acts to increase the odds of her dad coming home to them, while the phone continues to stay silent and her father remains missing. This is a taut story with not a word out of place. It is heartbreaking but not maudlin and Kiki, despite what she is going through, is a delight whose hope and despair are beautifully captured.

[Adele Broadbent · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kiki’s father is a doctor and is always putting himself in danger, travelling to war zones to help. Kiki never likes him going and when her father goes missing, she feels numb at first. Her mother explains the ‘odds’ of him dying are very slim. In Kiki’s worry, her mind begins to work on the ‘odds’.

This book won many awards in Europe. I didn’t really like the dialogue/thoughts in this book as they were stilted. eg. I did this. I did that. Mother went to the shops. I went to school – sort of text. But it was very good dealing with the strange feelings we have when we’re worried about something and then the guilty feeling we have for thinking those thoughts in the first place.

[Jeffrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulous!

[Arjan Timmermans · Rating 4 out of 5]

A touching and beautifully written story about a girl navigating the confusion and anxiety when her doctor dad goes missing in a warzone. The concise writing and short sentences not only make it easy to read but also reflect the protagonist's emotions perfectly. She goes to great lengths to try and bring her dad home safely, and while some of her strategies might be a bit complex for very young readers, they add authenticity to the story and its characters. This book is perfect for reading together, allowing you to discuss the themes and help your little one process any feelings they might have.

[Candace · Rating 2 out of 5]

We read this book for the Read Around the World Book Club, gesturing female authors that have been translated. The author is a librarian from the Netherlands. This is not a typical middle grade book; it deals with a difficult subject and how the main character Kiki deals with it. It makes you think about how kids process complex situations and really how much they need adult guidance!

[Maddie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had to read this short story for school but it was pretty good. It was interesting to hear perspectives about global conflict from a child’s voice.

This quote really stuck with me:

“The man who was afraid of everything didn’t dare leave his home because he was convinced it was dangerous outside. One day a huge tree fell on the house, and the man who was afraid of everything was killed.”

[Marleen Schippers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Leuk om te lezen en origineel onderwerp. Mooi verwoord vanuit het perspectief van de hoofdpersoon en de gedachten die je kunt hebben als kind over bijvoorbeeld je eigen identiteit (het meisje met een dode muis, maar geen dode hond).

[Billy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heel mooi boek over een meisje met angst voor haar vader die arts is in oorlogsgebieden. Marjolein neemt je op een hele visuele manier mee met de verwarring en verschillende emoties die een kind kan doormaken.

[Monique Smeets · Rating 5 out of 5]

Raak. Eerlijk. Prachtig. Iedereen is weleens bang. En dan moet je dit boek lezen. Note to self: lees (weer) vaker een kinderboek.

[Marcella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Over een vader die op reis gaat en dan kwijt raakt. Over de angst van een kind, rare gedachtes en controle. Dat je in zo weinig bladzijdes, toch zoveel kan zeggen. Goh, wat was dit knap.

[Marissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this is a really interesting look into how children deal with grown up issues, and how quickly they can come to drastic solutions when faced with difficult problems.

[Sarah Mayor Cox · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very short novel about a girl called Kiki whose father is a doctor with a passion for doing good. He has always travelled and at least once a year practices his medicine as an aid-worker, often in war zones.

It has already won three major Dutch and Flemish children’s book prizes and has been translated into more than nine languages. The author, is a former children’s librarian and for a first novel she has a very assured voice, no doubt influenced by years of reading and recommending the very best literature to her readers.

Like the best literature for children it is written on many levels, so adults will enjoy reading this as well as children. I think it would make for a great family read, and schools will jump at having this as a literature club book because children will be able to discuss so many aspects about it.

The basic premise of the story is that Kiki’s father goes missing while he’s on his latest aid mission and Kiki, having had a discussion with her mother about the odds of her father being killed while he’s away, sets out on a mission to increase the odds of her father returning.

It’s hard to say how old Kiki is, because like many literary novels the narrator’s voice tells the story on many levels of understanding and logic. For instance the story opens “My father was on his way to a war. His suitcase was packed. He just had to say goodbye. Every now and then he went off to a war. At least once a year. You’re going the wrong way when you go off to a war.” Pg.1
What a unique last line. It is startlingly simple but powerful in the way it encapsulates what so many people feel about war.

But then Kiki has this delightful simplicity of cause and effect – she reasons that there wouldn’t be many girls with dead fathers and dead dogs and dead mice, so she buys a half-dead mouse, who promptly dies and she then feels safer having reduced her odds. Great tension between her emotional maturity and the situation she’s in.

The story never sinks into a maudlin tone, nor does it become unrealistic. It does have a ‘happy ending’ of sorts but there are twists in it that I just didn’t see coming. One of them literally took my breath away, and my husband turned over and asked what had happened in the book. The scene I’m talking about it very graphically written and will generate lots of discussion. It’s also great to see realistically flawed characters facing tough situations. Like Kiki’s mother being driven to distraction by her mother in law and other well-meaning friends constantly ringing for news. And Kiki’s grandmother coming to terms with the ending of the book.

