THE DAY I WAS ERASED

An English preteen’s impulsive wish that he’d never been born is granted.

For Maxwell, 12, home is anything but tranquil: His parents fight constantly; his nerdy sister, Bex, 15, ignores him. His beloved dog, Monster, provokes complaints from neighbors. Maxwell relieves stress by disparaging his (only) school friend, Charlie Kapoor. (While most characters default to white, Charlie’s name and home cuisine imply South Asian ancestry.) Maxwell’s prizewinning portrait of an elderly, forgetful neighbor, Reg, earned Maxwell prestige, benefiting his school financially. During an announcement regarding the school’s centennial celebration, with the inclusion of the filming of a popular TV show segment that’s meant to be an exciting surprise, Maxwell deliberately gives the secret away. After bullying and injuring Charlie in PE, Maxwell’s banned from the celebration but disrupts the event with catastrophic results. He flees to Reg, vents his misery, and, via a mysterious artifact, erases himself from his life. He finds himself in a Maxwell-free world where his parents have divorced, his dad is miserable, and Bex shoplifts. Worse, Monster doesn’t even exist. The premise closely tracks Frank Capra’s 1946 film, It’s a Wonderful Life. Like George Bailey, Maxwell’s shown the difference his past good deeds made to others through learning their fates in a world where he’s never existed. But slapdash execution, inconsistent plotting, and Maxwell himself hinder reader buy-in. His prior good deeds mainly reflect being in the right place at the right time; the Maxwell readers will remember is a selfish, manipulative bully.

Unconvincing.