NORA & KETTLE NOVEL’S REVIEW

By Anita Desriyanti

BEGINING

This story is about friendship, family, love and the struggle for survival in the harsh
realities of life in the 1950s. Even though this is at times a rather sad and tragic tale, there are
warm moments where you can smile and temporarily forget the misery and suffering in Nora and
Kettle’s lives.

Nora and Kettle is a rather lovely young adult novel with an unexpectedly varied make-
up. Beginning with the sudden and tragic death of privileged teen Nora’s mother, author Lauren
Nicolle Taylor offers her reader no gentle settling-in period; we start acquainting ourselves with
Nora during her worst moment. Quickly, we discover that her mother’s death wasn’t even the
nadir of Nora’s misery, as she is left with her abusive father, forced to defend her disabled sister
from his violence, and withdrawn from school in order to keep her suffering a secret. It’s truly a
perfect storm of challenging circumstances. One small way in which Nora rebels against her
cruel remaining parent is to gradually throw valuable possessions of her mother from the window
of their elegant New York brownstone, and this is what links her to Kettle.

Desperate to run away, the world outside her oppressive brownstone calls to naive,
eighteen-year-old Nora the privileged daughter of a controlling and violent civil rights lawyer
who is building a compensation case for the interned Japanese Americans. But she is trapped,
enduring abuse to protect her younger sister Frankie and wishing on the stars every night for
things to change.

While Nora inhabits a world of financial privilege, Seventeen-year-old Kettle has had his
share of adversity. As an orphaned Japanese American struggling to make a life in the aftermath
of an event in history not often referred to the internment of Japanese Americans during World
War II and the removal of children from orphanages for having "one drop of Japanese blood in
them" things are finally looking up. He has his hideout in an abandoned subway tunnel, a job,
and his gang of Lost Boys. Kettle’s life is one of isolation and exclusion; Kettle fights for work
on the perilous docks rather than beg or steal, and cares for a ragtag group of runaways and
orphans in a hidden subway tunnel. Fascinated by the expensive items flung from a luxurious
brownstone, he later encounters Nora in tragic circumstances. Thus begins an incongruous but
desperately needed friendship between the two.

Set in 1953, Nora & Kettle explores the collision of two teenagers facing extraordinary
hardship. Their meeting is inevitable, devastating, and ultimately healing. Their stories, "a
collection of events, are each on their own harmless. But together, one after the other, they
change the world."

CONTENT

PROBLEM

Nora is a strong woman living with her sister. They lived such an unusual life because
their dad is a bully and physically abusive. Nora, being the older sister, protects her little sister
Frankie by taking her beatings. Nora’s life was hell. She was in a situation so ghastly, so terrible
that no person must ever go through even a shadow if it, but she lived through it day in and day
out, all for the sake of her sister. Nora was strong and courageous is the face of adversity, and her
infinite love for her sister grounded her and kept her from drowning. We can’t even imagine
what it must feel like to be scared of your own father, to live in fear for your life in your own
house, but wanting to protect your sister from anything and everything evil is something We can
understand, and so Nora had our full sympathy from the very beginning.

Kettle, on the other hand, had circumstances completely different from Nora’s, but not
any easier. Fighting for a dangerous, possibly fatal job everyday, feeding his “lost boys,” living
like a thief in his own country at a time when his skin colour invited only hate and resentment,
and these were only the struggles we see him go through in the course of the book. His past does
flash back to abuse at the hands of the orphanage he stayed at for a while, and it was gut
wrenchingly painful to relive his past with him. But not once did we see resentment or bitterness
in his heart for all the people he had to take care of—and Kettle managed to warm our soul with
this attitude.
CLIMAX

Nora and her little sister’s life is getting worse when their mother passed away. Her father
kept blaming her for caused her mother’s death. Her father treated them more abusively. He
vented his anger to his daughters and Nora should do more to protect her sister. She done
everything to make her little sister safe from her father even when she nearly killed by him.

“His lip curls and his eyes retreat. His elbow pulls back, and I scream, “Frankie, get
out of here!” as I back up against the front of the bed and brace myself. She slips off the
bed and the dress falls to the floor, billowing out with old air like a ghost has left the
room. She pauses in the doorway, her eyes round and scared and looking just like our
mother’s. “Go,” I urge just before his fist hits me.

