Have you read a book and a lot about it was good, but there was something about it that was “off”? Camouflage Mom: A Story About Staying Connected by Sarah Hovorka and Elif Balta Parks was one of those books. Currently available, I read via an online reader.
Sarah is excited to see her mother after her being in boot camp for several months. But when they finally are back together, there is something wrong with it. Sarah is actually upset at her mother. She isn’t the same person when she is at home. Here, she doesn’t look the same, dress the same, doesn’t act the same, even after spending time with her, Sarah is uncomfortable. We then explore the feelings Sarah has and how she deals with the circumstances.
I liked the idea of a child exploring their feelings about a parent and how the choices of the parent make very large and important changes for the child. I liked that it was a mother in the service and not the father as the parent who was away. Yet, something was missing. I think it was that the author was trying to write things from the perspective of Sarah, or the child, and instead of a child voice, a more adult attitude was coming out. This made Sarah seem younger than what was being presented on the page, because it was as if an adult was talking as if they were a child and missed the mark.. The second part was the illustrations. I appreciate the hard work and the time that was put into creating them, but they seem too easy and simplified. They are nice enough, but never “grabbed me.”
Maybe it was because I am not the audience for the book that things were not clicking. Or maybe I was in the wrong mood to read. Yet, I do think that the right audience will get a lot from reading about an important subject like this. There is a nice afterwards that talks about a real mom who deployed, vocabulary used and some discussion points, too.
