Weekend Dad

After the narrator’s father moves out, the week passes slowly as the boy considers experiences as they relate to his dad (“My mom and I ate tuna-fish sandwiches for dinner. My dad hates tuna fish”). On Friday, he packs some clothes (and Wendell, his stuffed hedgehog) and travels with his father, 48 minutes away by bus, to a new, largely bare apartment: “This home is home because my dad is here. And it’s nothing like home because my mom isn’t here.” Nothing feels the same, but the two do what they can do establish a new normal, relying on their old patterns (“my dad and I always play Kings in the Corner on Saturdays”) and doing it all over again on Sunday (“Because that’s what we do on Sundays”). Hrab uses repetition (“Down the street, past the park and through the tunnel”) to simply yet powerfully establish the family’s new routine, while Viva’s line drawings, in shades of green, yellow, and rose, gently twine the child’s newly separate experiences of family. Ages 3–7. [em](Aug.) [/em]