Appropriate Genre?
Alias Madame Doubtfire, for all of its sad, childish, parental nuclear fighting, seems more suited to our “reality” reading list. As the story goes along and the reader is exposed to more of the family situation, Madame Doubtfire’s appearance in Miranda’s household, and the subplots of “life drawing” and Miranda’s unintended storytelling about the marriage, it reminds me more and more of Melinda’s perspective of the dysfuntional adults in her life in Laurie Halse Andersen’s Speak. As much as confused observation of adult behaviour is a theme in young teen fiction and beyond, I feel as if this is a strong similarity between Alias and Speak, and based on this and the strong issues of divorce, fighting and family violence that are dealt with in this story puts this book more solidly in the Realism genre than humour.
There is some weak, inappropriate and mean-spirited humor in this book, but it is buried by the much larger issues and problems being dealt with. The humor in this book might as well be a weak attempt to distract from what’s really happening, both in the plot itself and in the writing.