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“Just in Case”

Stephenie Michalek

Dan Moran

 English 121

May 4, 2009 

 “So that’s where we start: One boy on the verge of death. Another on the verge of something rather more complicated.”

This is Fate’s second line in the book “Just in Case” by Meg Rosoff. This is when Fate takes it’s first noticeable step into David Case’s life with a step from David’s brother Charlie who is told by a bird that he could fly.

David doesn’t feel heroic when he saves his young brother from falling from his second story window. Instead, he feels fear and anxiety. He realizes, suddenly, that there are too many things that could happen to him. So much that would cause him pain. Things that would change his life completely.

“A plane crash.”

I came across this book after reading Rosoff’s first book, “How I live now” which is about a young girl named Daisy, forced to move in with her aunt and cousins in a small village in England from New York City. When I found out that Rosoff wrote a second book I checked it out from the library immediately and fell in love with the unique story and characters.

 I’m drawn to this writer for her ability to find happiness and beauty in what most people would find depressing and dirty, much the way I sometimes do. Both her books are sad stories with only somewhat happy endings but both are actually kind of inspiring in their own way.

“Allow me to introduce myself.

My name is Kismet. Turkish, from Persian qismat, from Arabic qisma, lot, from qasama, to divide, allot. SYN: Chance. Providence. Destiny. Luck.

Fate.”

Fate is a very important character in this story even though she is merely a figment of David’s imagination. After David has his epiphany about Fate he decides he has to hide from Fate and her little game. He changes his name to Justin, changes his look, makes new friends, and eventually even leaves home. He gets lost in his own little world with his imaginary dog named Boy who is also “seen” by David’s new friend Peter and Peter’s sister Dorthea and also Charlie, David’s one-year-old brother. David’s imagination not only causes more paranoia but also introduces him to some interesting people. All of these new friends were found because of David’s fear of Fate. The most important is Agnes whom he meets at a thrift store when he goes shopping for his disguise. Agnes is an artist who takes on the personality of the writer by making miserable things beautiful. She helps David find clothes while she takes pictures of him for her art. She later becomes David’s love interest and a large part of his life.

“I really like David.

 No I don’t. I don’t give a damn about him.

 I could run him down with a taxi. Give him a wasting disease.

Or worse, ignore him altogether. Let him live out his irrelevant life in Luton with a dreary doting wife, two point four gormless children, and a ticking bomb for a heart.

 But I do like a game now and again.

And he plays so nicely.”

Fate almost hits him on the head when he tries to live in an airport terminal. When Agnes comes to try to talk him into going back home a plane crashes into the spot he was just standing. This is probably my favorite part of the entire book. The author is very descriptive in this scene describing everything that was going through Justin’s head. It’s almost like she has been through something like it but as far as I can tell she hasn’t.

I found this book to be extremely exciting and magical. It also has a lot of things that you miss the first time you read it. I have read it about four times now and I still find new interesting things that I didn’t notice before.

“ Teens will relish Rosoff’s wild, unsettling, often poetic plunge into subjects of cosmic proportion, such as faith, time, freewill, illusions, and the boundaries of love and sex.” Booklist.

“Just in Case” is an easy read for any age. It’s “magically real” and makes you think. Every line that Fate has is deep and well thought out, which is probably why all of Fate’s lines are in bold. It grabs your attention and you keeps you reading just to see what is coming next. The characters all have a unique realness to them that makes you fall in love with every one of them. The book is catastrophically real in a magical way and brings you back to reality by showing you how exciting normal life really can be.

“I FEEL A LITTLE SAD, now it’s over, I enjoyed our game. It hardly ever fails.

Except, of course, when it does.

And that can be interesting too.”

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