A Review of Christianah Adeboye's My Juvenile Song

Korede Teriba

 Structured into twenty - four chapters, the tale, My Juvenile Song, is centered on the high school life of Monifeoluwa Martins, a teenager girl who was emotionally wounded and hurt. She meets Priye, a charismatic and brilliant student whose Spartan father insists she study Medicine. Slowly, she and Priye become friends. In addition to her, she meets Grace, Dayo(whom she falls in love with), Stella, and Emeka. The six form a clique of diligent, brilliant, and loyal friends devoted to each other's welfare. Through suspense which might seem boring, the writer moves the plot forward with hints and clues. 

The writer took me through the daily high school life of Monife. Monife is a character battered by pain. The pain of her father abandoning her mother and her. She thought her mother is guilty. Monife realized Stella is her sister and her father had been an unfaithful husband - though he's remorseful. She reconciled with her mother and Stella whom she held grudges against. The story ends with the six having their Valedictory service and moving to the next stage of their lives. Juvenile has to do with something related to youths. Apparently, this is a coming of age story. A story centered on young people. It's the song - story of young people.

The story addresses salient matters silenced in African societies. Matters of mental and emotional well being, parenthood, and sexual harrasment. The African society clamps down emotional pain, and hurt. Monife coped with her pain through Scripthotherapy. 

Scripthotherapy, according to Joseph Mayaki and Emmanuel Omobowale in the Journal of Poetry Therapy, is derived from the "addition of the morphological items: "scripto" and "therapy." The former, a derivative of the Latin root, scriptum means "written thing." The latter, also a Latin derivative therapia, means "to nurse and or cure" have "combined to constitute the linguistic property, "Scripthotherapy." Both scholars define it "as a conscious or an unconscious act through which individuals write or read themselves out of some form of neurotic conditions into wellness." In the story, Monife consciously or unconsciously scripted her way into wellness. Through writing about longings for her father, she reliefs herself of grief. This contributes to the plot. She scripted her grief into diaries her grandma bought for her and excerpts from these diaries accompany each titled chapter.

The story, evocative, keeps me in suspense. Though this seemed boring as I kept wondering what the story was really about. Towards the end, the plot became animating. The previous chapters were build - ups to the climax/conflict, Monife's recognition of her father and Stella as her step - sister at the PTA/Prize - giving ceremony. The plot thickens at this point and slowly each build up that seemed drab and knotty were resolved.

Stella's song in the play during the school's drama night is symbolic and a foreshadow of what's to come in the story. A part of the song says, "I have relatives elsewhere…" Indeed Stella had a relative, Monife. This is one of the clues the writer drops to move the plot.

I find significant Emeka's name, Emeka Danjuma Andrew. I pondered this combination of Igbo, Hausa, and Jewish names. But the writer gave me the answer in th discussion between Emeka and Monife. His father, an infertile Hausa man married an Igbo woman. But they couldn't bear children. They adopted Emeka and gave him the names. However, the woman left the marriage, leaving the man to care for the child. A child he dearly loved. The marriage symbolizes love as having no boundaries. Danjuma showering love on Emeka is an act of love and devotion. 

Family is society's basic unit. With his unfaithfulness and indiscipline, Monife's father causes things to fall apart in his family. This greatly affects Monife and her mother. Equally, parenthood is pivotal. Irresponsible parenthood breeds pestilences and bunkum as children. Additionally, it breeds emotionally and mentally damaged children as evidenced in Monife, Priye, Emeka, and Dayo. Of significance to me is Monife's longing for her father. This longing reveals fatherhood as primal to the emotional, psychological, mental, wholeness of children. 

Unfortunately, we live in a society that disdains fatherhood and patriarchy, claiming a man isn't needed in the upbringing of a child. Some have even gone to the insane and dastard extent of attempting to redefine the divine order if family. While the grievances of these set of people are understood, they don't erase man's divine responsibility in the family - to lead and nurture in righteousness - and the pivotal place of Godly fatherhood in the society.

Sexual harrasment is a major issue in Nigeria. People who are meant to protect the juveniles prey on them. The randy Vice Principal, in his attempt to get in - between Priye's thighs, invites her to his home for Maths tutorials. Innocently, she goes to his home. But he is home alone. Having striped himself to bare Singlet and Boxer shorts, he sits beside Priye and demands that they "pray." Priye hears "let us pray." But when he grabs her, forcing her on his laps, fondling her, she realizes the statement was, "let us play." These set of devious and failed people prey on their innocent victims rather than pray for them. They "play" with them rather than pray with them. They're found in the academic and religious domains. They're the angels - but animated by the soul's breath. They're the Christs, but are actually Judases and Satanists.

However, the story, to an undiscerning and impatient reader, might seem drab. This is a flaw in the narrative. Also, this can be remedied by leaving cliff hangers which would enable readers read on. 

The tale, My Juvenile Song, is an excellent coming of age story, teaching friendship, the place of family, and life.