Expressed in shades of eloquence unlikely for a child that age, but this doesn’t detract from the book at all. Eg. “Mona can sigh from both ends. Most of her sighs come from her rear end.”

I just loved it, and I hope that it finds its way into lots of homes and school libraries.

I thought it had one of the most beautiful covers too.

[Kara Roberts · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kiki lives with her mother, father, and repulsive old dog. Life is good except that her father, a doctor, feels compelled to constantly embark on humanitarian missions to dangerous places. No matter how persuasive her arguments, Kiki can't convince him to stay home. Her mother explains the odds — there’s very little chance her father will die because, after all, how many of her friends' fathers have died? Unconvinced, Kiki dreams up ways to bolster those odds. If it’s unlikely that a girl would lose her father, wouldn't it be twice as unlikely that she'd lose a father and a pet? When her father actually does go missing, and her mother becomes increasingly distraught, Kiki feels she really must do something — but can she live with the consequences of committing such a terrible, irrevocable act? This perceptive and compelling novel deals with serious moral issues in a funny, deeply human way.

Ehh. I think this book was just plain stressful.I liked it and think it will help students because they can relate to the situation, but it was not an enjoyable read to me.

[Paula Griffith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally published in Holland, Hof creates a character, Kiki, who we can all understand as she is a little girl whose father, a doctor, has to go to war. Kiki uses mathmatical logic to stack the odds against losing her father as she reasons that "the odds of having a father are big...And the odds of not having a father are small." This is a story about family and weaves together both the child's point of view and her mother's perspective now that she is holding the family together in the father's absence. Hof helps us to understand the fear and courage of those who have family on the front lines. Recommended for grades 2-4 and for adults who need to be reminded of the families who wait for their loved ones to return.

[Astrid · Rating 4 out of 5]

a thoughtful, inquisitive and precocious child deals with the worry of her father getting injured or killed. He is a doctor who likes to go to dangerous places to help and eventually he does go missing. She tries to stack the odds in her favor - favorite line "I looked at Mona (dog). I did not know anyone with a dead dog and a dead father. A dead dog and a dead father! That almost never happened. My mother would say that was against the odds. And it would be even more against the odds for someone to have a dead mouse, a dead dog and a dead father."... I did gasp out loud twice as I read it due to not knowing the result of an action she was about to do.

Quick, quick read. Makes you think. Read it.

[Jacqueline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kiki's dad is a doctor, and he spends a lot of time traveling to places affected by war or natural disaster to help those who are sick and injured. Kiki worries about him a lot. That is really the gist of this story, but it is improved on by very well developed characters and intriguing sub-plots.

My primary problem with the book is that it is rather depressing, and I feel that there are too many books that focus on the bad without carrying a positive, hopeful outlook being promoted as great books for kids. It seems that the age targeted by rather depressing, hopeless books gets younger and younger each year.

[Catherine Woodman]

I loved this book--which is aimed at junior high aged girls I think--but I am not sure about that. Kiki, the narrator, is very worried about her physician father, who is off to another war zone to help people he thinks need him. His mother, her grandmother, says that he has always been a bit of a risk taker, and someone who acts first, thinks later. SHe does a number of odd things trying to change the chances that her father will come back alive, and then how she copes with what does happen. Sobering stuff, well written and the emotional aspects are well fleshed out.

[Sylvia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty daring, this little story. A girl contemplates the odds of her dad(who volunteers as a physician in troubled, war-torn countries) surviving in a war zone. The odds of being a little girl with dead pets AND a dead father are pretty small - so she sets to work achieving some dead pets...which makes sense to her in her troubled state of mind.

[Melody · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quirky little book that I ended up liking very much. Kiki's dad is a doctor who goes to war zones and disasters to lend a hand. Kiki is left behind with her mom, and Kiki worries. The ways she worries are very real and kind of sad. It's ultimately a hopeful book.

[Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unclear as to how to recommend or book-talk this title...ultimately I enjoyed the story of a girl whose father is a doctor treating soldiers but the notion about diminishing the odds that he will not return is disturbing.
Still, an interesting read.

[evelyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

it fizzles at the end but it's sweet and unassuming and has a freaking adorable cover.

[Melanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulous children's book with sophisticated themes of war and fear and hope -- and it is so funny. Translated from the Dutch, this is a must read for everyone.

[Rad · Rating 3 out of 5]

The short, blunt sentences get a bit tiring after a while, but hey, this book is short. Super short. So you get through it pretty fast.

[Mercedes · Rating 4 out of 5]

There was actually quite a lot going on in this slim children's novel, Kiki struggles with fear, anger and life changes in a honest yet quirky way.