Eggs (Jerry Spinelli)

The first Jerry Spinelli book I read was StarGirl. I've been a fan ever since. Well, truthfully, I wasn't a fan of Loser. And....actually, that's all I've read until Eggs. But I loved StarGirl so much as well as Eggs, that I will say I'm a big fan.

If you've ever lost someone you felt like you just couldn't live without, or if you've ever felt like you just didn't fit in your family, or if you've said, "If I just do X then Y will happen", or if you've ever had a quirky friendship, or if you've ever loved someone who you just have to watch them work through issues, or if you've ever felt like you just didn't get what you needed from your family, then you'll get this book. The theme that is big in Roald Dahl books of missing adults exists here, but it is handled way differently.

“Of course, all of their words for a thousand years could not fill the hole left by his mother, but they could raise a loving fence around it so he didn't keep falling in.”

David and Primrose meet during an Easter Egg hunt. I thought that was an odd reason to call the book Eggs because nothing much happened with eggs after that. Maybe they were actually eggs - sensitive yet also very tough?

There were a lot of things all through the story that I questioned, and then soon found the answers to. Like, why does David think it's so important to keep all the rules? Where did Primrose's father go? What is with the waving man? Is there any symbolism to the little turtle David carries around?


Here are some answers I have:
1. His mother died after falling on a slippery spot where no one had warned anyone. He figures if they had kept the rules he wouldn't have lost his mother and if he just keeps all the rules now maybe he'll get her back.
2. The picture Primrose carries actually isn't her father. It's Clark Gable. We find out later that she knows it isn't her father - but for some reason she continues to carry the picture and tell people he is her father. Does she think wishing it was so will make it be?
3. The waving man? I don't know. The only thing I can guess is that he waves at people because they wave back at him (is that why Primrose carries the picture of the man who isn't her father?)
5. The turtle...stick your head out?? I don't know.


Goodreads says:

Nine-year-old David has recently lost his mother to a freak accident, his salesman father is constantly on the road, and he is letting his anger out on his grandmother. Sarcastic and bossy 13-year-old Primrose lives with her childlike, fortuneteller mother, and a framed picture is the only evidence of the father she never knew. Despite their differences, David and Primrose forge a tight yet tumultuous friendship, eventually helping each other deal with what is missing in their lives. This powerful, quirky novel about two very complicated, damaged children has much to say about friendship, loss, and recovery.