Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz

Bibliographic Citation:
Saenz, Benjamin Alire. (2012). Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. ISBN 9781442408920.

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Plot Summary:
Aristotle “Ari” Mendoza and Dante Quintana are two teenage boys in El Paso, TX in 1987. Dante and his family are an open, affectionate and forgiving group, while Ari’s family is more reserved and less expressive. The two boys meet at a community pool and Dante teaches Ari how to swim. This is the first of many new trust-building experiences for the pair. When Dante begins to explore his homosexuality, Ari stands by his side as a friend and later as so much more.

Critical Analysis:
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe is a beautiful story about finding yourself, friendship, boundaries, love, family, and everything in between. It is written as a first-person narrative from the point of view of Aristotle. Perhaps the best part of the novel is the dialogue between Ari and Dante, their banter. Their exchange of words is so playful and natural that you don’t expect their relationship to take the turns that it does through out the novel.

The story is subtly edgy. Not that the boy’s relationship is in the background, but that you already love and care about Ari and Dante before you find out the way that they love and care about each other. Sexual orientation isn’t the only deep subject in the novel. Ari’s family is dealing with the incarceration of his brother for murder, as well as some old demons haunting his father from Vietnam. Saenz also touches on some identity struggles for Mexican American youth. Some, like Dante, may have difficulty deciding where they belong, especially if they do not speak Spanish.

A weakness in this novel is that readers may find the boy’s relationship to be inauthentic. Some of their conversations, for heterosexual young males in Texas in the 1980’s, may seem unbelievable at times. Early on Ari compares to Dante’s face to a beautiful map, which is not exactly typical lingo for someone with his demographics. Additionally, when it becomes apparent to Ari, and everyone else, that Dante is in fact in love with him, their friendship does not change. It is a beautiful testament of their relationship and I admired Ari’s loyalty, but again it seemed atypical. However, it could be argued that Dante is really Ari’s first friend so he has a unique and deep fondness for him.

The only true downside for me is that I haven’t heard if it is going to have a sequel yet.  I sure  hope it does because I can’t wait to see what the boys do next together.

It’s Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini

Bibliographic Citation:
Vizzini, Ned. (2012). It’s Kind of a Funny Story. New York, NY: Miramax Books/Hyperion Books For Children. ISBN 9780786851973.

Plot Summary:

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Craig Gilner is a Manhattan teenager who is in over his head. With the pressure to get into a good high school so he can get into a good college so he can get a good job mounting, he starts to lose himself. After being accepted into a Pre-Professional high school he realizes he can’t keep up and maybe doesn’t belong. He has trouble eating and sleeping before becoming suicidal which eventually causes him to do a stint in a mental hospital.

Critical Analysis:
It’s Kind of a Funny Story is well, kind of a funny story, written as a first-person narrative from the point of view of Craig. It is an unusual coming of age story and a romance about a teenager in an adult psychiatric facility. As appropriate for the target audience, the book has much more subtle humor rather than actual laugh-out-loud, literal humor. Humorous and surprising situations are sprinkled throughout the book casually. Even though the story is littered with some pretty heavy issues, you can’t help but laugh at it all. Vizzini uses humor to present some difficult material and somehow makes a book about depression not depressing.

Craig is a very real, honest, and genuine character. Right from the start you really feel for him. He is going through a lot and he is proud of how far he has come but feels like he isn’t good enough to maintain it or go any further. He has friends and a loving family, but at fifteen the pressure to succeed is already too much for him. Young readers can identify with much of what Craig is going through or feeling.

It’s Kind of a Funny Story doesn’t just have a few characters; you’ve got a variety of personalities on every page. Before going to Six North, the hospital’s mental floor, Craig has friends and family that you meet. Once in the hospital, you now have a whole set of new people who will entertain you. Even those characters will small roles in the story add so many dimensions to Craig’s experience there.

