The Several Lives of Orphan Jack

Anne Hutchings, a former elementary-school teacher-librarian with the
Durham Board of Education, is an educational consultant.

Otherjack (as he is known to distinguish him from another orphan named
Jack) is a wordaholic, a verbivore. His treasure trove of words, gleaned
from his dictionary, which is missing its A and B sections, has kept him
out of trouble at Opportunities School for Orphans and Foundlings. It is
all his own, something that no one can take from him or tamper with.

Now at the ripe old age of 12, Otherjack is ready for his big
“opportunity.” He is excited to learn that he is to be apprenticed
to a bookkeeper. He soon learns, however, that bookkeeping has little to
do with books and a lot to do with arithmetic, for which he has little
aptitude. Dismayed by the prospect of seven long, dreary, ink-stained
years, Otherjack runs away.

With only his damaged dictionary bundled inside his spare shirt, the
future for (now just plain) Jack looks bleak. But he soon discovers that
his “thoughts, concepts, plans, opinions, impressions, notions and
fancies” are in demand. His whims and ideas quickly turn him into “a
fellow of fortune,” a “Master of Ideas.”

This clever, witty novel is a delight. The caricature-like
schoolmaster, and even Jack himself, will amuse readers, especially when
accompanied by Bruno St-Aubin’s charming illustrations. Short and easy
to read, the book is readily accessible to an eight-year-old, yet
sophisticated enough to appeal to much older readers. It is rich with
plays on words (“if a drinker drinks, then an arbiter must arbit”),
wonderfully descriptive passages (“a roasting pan, blackened and
crusty, poked out of the few remaining soap suds like a freighter run
aground”), and so many synonyms (dinner, repast, feast) that it rivals
a thesaurus. Each chapter ends with an alliterative gem (“views,
vicissitudes and vastness”). Ellis illustrates beyond a doubt that the
simplest of words, carefully chosen and wisely used, can express the
most complex of ideas. The Several Lives of Orphan Jack is a tribute to
the power of words and should be a required read-aloud in every Grade 3
and up classroom. Highly recommended.