Find Occasionally Happy Family, An Translated By Cliff Burke Accessible In Publication

was shocked at how crude this childrens book was, Definitely not what I was expecting when I chose to read it, Just so parents know before allowing their kids to read it: there was a crude hand gesture mentioned and performed by children a couple of times in this book.
Totally inappropriate at any age, but its definitely something I think parents should be aware of prior to giving a book to their children.
There were also a few spots of liberalminded propaganda sprinkled throughout,

Things I liked were
it was an outdoor adventure
, . . road trip!
there were fun mishaps that led to good plot twists
it was from a middlegrade boys perspective
it took place in Big Bend National Park
there was some good emotional depth at times particularly with the graphic novel creation
the sibling therapy session!

Content: expletives, crude gestures by children and adults, profanity, crude talk, alcohol, tobacco, nudity, skinnydipping, psychics/tarot/palm readings, tattoos Bittersweet story about thirteen yearold Theo, his sixteen yearold sister Laura and their Dad who bond during a two week family vacation.
I took this one from the pile myyearold had picked out from the library, grateful to see him reading something that didn't involve Greek mythology, cyphers, or fantastical beings.
Realistic fiction, imagine that! Anyway, I loved how this book presented all the complexities of families who are dealing with loss, new and changing relationships, and adolescence a daunting mix.
The funny, very appropriately sarcastic narrator seems like someone the intended readers would immediately like and identify with, And the story moved along at a quick pace with enough action to keep the audience invested, I was surprised to find out afterwards that this is the author's first book an impressive debut! Theo and his sister Laura have to endure a family road trip with their nerdy dad.
. . to a desert in July. Oh, and they get to meet their dad's secret girlfriend, Surprise! What a splendid balance of humor and seriousness! The Ripleys are about to embark on a family vacation, Having suffered the loss of their mother two years ago, siblings Theoand Lauraare still reeling from their mother's passing two years earlier.
Dad decides it's time for a family trip to Big Bend National Park, Theo and Laura are under the impression that this is a regular trip until Dad drops a hint that he has a huge surprise for them.
Dad's ideas of surprises don't normally impress his kids, The purpose of the trip turns out to be an opportunity to meet Dad's new girlfriend, which the kids find out from snooping around.


What author Cliff Burke nails in his debut novel are the family dynamics, Theo and Laura have a typical sibling relationship, When not insulting one another, they usually are complaining about their father, Laura and her dad clash on a regular basis, Having seldom talked about their mother's death, Theo and Laura have a lot of grief to work through, Dad's new girlfriend is a life coach, and the kids don't quite know what to make of her, They do know that they don't want to share their feelings with her,


Anyone who has taken a long family trip will be able to relate to this novel, There are also many other interesting people they meet on their travels including an ornithologist and his son that provide many laughoutloud moments.
I highly recommend this book for upper elementary students, This is one of the funniest books I've read from Theders, my debut group of MG and YA authors, But there's also a touching undercurrent of sadness running through it,

Heartfelt doesn't begin to describe it,

Thirteenyearold Theo's mom died two years ago, and he and his dad and his fifteenyearold sister, Laura, still haven't really talked about it.
Then Dad informs the siblings they're embarking on a road trip to go camping in the hottest park in Texas during the hottest part of the summer, with a promised surprise at the end.
Neither Theo nor Laura want to go on this trip and would prefer to spend all their time in air conditioning and on their phones.


What follows is laughoutloud hilarious, as one disaster after another befalls the family, The dialog is spoton. The characters come across as real people, and long before the end, you'll fall in love with this family and want only the best for them.


Thanks to the author and the publisher for an eARC of this delightful book, Its been a long time since I read a book that struck

such an absolutely perfect balance between laughoutloud funny and achingly heartfelt.
In the first few chapters of Cliff Burkes AN OCCASIONALLY HAPPY FAMILY, you think its going to be all humor, And the humor throughout the book is so good and so real and so well done, from online reviews of Big Bend National Park to the hilariously awful Leonard Blenard and son, to a pair of nudists in a hot spring.
But a few chapters in, you get the backstory about Theos loss, and you realize that the sad part, too, is pitchperfect, And the two sides of the story meld so seamlessly and believably, a real tightropewalk of hilarity and tears, Theos voice is entirely relatable, and the dialogue never misses a beat, whether its conversations between Theo and his dad and sister, or between the family and the outstanding cast of secondary characters a psychic rental property landlord, a pretentious museum guide, dads overeager girlfriend, just to name a few.
I read AN OCCASIONALLY HAPPY FAMILY in a single sitting, completely sucked into this family vacation that is so much more than a family vacation, this emotional journey by a family that isnt at all comfortable with emotions.
Highly recommend. Many, many thanks to the author and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for the eARC of this fantastic story, This book was alright.

The first thing I noticed about this book was the hook, It was a good one, Then, I found myself loving the main character from the second I finished reading the first chapter, I related to him in more ways than I thought I would, Theo finds himself on a family vacation with his dad and older sister, Laura, They go through many trials and triumphs, but overall learn more about themselves and each other, And that was it.

Nothing about this book really spoke to me in a way that some other books did, I didn't dislike it by any means, but there wasn't a whole lot to set it apart from other realistic fiction books, But for some kids, this book may mean a lot to them, Lots of kids find themselves in the position of their parent finding someone new, lots of kids struggle with parental death if those things apply to you, then I think you've just found your next read.


It was a sweet book overall, but if you miss out on the reliability factor, it can kind of just look like a failed attempt to make a funny book with some rough undertones.
I probably wouldn't read it again, but it wasn't bad,

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The voice in this book had me from the very start, Two years after the death of his mother, Theo's father decides to take him and his sister on a camping trip in Big Bend.
Theo prefers enjoying the great outdoors from the safety of the indoors, so the whole idea does not sit well with him, The witty banter between family members is escalated when Theo's dad reveals that he has a surprise for them at the end of the trip: an introduction to his new girlfriend.
Mix in an annoying father/son duo whom they share the trail with, as well asdegree heat, and Theo's misery sees no end.
All the while, Theo grapples with how to reconcile his feelings and memories of his mother, The humor on every page is laughoutloud funny, but the deeper themes of a family dealing with loss pull hard on the heart strings.
So well done!.