The book’s biggest weakness is the pacing. The beginning drags on and on and it seems like Craig will never eat or sleep or have a shift back to his former self. The book eventually picks up speed and you are left with a funny story about some not so funny events and you almost feel bad laughing at it. But just almost since it is kind of a funny story.

Side Note:
This book was later made into a movie by the same name. They sped the pacing of the beginning up a lot. Watch the trailer here:

My Friend Dahmer by Derf Backderf

Bibliographic Citation:
Backderf, Derf. (2012). My Friend Dahmer. New York, NY: Abrams ComicArts. ISBN 9781419702174.

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Plot Summary:
My Friend Dahmer is a graphic novel that follows the adolescent life of Jeffrey Dahmer. The novel chronicles his parent’s rocky marriage, his strange and antisocial behavior in school, experimentation with animal corpses, and finally heading down the notorious path we all know he takes to become a serial killer. Derf Backderf provides first hand insight into who or what Jeffrey Dahmer was and how he got that way.

Critical Analysis:
Derf Backderf had the unique and unsettling opportunity to grow up and know Jeffrey Dahmer. It has been said that this book will satisfy someone’s morbid curiosity, and it definitely does. The art and text are interdependent to a degree, but the illustrations are so exquisite that they can almost tell the story without words. But of course you want to know more, you want more details, you want to know WHY Jeffrey Dahmer became such a prolific serial killer and why no one seemed to notice there was something off about him. And so there are words, and you read on…

Backderf segments the story into parts: the preface, the prologue, Parts 1 – 5 and the epilogue, each shedding a bizarre light on the dark history of Jeffrey Dahmer. Backderf transitions between panels and segmented sections flawlessly. He is a master of his craft and makes the reader enjoy an otherwise creepy and haunting chain of events. You turn page after page devouring the text, and studying the comic. The art is monochromatic, all done in grayscale with entire frames predominately black. All very fitting for such a gloomy tale. It is pure evil packaged into something beautiful.

Perhaps the most harrowing detail of it all comes at the end. Backderf receives a phone call from a friend who tells him that someone he graduated high school with is a cannibal, necrophiliac, serial killer. This friend asks Derf to guess who it might be and his second guess, that’s right his second guess, out of everyone in his class, is Jeffrey Dahmer. So on some level his capabilities, his tendencies, and who he would become were always known.

So what is there not to like about My Friend Dahmer? Well, not much. The subject matter and content can be a bit too mature for a young adult. At times it can even be a little much for an adult reader, but you have to expect a certain level of repulsion and maturity when reading a book about Jeffrey Dahmer. My biggest qualm with it all is that the title is very misleading. Jeffrey Dahmer was never Backderf’s friend. Backderf under no circumstances liked Jeffrey Dahmer or considered him to even be a part of his friend circle. Dahmer was just this guy that he knew and that’s about it.

 

In Darkness by Nick Lake

Bibliographic Citation:
Lake, Nick. (2012). In Darkness. New York, NY: Bloomsbury. ISBN 9781599907437

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Plot Summary:
Shorty is a fifteen-year-old boy trapped in a hospital that has collapsed after an earthquake devastated the island of Haiti. Surrounded by death, and slowly dying himself, Shorty slips in and out of consciousness. With death on the horizon, he begins to have hallucinations of Toussaint L’Ouverture, a Haitian revolutionary leader from two hundred years ago. Both Shorty and L’Ouverture start to experience life and Haiti from a new perspective.

Critical Analysis:
In Darkness shifts back and forth between consciousness and lucidity, between Shorty’s life and Toussaint L’Ouverture and between the present and the past and it does so effortlessly. The lines are blurred but they are enthralling. Nick Lake does not shy away from some harsh and haunting truths of life in Haiti. Shorty witnesses the murder of his father and kidnapping of his sister and is immersed in Haiti’s drug and gang culture. Despite the wrong path Shorty seems to be going down prior to the earthquake, you want to feel hopeful for him. You want him to escape the hospital and his past, and find his sister. Readers are exposed to some dark subjects such as gangs, violence, murder, drugs, government corruption, and infanticide, but its called In Darkness after all, isn’t it? The title not only hints to Shorty’s physical state in a dark hospital room but to the history and current state of Haiti as a nation as well. This is a gripping and unsympathetic tale told in a complex way with some ruthless characters.

