Review: The Milk Chicken Bomb
The Kid's Lemonade Stand in Marvin, Alberta
In his debut novel The Milk Chicken Bomb Andrew Wedderburn brings a very fresh perspective to the proverb it takes a village to raise a child.
The fictional town of Marvin, Alberta is where the kid lives. He is 10 years old. Though The Milk Chicken Bomb is narrated by the kid, this is not a children’s story. This is one kid’s story. The story of the kid vaguely remembered from the back row of school photos. The kid kicking at the dust swirls in the convenience store’s parking lot. The text is devoid of defining quotation marks, Wedderburn’s stylistic representation of the kid’s life. The kid whose name is never remembered.
The Basics of Childhood
The normal parts of childhood are there for the kid. He always has a lunch to take to school. In the winter he always has mittens, a toque, and warm winter boots to wear. He likes to trade lunches with other boys, especially with Dwayne Klatz. He really likes the sandwiches Dwayne’s mom makes. The kid lives in a house in Marvin. It has central heating. His house is walking distance from school and Mullen’s house. He has school homework to do. The kid is fascinated with making bombs, the milk chicken bomb in particular.
Best Friends and Lemonade Stands
Mullen is the kid’s best friend. The kid and Mullen run a year round lemonade stand. The kid makes excellent lemonade and knows how to stir it just right so it doesn't freeze in the jug. But Mullen keeps ruining the lemonade with too much sugar. When not selling lemonade the kid and Mullen try to stay out of the Dead Kids way and stay on Jenny Tierney's good side. It will be a while before the kid will understand Jenny. For the present, understanding the milk chicken bomb takes precedent.
Attention Wanted: Positive or Negative
Wedderburn captures the perspective of a 10 year old boy flawlessly. Conversations are verbatim. Counter tops are high, stairwells are sacred, and some kids just have to be avoided. The kid’s interest in the milk chicken bomb remains constant. Yet, through all the information we learn about the kid it is his actions that scream out, especially when they are contradictory. Wedderburn has the kid going home to bed on one night and running away a few nights later. But is the kid running away?
The kid makes it as far as Aldersyde, the other side of High River. No one will sell him a bus ticket because he is too young. He heads out on foot in every direction, but someone always brings him back to Marvin.
The kid accepts rides from strangers. Walks the streets alone late at night. Steals from McClaghan’s Hardware Store. Somehow, against all his best attempts to get into trouble, the kid always ends up sleeping in his own bed at night. Will the milk chicken bomb change all of this for the kid?
Publisher: Coach House Books, Toronto
ISBN: 1552451801
