Xavier T. Fletcher is an odd duck. At ten-years old, he’d rather sit silently watching birds than play catch or go fishing with his brother, Nicholas, and his father, Arnold. When his father unexpectedly loses his job, forcing the family to move to Nana Susan’s farm, Xavier should be ecstatic, but he is unsure. After all, Nana Susan’s goat, Cal Ripken Jr., bit him five years ago, and Xavier hasn’t fully recovered from the traumatic experience. Furthermore, “the idea of going forth to explore real nature, all wild and dangerous and free, feels a bit unnerving to Xavier. But as you may know, sometimes the things that frighten us a little are the things that also call to us most loudly” (19).
While he’s out exploring the dell near Nana Susan’s farm, Xavier meets eleven-year-old Clementine Branham, aka Clem. And she’s full of tales about a tear in the sky and a Nother that sends Carriers with Crumbs to spread cold and lifelessness. As a Junior Ornithological Explorer, a scientist at heart, Xavier is curious but doubtful about this unnatural phenomenon and this evil creature trying to invade our world.
This mystery, as imaginary as it sounds to Xavier, provides the core conflict in Lisa Maxwell’s first book for middle grade readers, Keeper of the Rend. Because Xavier rather likes Clem and because his hero is the acclaimed Naturalist and founder of the National Society of Natural Things, Milton von Wimple II, Xavier promises to help solve this mystery that Clem claims has been left to her family of Keepers. After all, “making sense of very strange and possibly unexplainable things is what a scientist does best. It was what Milton von Wimple would do, and so it is what Xavier will do as well” (38).
Although she pens a mystery of sorts, Maxwell threads the theme of environmentalism through her book, as the two youth share facts about corvids and bees and the importance of native plants. Ultimately, readers learn from Clem and Xavier the importance of caring for nature. As Mr. Branham states, “When nature was taken care of, it would take care of us” (201). Readers not only learn of the mysteries of life—love, fear, and the miracles of honey—but come to know how “sweetness cuts through the bitterness of life” (199) and how love can “fill up some of the space that sadness leaves behind” (298).
Maxwell’s novel is also a coming of age story, one in which Xavier learns that “strength and bravery have nothing to do with the size of your muscles or the volume of your voice” (253) and that sometimes we have to do the things we think we cannot do. Despite frustration, fury, fear, or heartbreak, Xavier realizes that he can’t fall to pieces when somebody is depending on him. With his father’s voice echoing in his mind: “The weak get eaten, kiddo. The weak get eaten” (284), Xavier perseveres.
Another question Maxwell explores is whether something could truly be discovered if it was already known. These “discoveries might simply be places already on someone else’s maps” (196).
With all of its facets, readers will likely find this book about science, frayed family ties, and friendship limitless with possibility and intrigue. After all, it is a book about the importance of habitats, adaptability, and living life with a healthy dose of humor. Each chapter opens with a quote from Milton von Wimple II, who is fond of dispensing wise words about being intrepid when confronted with unexpected danger. “Take heart, for should this happen, all is not lost. Unless, of course, you make a sudden movement” (39).
- Donna