My biggest problem with this book is not so much a problem for me, but perhaps for Young Adult literature. It has been said that “young readers deserve books with happy endings” (Nielson et al. 120) and that there should be a hopeful air to them. In Darkness provides the reader with only a glimmer of hope. While Shorty’s story ends “in light”, L’Ouverture’s does not. This is not an easy book to read. In the author’s note Lake says, “If you were hoping that some of the more unpleasant things you have just read were made up, then I apologize.” On the flipside, part of what makes In Darkness so riveting is that it is so raw and unapologetic. Lake tried his best to stay true to L’Ouverture and to Haiti, which means that the harsher aspects will not be subtle. This book is fiction, but it is close enough to the truth that the reality of it all might haunt you.

 

Additional References:
Nilsen, A., Blasingame, J., Donelson, K., & Nilsen, D. (2012). Literature for today’s young adults. (9th ed.). Upper Saddle River: Pearson.

I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga

Bibliographic Citation:
Lyga, Barry. (2012). I Hunt Killers. New York, NY: Little, Brown. ISBN 9780316125840.

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Plot Summary:
Jasper “Jazz” Dent is the son of the world’s most prolific serial killer, Billy Dent. Four years after his father’s arrest another sequence of killings begins in his hometown by someone called The Impressionist. Jazz tries to stay a step ahead of the murderer while convincing himself that he isn’t a killer too — no matter who is dad is or what he knows. Jazz works with the police and tries to battle his own demons before they have another Billy Dent on their hands.

Critical Analysis:
I Hunt Killers is unlike many YA books in that it isn’t written from the point of view of the protagonist, but rather from a narrator’s perspective. As you read you’ll go back and forth between what is happening to and around Jazz to what is happening to and around The Impressionist. By not writing this book in first person, Lyga allows the reader to have some insight into the killer’s mind and plans. Even though the narrator guides you through what The Impressionist is doing at times, you do not lose any thrill or suspense. At times you are even more surprised than the characters themselves who didn’t have your knowledge. Jazz is, as one reviewer put it, chillingly charming (Clare). He has seen some bad things, he may have even done some bad things, but you can’t help but like him. Jazz knows he is a master manipulator, Jazz knows that he can work people and a situation to his advantage but you cheer for him anyway. You want Jazz to conquer his inner demons and come out on top, a confident young man who won’t become like his Dear Old Dad despite Billy’s best efforts.

I Hunt Killer is fantastic from start to finish. It isn’t formulaic in the slightest, I found myself pleasantly surprised with every mysterious twist because I thought I had it all figured out, but I didn’t. I wasn’t even close and I’m so glad. This novel closely follows most of the basic rules for mysteries, with one big exception. The actual murderer is never thought to be a suspect until the moment when you find out he is actually the killer. If Jazz or the police had suspected him from the beginning it would’ve seemed disingenuous. But no one suspected him and that is what made the ending so, so good.

The only weakness in this book is the lack of realism, and it isn’t really a weakness at all because without it there wouldn’t be a story. Jazz is a high school student whose father is a notorious murderer with kills into the triple-digits. The desperate local law enforcement actually allows him to assist in the solving of the crimes. They bring him to fresh crime scenes and he gets official copies of reports. This would never happen in a real life high profile serial killer case, but if it didn’t happen there wouldn’t really be a story here so you happily play along. Unrealistic elements are commonplace in mysteries, “they have almost nothing to do with real-life detection by police or private agents” (Nilsen, 2012, p. 245). In order to enjoy this book you have to suspend most of our disbelief and of course you will because you’ll love it and you’ll love Jazz.

