Onion John

God, this book is so weird!

I loved it.

It's about a boy who befriends an adult Eastern European immigrant in small town New Jersey in the 60s.

I loved that I went into this book cold. It unfolded in a way I really didn't expect and I feel like childrens' lit is so homogenized now that there just aren't many books like this.

Onion John is Andy's best friend, but Onion John is not an ordinary kid....Onion John is a man who does things his own way. John has lived in Serenity for many years, scavenging to furnish his home, working a little to buy food and supplies. Then he needs a new hinge for his door and suddenly everyone wants to change Onion John, from his home to his ways of making a living to his ways of thinking. The town gets together and decides to build a brand new house for John; it is not really what John wants and before the second day has passed, the house has burned to the ground.

Should we change people? Should we try and make everyone fit in? Can it be done? Or does a world need people who don't quite fit, people like Onion John?