book review - "Sport"

Sport is a novel I should've completely loved. It's the sequel to one of the defining books of my life - Harriet the Spy. Sport is the (back)story of one of Harriet's friends. He's twelve years old and lives alone with his father, a novelist. They're pretty poor, but Sport handles all the books - this is discussed in depth in Harriet - and they almost always have enough to pay rent and eat. The opening scene of the book is Sport and his father in mid-negotiation - Sport's father wants to take a woman out for a beer and a movie - and Sport, the household accountant, is protesting that they don't have enough money to make it through the month.

The story then takes a Dickens-like turn; Sport's grandfather dies and leaves him millions of dollars, leaving Sport to grapple with the ramifications of his sudden wealth.

This is not the whole story. The whole story has major flaws (none of the characters are as nearly nuanced as those in Harriet - in fact they're basically caricatures), but it's amazing that this children's book talks so frankly about class and the anxieties associated therein.