 

References

Clare, C. (n.d.). Amazon.com: I hunt killers by barry lyga. Retrieved from http://www.amazon.com

Nilsen, A., Blasingame, J., Donelson, K., & Nilsen, D. (2012). Literature for today’s young adults. (9th ed.). Upper Saddle River: Pearson.

Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer

Bibliographic Citation:
Pfeffer, Susan Beth. (2006). Life As We Knew It. Orlando, FL: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 9780152061548.

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Plot Summary:
Miranda is sixteen-years-old when her life and the rest of the world get turned upside down after a the moon’s orbit is changed by a meteor collision. The planet is plagued by natural disasters and you can never be too careful with your food or your neighbors. This book chronicles Miranda’s family’s experiences as they hope for the best and prepare for the worst, not knowing what the future holds or if there is even a future at all.

Critical Analysis:
Life As We Knew It is a dystopian society novel written in the form of Miranda’s diary. Miranda, the protagonist, is a very identifiable character. She is your average run of the mill teenager, and her family is a typical group. Her parents are divorced, she fights with her mom, she thinks that her mom chooses favorites with her children, she dreams about having a boyfriend, and fantasizes about prom. Aside from the end of the world looming, many young girls can see themselves in her shoes.

Perhaps this novel’s most endearing quality is that it requires almost no energy to absorb yourself in the story and with the characters. I would describe this book as escape literature because you don’t have to think and you don’t learn anything to enjoy this book. Perhaps, it is almost better if you don’t think because too much thought might spoil the simplicity and point out some flaws in the storyline. Additionally, investing too much intellectual energy might make the tone or the not-so-subtle judgement and preachiness of some aspects too hard to handle. Some readers may be turned off to Miranda’s mother’s political viewpoints or Miranda’s scrutiny of the religious community. I found these details to aid in the book’s attempts at realism, but some might consider it little didactic with a message that detracts from the storyline.

It has been suggested that “young readers deserve books with happy endings” (Nielson et al. 120) and that their books need to have a sense of hope.  Life As Knew It definitely fits that bill. My biggest issue with this novel is that it didn’t go far enough. Pfeffer was too cautious, she was writing Life As We Knew It as a fairy tale with a post-apocalyptic backdrop. But perhaps that is what you want from a book for young adults. Miranda’s life is full of drama and it isn’t just because the world seems to be ending. There is a romance, and there are friendships, and in the end her life doesn’t seem all that bad. What more could you want when life as you knew it is over?

References:
Nielsen, A., Blasingame, J., Donelson, K., and Nilsen, D. (2012) Literature for Today’s Young Adults. (Ninth Edition). New York: Pearson.

 

Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork

Bibliographic Citation:
Stork, Francisco X. (2009). Marcelo in the Real World. New York, NY: Arthur A. Levine. ISBN 9780545054744.

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Plot Summary:
Marcelo is a teenage boy who just finished his junior year of high school. Only one more summer and one more school year stand between him and the real world, but Marcelo isn’t your average teenage boy. He has what his father described as a “cognitive disorder”, but truthfully he has something on the Autism spectrum, like Asperger’s Syndrome. Arturo, Marcelo’s father, refuses to accept his son’s differences and does not really acknowledge they even exist. Determined that Marcelo can make it in the real world he strikes a deal with him that could change everything for his son’s final year of high school. If Marcelo can rise to the challenge, he’ll get what he wants, but what if he can’t? After accepting his father’s deal, Marcelo gets a crash course in the real world and dealing with people’s intentions, motives, and true colors.

Critical Analysis:
Marcelo in the Real World is a contemporary, realistic fiction novel written as a first person narrative through the eyes of the protagonist, Marcelo Sandoval. It seems Stork, the author did a considerable amount of research before constructing Marcelo’s character. The amount of detail put into acquainting the reader with his mental faculties is incredible. Stork is truly a master of characterization. As a person who was already somewhat familiar with both Autism and Asperger’s Syndrome, the writing and character development was spot on. For those readers who may know little to nothing about these disorders, he or she will leave this text with knowledge of it and empathy for those diagnosed. You will leave Marcelo in the Real World changed in the best way possible.

