C O N T E M P O R A R Y F I C T I O N
Randall Beth Platt's absorbing novel, The Likes of Me, was selected by the American Library Association as a Best Book for Young Adults. The story, set during World War I, chronicles the adventures of Cordelia ("Cordy") Lu Hankins, a thirteen-year-old girl with albinism who is half-Caucasian, half-Chinese. Fed up with her authoritarian father, who heads a logging company, and her intimidating, gigantic stepmother, Cordy runs away from home in search of Squirl, a former employee of her father's who captured her heart with his carefree, daring spirit and knavish charisma. She ends up in Seattle's Luna Park, gaining fame and fortune as a sideshow star with Squirl at her side. But despite having been reunited with Squirl and bestowed with material comforts and admiration beyond her wildest imaginings, Cordy feels deeply dissatisfied with her new circumstances as she realizes that they are built entirely on artifice, manipulation, and her managers' insatiable thirst for money. When her stepmother's life becomes endangered, Cordy realizes that it is time to leave Luna Park behind and regain her integrity. Cordy's experience serves as a cautionary tale against letting oneself be deceived by superficial charm and exploited in exchange for love. While it is encouraging to find a protagonist with albinism who emerges intact from her struggles by demonstrating intelligence and introspection, this book has its share of shortcomings as well. One is that it perpetuates the inaccurate notion that people with albinism have pink eyes. The natural eye color of most people with albinism is in fact blue, but occasionally in certain lighting, their eyes can take on tones of purple or red. The idea that people with albinism always have pink or red eyes has been one of the most difficult misconceptions to correct, even amongst medical and scientific professionals. The more substantial disappointment about this book is that, with the exception of her mother who is dead when the story begins, not a single character with whom Cordy interacts shows her any consistent expression of love or caring. What little kindness she receives is contrived and empty, given with the expectation of monetary reward or momentary pleasure. Even her so-called boyfriend has been using her all along, thinking of nothing but maintaining his hedonistic lifestyle. While her father and stepmother refrain from abusing her and provide for her most basic physical needs, she is largely neglected, barely shown even a hint of warmth or respect by either of them until the book's conclusion. When the story ends, we are not left with an offering of love at the level Cordy deserves, which could bolster her self-esteem and safeguard her from future mishaps all we are led to speculate is that her life might be a little less unpleasant than it used to be. So to some extent, she still remains a love-starved freak, albeit a wiser one.
This novel is refreshing from several standpoints. In addition to its vivid writing and its compelling characters and plot, the element of albinism is handled with sensitivity and respect. Although the condition's pitfalls are rendered with abundant clarity, Harold as a whole human being is not defined by these exclusively. In many ways, Harold is like any other young man trying to find himself, grappling with the same issues in different packaging. He is given an intelligent mind and a caring heart in addition to his pale coloring and weak eyes. One of the great lessons imparted to him is that he is no worse or better than anyone else, and his journey ends up being successful overall. A particularly noteworthy aspect of this book is that, in the process of writing it, the author did careful research on albinism. He explicitly acknowledges the National Organization of Albinism and Hypopigmentation (NOAH), and also took it upon himself to correspond with one of NOAH's young male members in an effort to make Harold a more realistic and multifaceted character. Additionally, the inclusion of The Cannibal King as a second character with albinism who differs from Harold in certain ways illustrates diversity among individuals with the same condition. In short, Ghost Boy is exemplary in both its treatment of albinism and its storytelling craftsmanship.
"I have just finished reading a book that I found profoundly insightful and disturbing. The book is titled, Sent for You Yesterday by John Edgar Wideman. The setting is the inner city. The main character, a Black man with albinism known as Brother. |
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