Let's begin with the title - Xavier in the Meantime. Xavier is the main character in this book but he also has a special and deeply insightful friend in Aster. Meantime? Does this mean time moves on? I guess I am thinking of meanwhile life goes on - regardless of what is happening. Does it mean the period of time between two events—between the current time and the time when something else happens. Yes. But you can think about this in another way - mean time. Daily life can be mean for Xavier. He is haunted by the black dog. You will know this is an expression that signifies depression.
Xavier has been unwell for a long time. The voice in his head tells him that it is his fault his dad has moved back to the family farm. The voice in is head tells him that his mother must be so happy to take a break from him when he goes to visit his father. The voice in his head fills Xavier with doubt - doubt that he will ever escape from the black dog that sits snarling in the corner of his room and follows him through his day. But Xavier is also a problem solver. He wants to find a way to help himself, to help others, to help his mum and dad.
Publisher blurb: Sometimes Xavier wakes up feeling hopeless. Every new doctor … this will fix it. Removing him from school … this will fix it. The therapy group … this will fix it. And his dad moving out. Maybe, this will fix it. Despite his positive affirmations, the black dog never really leaves him. It watches from the corner of his room, never straying too far away—waiting for the perfect opportunity to sink its teeth in. But Xavier has a plan—one he hopes will help all the kids in his support group. Enlisting the help of best friend Aster, he tries to convince his dad to turn the family sheep farm into a therapy retreat for the group session kids. But he is up against decades of tradition, his parents who are on a “break,” and the spectre of the black dog. Can Xavier learn to cherish the moments in between the struggles—the moments in the meantime?
At the end of this book, which I devoured in one sitting, I felt so moved. I wanted to write to the author, Kate Gordon, and try to express my complex, heartfelt, personal and very emotional response to her newest book. My mother had complex mental health needs. Like Xavier, I know many of her days were a huge struggle. This book touched my heart.
Xavier in the Meantime is the sequel to Aster's Right Good Things but I am happy to say it does stand alone too. The publisher notes use the word companion volume and that seems like a better description. Xavier in the Meantime will be published on 1st February, 2022. Huge thanks to Beachside Bookshop for my advance reader copy.
This is a delightful yet deeply meaningful tale from Kate Gordon exploring another often misunderstood mental health issue. Depression can’t always be ‘fixed’ and what worked last time, might not work this time. Thoroughly recommended as reading for all, from around age 11 and upwards to adults at all stages of life. Rachel on GoodReads
In 2016 Kate Gordon won our IBBY Australia Ena Noel award for her book Writing Clementine.
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