While many young adult books have one or two main characters to stay short and fast-paced, this book does not follow suit. In this novel you will meet and get to know many characters as the story builds up around them. The other main characters include Arturo, Aurora, Jasmine, and Wendell. However, Marcelo is really the star. He is the one that the reader identifies most with, feels for, and learns with as the story progresses. I would consider the antagonists in this novel to be Arturo and Wendell. Wendell is a very stereotypical character, what one might expect of a “trust fund baby”, someone born with a silver spoon in his mouth. He has had everything handed to him and people don’t say no to him often, if ever. He is a relatively static character; he stays the same throughout the book. Sometimes Marcelo surprises him but overall his thoughts, beliefs, actions and demeanor are unchanged as the story evolves. Arturo, however, you get the sense is trying at times to evolve as a person and relate to his son. He is not going to win father of the year by any means, but he isn’t someone you consistently love or hate. He just is who he is and sometimes you wish that he wasn’t. Jasmine, on the other hand, is very much a dynamic character. She helps Marcelo adapt to the “real world” and both of them are better for having met each other.

In addition to the exceptional characterization, one of the best things about this book is that it wasn’t cookie cutter at all. It isn’t a standard formulaic novel where everything is so predictable that you don’t need to read the book to know where goes. I expected Marcelo to succeed to some degree, I mean, where would the story be if he didn’t? I expected him to change in some way but I didn’t expect him to evolve so much as a person. He is truly a character you love and you root for from start to finish.

If you like stories that are short and sweet and to the point, this one isn’t for you. But if you want to learn something, to feel something, and to be pleasantly surprised, read this book. In all honesty, the only down side is how wordy this book is, but it HAS to be or you wouldn’t know Marcelo and you wouldn’t love him.

 

Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley

Bibliographic Citation:
Whaley, John Corey. (2011). Where Things Come Back. New York, NY: Atheneum Books For Young Readers. ISBN 9781442413337.

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Plot Summary:
Cullen is a seventeen-year-old boy living in the small town of Lily, Arkansas. He fantasizes about leaving one day and never coming back. Shortly after Lily lands in the spotlight due to reports of a missing woodpecker resurfacing, his younger brother, Gabriel, goes missing. Cullen resents the town’s recent fame as he struggles with Gabriel’s disappearance. He is conflicted with the thought of second chances and that Lily just might be the place where things come back.

Critical Analysis:
Where Things Come Back is written from the point of view of several different characters. As you read you’ll hear Cullen’s story, Benton’s and Cabot’s. Each story is so intricately woven together yet you don’t know how they are connected until the end. This novel is also set in different places, Cullen in Arkansas, Cabot in Georgia, and Benton on a foreign mission trip. Whaley’s writing bounces the reader between characters flawlessly. You know they’re connected. You know there’s something more to each of them, but how? Why?

Where Things Come Back has so much going for it that it is hard to come up with any weaknesses in the story. The characters had so many dimensions, so many little details that you didn’t know were going to matter until they did. You know what they’re thinking, you know how they feel, and you can empathize with them even if you haven’t been in a situation even remotely similar. There are few characters that aren’t rich in detail with their own personal struggles. Despite novels for young adults typically having few main characters to stay short, you need those characters and details. This story wouldn’t be the same if you took away some of the layers.

Also, this book isn’t set primarily in a school. The majority of the book is told from Cullen’s perspective, and it seems he spends more time in his brother’s room or at the store where he works than everywhere else. I found this to be refreshing. It isn’t just another teenage book about high school problems. Where Things Come Back is unlike any book I’ve ever read and it was a welcomed change.

My biggest complaint with this book is the pacing. It started off really slow and I would go days without picking it up. The beginning just couldn’t keep my attention. However, the ending of the book was so riveting that I couldn’t put it down. Whaley needed to build the story up, to introduce us to the characters, to give us some back story but I wish he could’ve done it with a little more pizzazz.

Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret? By Judy Blume

Bibliographic Citation:
Blume, Judy. (1986). Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. New York, NY: Yearling. ISBN 9781439521472.

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Plot Summary:
Tweenager Margaret Simon is moving from the bustling haven of diversity in New York City to suburban New Jersey with her family. There she faces new challenges as she struggles to find her place in a seemingly homogenous community. Margaret’s family is divided religiously, but she hopes to establish a relationship with her god all while trying to balance sixth grade, boys, and puberty.

Critical Analysis:
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret is an example of a first person narrative done right. If this novel were written any other way so much of the story would’ve been lost for the reader. Margaret is a sixth grade girl, so like many YA novels, school is a backdrop setting since the majority of kid’s day-to-day life is spent in school. This book is generally marketed toward upper elementary and lower secondary students because of Margaret’s age and grade.

I thought this book was fantastic. When weighing its strengths and weaknesses, the good definitely came out ahead. For starters, the characterization in this book is excellent. Since it is written in first person, the text describes Margaret’s inner thoughts and feelings through her personal communication with god. Margaret is a dynamic character. This is her coming of age story and she changes through the book and finds her way. Many young readers will identify with Margaret and may develop a “you are there” feeling — a personal connection to her as they read.

Since YA novels are typically fairly short, there are few main characters. In this book I would say that Margaret and perhaps Nancy are really the only protagonists. However, it could even be argued that Nancy is more of an antagonist. (Am I the only one who didn’t like her?)

Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret is very formulaic. The story, in my opinion, is too predictable. Nearly everything that happened you could see coming from a mile away. Maybe the target audience wouldn’t have seen all of it coming, but when I read this it seemed all of the events were pretty obvious. I also didn’t like that nearly everyone was a static or stock character. With the exception of Margaret and Nancy, you don’t really know anything about anyone else. However, you can’t have in-depth character development of everyone if you want to keep it relatively short fast-paced. Still, I wanted more.

 

Z for Zachariah by Robert C. O’Brien

Bibliographic Citation:
O’Brien, Robert C. (1987). Z for Zachariah. New York, NY: Simon Pulse. ISBN 9780020446507, 249p.

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Plot Summary:
Sixteen-year-old Ann Burden is living in the aftermath of a nuclear war and as far as she knows, she’s alone. One day she sees someone approaching in the distance and begins fantasizing about who it could be and what it could mean for the future. She meets Mr. Loomis, a scientist, who has survived the fallout. He arrives in special suit that protects the wearer from radiation exposure. Her fantasies quickly fade when Mr. Loomis’s true personality and will become more apparent and she is faced with a new, harsh reality.

Critical Analysis:
Typical of YA novels, Z for Zachariah is both fast-paced and written as a first person narrative. While the pace at which the novel progresses is undoubtedly a strength, the narrator’s point of view  is both a strength and a weakness in this novel. By having Ann tell the story from the point of view of her journal entries, the reader really gets to know her, can feel a connection with her, and can identify with her as a strong, dynamic female character with an unusual coming of age story. Since Ann is not an all knowing narrator the reader misses out on the thoughts and viewpoints of Mr. Loomis. However, it can be argued that the omniscient narration is ideal because the point of view of Mr. Loomis may not have enhanced the story. While this type of extreme isolation is something that the reader has most likely not experienced, Ann is a character that reader can empathize with as she tries to imagine what she would do if this happened in her life.

Another part of the story that can be seen both as a strength and a weakness is the open ending. When describing this book to someone else, I said that it ended in a way that the author could’ve followed up with a sequel but didn’t really need to do so. In the end Ann is going a new direction; she formulated a plan and is now executing it, but her journey could take her anywhere. Some readers enjoy a sense of finality to a story, while others like to fill in the blanks themselves. Will Ann find life outside of the valley? Will Ann happen upon the deadness and like too many others before her, perish?