The young adult novel Sidekick, by Adeline Radloff, is a somewhat stereotypical superhero story, with seventeen-year-old Katie Holmes (not that Katie Holmes, as she feels the need to mention throughout the book) and her journey in finding her own identity. The story is set in Cape Town, South Africa, a place she loves and a place Finn, another main character in the book, barely ever leaves. Finn is a well-loved figure within Cape Town and a rich, handsome, and mysterious man that has a complicated relationship with Katie and her mother. Although we do not ever find out Katie’s mother’s true relationship with Finn, her and her mother both seem somewhat romantically involved with Finn, which gets quite odd at times. Also, although we never meet him, another character includes Simon. An older man, that mentored Finn and Katie, and who had just died before the story starts. Other characters include Mandi, Katie’s best friend, who becomes a large character when she is kidnapped along with multiple other children by Dr. Bowers, a therapist who takes children off the hands of parents whom don’t want them, and either extracts their hormones for an “unaging” medication, or sells them to the highest bidder. All of this conflict is also met with Katie’s relationship and behavioral problems, in the past and throughout the story. After beating up her first boyfriend, whom she thought was going to assault her while he was only trying to throw her a surprise birthday party, Katie is later met with an actual attempt of sexual assault, when she is drugged and assaulted by her current boyfriend, Daniel, and his friends, Willem and Jamal.
Although all of this conflict seems unmanageable for a teenage girl, most of the action comes into the novel with the fact that Finn has the ability to freeze time, and while the rest of the people in the world are frozen still, Katie can also roam freely when time is frozen in what they call “untime.” The main plot goes through various conflicts surrounding the different enemies including Daniel, Jamal, Willem, and Dr. Bowers, along with the various smaller characters that cause either psychological or physical pain on Katie.
Although I may not be reading into the specific’s in detail enough, I was not a huge fan of how in depth and dense some of the rules the characters have to follow throughout the novel, and seem to come up out of nowhere. Along with that, many of the details about Finn and Katie seem irrelevant to the main conflict that they solve in the end, saving Mandi after she is kidnapped by Dr. Bowers, and almost sold to the highest bidder. For example, it comes up that Finn cannot be too far away from Table Mountain or else he will exhibit serious physical illness and eventually die (Radloff, Chapter 8). Table Mountain is a national landmark in Cape Town that seems to be significant in the beginning of the novel, however is not mentioned ever again after chapter 8. Also, the fact that Finn cannot be too far away from Table Mountain causes barely any conflict that contributes to any substantive meaning to the plot, and never has a reasonable explanation for why he cannot be too far away from the mountain. Altogether, this is just one of many odd details riddled throughout the novel that is not explained, or barely referenced.
Many details of the novel are not consistent throughout the plot, however there are aspects to it that I could find beneficial to a young adult reader, specifically in the target age ranges that are listed by the author. Although many young adult novels can be enjoyed by people of many ages, the plot of this novel was much too predictable and simple for me to enjoy on a personal level, and I would assume it would be for many adult readers. Many aspects of Katie’s life could be relatable for young readers, especially for adopted children and children with parents a different race than themselves. Although much conflict does not come up with the fact that Katie is white, being raised by a black mom, she does feel like a loner, saying “I think I’m the only white kid in this country who’s been adopted by a black woman” (Radoloff, Chapter 5). Katie often secludes herself from her peers, thinking that they do not want her around, and in turn, many, such as her school friend Lelicia, think that Katie is stuck up and thinks she’s better than everyone around her. As a quiet person myself, I can see that students that are found to be stuck up based on the fact that they do not talk very often is something that many quiet students can relate to.
Another aspect of the novel that I could see being beneficial to the young reader, is the introduction to the various parts of South African culture that are referenced at different points in the plot. Although it is much less prevalent than I thought it would be when reading the summary, Katie talks about a few Landmarks and well-known individuals in South Africa. Besides the references to Table Mountain, one of my favorite references was when Katie compared a hotel receptionist to Khanyi Mbau, a popular actress in South Africa, and then compared her to Paris Hilton (Radloff, Chapter 13). The cultural references that I noticed in the novel seemed culturally accurate, and relevant to young adults that this book would be recommended for.
Although, in my opinion, many aspects of the main plot and conflict seemed underdeveloped and lacked substance, there are positives to this novel that I could see beneficial to a young adult reader. Along with the relevant teenage problems that Katie goes through and the somewhat intriguing story lines, the cultural aspects of the novel allow the reader to have a more diverse reading experience which my spark their interest in topics they never knew existed before.
Works Cited
Radloff, Adeline, (2010). Sidekick. South Africa: Tafelberg Publishers.