The punch is like a hammer to my temple. It cracks open barrels of pain that spill all
over my mother’s bedspread. The ones to my stomach I hardly notice and actually, after
a while, it all blurs to red. Somehow, I’ve ended up on the floor, the world flat,
spreading endlessly before me in straight lines as if the walls have disappeared. His
sharp, black foot comes at me over and over. I grip one hand on the underside of the bed
and beg for unconsciousness as I fly up off the floor with every kick until I vomit. That’s
when it stops.”

After being treated abusively by her father, they decided to run away from home. Nora
arranged the way to escape, they have been prepared the things that they need to run away. At
the first, they successed to get out from their house and headed to the subway station.
Unfortunately, Nora couldn’t bear the pain which caused by her father when they argued and he
attacked her abusively. Suddenly she fainted in the subway station. The paramedics brought her
to the hospital, since her father is the famous civil lawyer, everyone already knew who is she,
Nora Deere.
“The paramedic talks into his radio, “Incoming. Female appears to have lost
consciousness on the platform. We’re bringing her in now.”

“The paramedics stop for a moment, and one of them has the decency to look upset.
“We’ll be right back. We have to get Miss Deere to the hospital, and then…” His words
are swallowed by the crowd as things return to normal. Men and women hop off the
train and others hop on.”

Tried to escape made her life suffered more. Her father called the police to stand by in
front of her house and the most suprising thing was her father taken away her little sister to live
with her father’s cousin which is mean that she couldn’t life and protect her sister anymore. She
felt guilty, and failed to save their life from monster called “father”.
 “Where’s Frankie?” I ask again, taking a few steps into the center of the room, standing
right where she fell. Anger pounds from that one spot like a giant heart is buried under
the floor.”

“Miss Frances has gone to stay with Mister Deere’s cousin. She’s probably sleepin’
safe’n’sound right now,” she answers, trying to placate me, or reassure me, I’m not
really sure.”

On the other hand, Kettle faced the same bitter life. He should work harder to survive. He
had one friend named Kin. One day, Kin seems not in good condition, he fainted in the same
place with Nora. But people treated them differently, when Nora fainted people and the
paramedics help her as fast as they can, while there is no one helped Kin and Kettle. Kin told
Kettle to bring him to home. He wanted to go home and refused to wait the paramedics to help
him. Kin’s condition is getting worse, he not only need to rest but also medical treatment. Kettle
tried to find a way to make Kin got medical treatment by the paramedics. Kettle asked his friends
to help him brought Kin to get medical treatment but Kettle knew that for poor people like them
it’s quite hard to get medical treatment. Then, he found a way to help Kin by tricked the police
officers and the paramedics using phone box. He said that he saw a man with badly injured and
lied the man’s name by using the Senator son’s name. This way successfully made Kin got
medical treatment by the paramedics.
“Hello, please state your emergency.” I swallow dryly. I have to do this right or they
won’t come. “Hello. Yes. I need to report a mugging.”

The nasal voice on the other end of the phone says, “Connecting you to the police
department…”
“Wait! No! The man they mugged is badly injured. They took his cash but left his wallet.
His name is James Washington-Kellar. Wait… isn’t that Senator Washington-Kellar’s
son?” I spew out in one breath.

There’s a click on the other end and the woman’s voice, which had sounded bored up
until now, suddenly kicks up an octave. “I’m connecting with the paramedics. Where are
you?”

Nora fell from the window and Kettle helped her. She asked him to go to the safe place
which is far from her house. Kettle took her to the tunnel, the place where he and the Kings
lived. Nora begging to stay there. At the first Kettle hesitated to allow her to stay in the tunnel
but after his friends allowed her to stay there, he finally agreed.
ENDING

PROBLEM SOLVING

In the end, Nora and Kettle lived their life together. Nora felt like a bird that could flying
free. She felt free now, no abusive father, no cruel life but she still missed her sister, Frankie.
After living with the Kings in the tunnel, she changed into independence, brave girl. She tried to
take a revenge to his father. She went home and said that she would marry someone. Her father
mad, and tried to beat her. Kettle went to her home and found her was being beaten with a book.
Kettle tried to save her but her father beat him too. Nora took the picture with her polaroid when
her father tried to beat Kettle. She used that photo threaten her father so he could tell her where is
Frankie. Nora and Kettle finally got the address and went to the place where Frankie live.

MORAL VALUE

 No matter how cruel and bad your life is, your life must go on.
 The strongest person is someone who can face her/his life even when there are so many
problems happened in her/his life.