Book Hangover Thoughts: Kane Chronicles

The family in Rick Riordan’s The Kane Chronicles is an excellent example of why I have a book hangover     

as they were torn apart by their mother’s death, and the Kane siblings had different ways of dealing with obvious emotional displacement.

I use this series because it has obvious symptoms.
While Carter stayed with their father, the siblings’ maternal grandparents sued for custody of Sadie,

allowing two visitation days a year. They claimed they couldn’t take both children,

but the more likely reason was that they only wanted their granddaughter

because she bears a striking resemblance to her mother, their daughter. 

I’m aware that the two being raised separately was part of a big, elaborate predetermination by the universe, and that their father wanted to keep them both, but nobody thought to tell any of that to the family.

Because nobody ever told her that her father did not in fact abandon her to live with her grandparents, Sadie spent six years believing he didn’t want her. This explains why she acts the way she does. Sadie’s become the stereotypical rebellious preteen, the thought of which only freaked me out because it’s unhealthy to hide your emotions behind a tough exterior. It’s like keeping a raging waterfall behind a dam. The crushing force of all those suppressed emotions pounding at the barriers set around your heart until the eventual collapse and flood, leading to long-term damage as consequence. The books describe the character as someone who’ll speak her mind about anything and everything, even if it gets her in trouble and who dresses in battered jeans, leather jackets, and combat boots. Who regularly dyes streaks in her hair, always chews gum and has a long history of getting herself in trouble. These are all typical traits of cries for attention. 
Most kids who act like that start doing it because they crave the attention of authority figures, and don’t care what kind of attention they receive, so long as it’s solely focused on them. In this case, Sadie acted tough because she felt like her widowed father had abandoned her and as a result, started misbehaving because she craved parental attention, and acting out is one of the simplest ways to guarantee an adult will drop what they’re doing and give you their full attention. 

This is obviously the fault of her grandparents.

While they did love Sadie very much, they made it no secret that they held their son-in-law responsible

for their daughter’s death.

They gave him two days a year with his daughter, and didn't even invite him or their grandson in once nor did they ever explain to their granddaughter that while her father still loved her,

he couldn’t be with her all the time.

Because of this, is it any wonder Sadie became a twelve-year-old rebel?

I, for one, feel bad for her.

Think about it, she was only six when she lost her mother.

And had to move away from her father.

And didn’t even have her big brother to support her while living under the belief that nobody wanted her.

She would go to bookstores and read her father’s books,

trying in vain to feel a connection to him. 

I mean, imagine only seeing your single parent and older brother every six months and they’re always late. 

And on top of all that,

Sadie mentioned that her cat, Muffin and an amulet are the only gifts her father ever gave her.

No wonder she was so rebellious! She felt like her father abandoned her and her grandparents did nothing to help the situation because they blamed him for the death of their daughter. Is it any real question why she never really seemed all that chipper? 
Carter didn’t fare much better.

Sure, he got to spend time with his dad,

but traveling around the world nonstop for six years

and basically, carrying your entire life in a suitcase isn’t really quality time. He barely stayed in one country for a week! 
During emotionally traumatic times like the loss of a parent, siblings should be together not separated! They need someone familiar to lean on! The last thing an impressionable child needs is a reason to associate life changes with bad things happening! I mean, imagine being a young child who can barely understand that one of your parents isn’t coming back, then some big prehistoric prophecy decides that you suddenly have to go live with relatives who live far away from your remaining parent and sibling, only being allowed to visit each other every twenty-four weeks while your sibling is allowed to stay with your parent. See what I mean? Wouldn’t it be traumatic for small children to go from a loving nuclear family to living on opposite sides of the planet as if overnight, like a small fish dumped in a big pond? 
As I mentioned before, the siblings dealt with emotional displacement in different ways. 
While he at least behaved himself,

Carter made it clear that he had a secret and desperate longing for a permanent home.

He hated waking up every morning not knowing if he’d still be on the same continent,

and since he only saw his sister twice a year, he wasn’t aware that Sadie was acting out to gain attention.

He thought she was genuinely uninterested in her limited time with him and their father.

And the fact that it’s some big, crazy predetermination by the universe that the Kane siblings be raised apart doesn’t help.

How are they supposed to learn to focus their powers together if they barely acknowledge each other? 

I’m just glad the ending of the series had them become somewhat closer. 

Why must fate be so cruel? 
To put all this in a more understandable perspective, imagine losing a parent.

One of the most important people in your life is gone forever,

and the family you have left is torn apart by blame. 
It’s like the grandparents decided to punish their son-in-law by taking their granddaughter

since if they can’t have their own daughter anymore, then neither can he. 
 When people do this sort of thing,

they often don’t even consider the long-term effects that kind of custody battle could have on a child,

they just want to make their in-laws suffer because they either

blame them for the situation or just plain don’t like them.

In this case, because Sadie had such limited time with her dad,

she honestly felt like he’d abandoned her.