He is a worrywart with a quick mind, a gerbil named Horatio, knows the answer to almost every question asked on his favorite TV trivia show, Who, What, Where, When, and lives in a Westfalia van on the streets of Vancouver.
Read moreįelix Knutsson is not your average 12-year-old. It would make a great middle-grade read aloud, especially for Vancouver students who will recognize many of the locations and appreciate the cultural diversity of the characters. There are so many great discussion starters in No Fixed Address. It might seem incongruous given these heavy topics, but this book is funny too – See Astrid’s Guidebook to Lies. In addition to homelessness and poverty, No Fixed Address deals with mental health struggles, domestic abuse, sexual orientation, non-traditional families, extramarital affairs, unemployment, shoplifting to survive, the struggles of immigrants, and the difficulty some have with asking for help.
In addition to hiding his homelessness, Felix hides his mothers mental health struggles, her difficulty holding a job, and her fear of losing him to government agencies, all while navigating a new school and getting ready to compete in a trivia contest.Susin Nielsen never shies away from dealing head on with life’s challenges because she knows her YA readers can handle it, and because they are a part of many kids lives already – just not spoken of. Even more so when you feel the need to hide it because people judge, and stigma exists. Being poor sucks, but being a poor kid living in a wealthy neighborhood is especially hard.
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