Angry Young Man

I nominated Chris Lynch's Angry Young Man for our Mock Printz discussion this year. If you don't already know, the Printz award is the highest honor given to a work of young adult literature each year. So far in 2011, I've been having trouble finding truly outstanding titles to nominate. Clearly, I need to be reading more. And posting more.

Angry Young Man is the story of two brothers. The elder, Robert, is our narrator. He's the popular, assured one with the cool girlfriend (Babette), the community college plan, and future goals to be a kids' sports coach. Xan, on the other hand, is the misfit of misfits. It's hard to describe Xan. You really have to read him to get him. He's awkward, super sensitive, socially floundering, and his intensity about injustice rules his life. The book begins with Xan putting on a pair of amber sunglasses that conceal his eyes. Since the eyes are the windows to the soul, Xan doesn't want anyone looking in. You can't help but like Xan, but you know from page one that life has to be an ongoing source of trauma for him. Robert mercilessly but lovingly gives Xan a hard time. All the time. Yet Robert, who never protected his brother adequately in high school, now wants to see Xan figure out his life. The boys both live with their mother. She works all the time, spends much of her life exhausted, yet she insists on sit down dinners with her sons at least once a week. This is a close family. A loving one. And one now tormented by a slimy debt collector who's hounding them over the mother's unpaid credit card bills. When Robert brings Xan with him to his community college classes, and Xan starts attending a social worker's beginning course, Robert little realizes that Xan is going to take a turn for the truly troubling. Suddenly aware of even more injustices plaguing the world, Xan takes up company with a local group of young students whose acts border on terrorism. And there is Xan, the sensitive, misled young man, fulfilling the increasingly dangerous wishes of the group's militant leader. Robert fights to save Xan from the group and from himself (Xan, that is) while at the same time trying to stave off the harrassment of the debt collector. Things begin to spiral out of control, leaving the reader wondering if everyone is going to meet an unpleasant downfall.

Sounds heavy, right? Parts are, though nowhere near as heavy as Chris Lynch's novel from a few years back, Inexcusable. This new book, despite its conflict for the characters, is full of humor. Lynch writes about brothers who fight but love one another from the point of view of a very funny, if angry, narrator. It's the way the narrator speaks and sees the world that makes you like him so much. Robert and Xan are polar opposites, bound by blood. Even when Robert is giving Xan the worst treatment, you know he loves Xan. This is a brief book, but don't let that fool you into thinking there isn't a lot within its pages. Is this the best teen book of the year? Well, I'm not sure of that yet. The ending seemed a trifle abrupt to me, although I also found it very satisfying. But this is definitely one of the better books I've read so far, and I knew from the first few chapters that it deserved consideration.

Slice of Cherry

This book contains extreme violence, sexual situations, and monsters that devour unlucky folk on a regular basis. It's not for everyone, but it was definitely for me. Older teens and those who like very dark humor will enjoy it; others will be completely horrified and unable to see the humor.

Slice of Cherry takes place in Portero, not your average American town. Savvy Porterenes avoid the monsters but ignorant visitors are often eaten, their parts left strewn about town. ("Who hasn't come across a stray head at some point?" opines one of the main characters early in the book.) But human monsters also roam the streets of Portero, and Fancy and Kit, the teenage daughters of the infamous Bonesaw Killer, are two of them. They've inherited their father's lust for blood and they enjoy engaging in their talent for mayhem. Fancy also has the supernatural ability to take her sister, herself, and their victims to an imaginary spot she calls "The Happy Place," a name that becomes increasingly funnier as The Happy Place grows darker and darker. (Anything Fancy imagines becomes real in The Happy Place, and as one can guess, Fancy's imagination can be quite grim.) Fancy fights growing up tooth and nail. All she wants is her older sister, Kit and her mother, Madda. But a local boy captures Kit's dark heart and the relationship isn't doomed despite the fact that his father was the Bonesaw Killer's last victim. ("We know who you are," said Kit cheerfully. "Our dad killed your dad.") This book is about murderous urges, yes, but it's also about growing up, finding first love, and accepting the inevitability of change. And it's hilarious.

Like I said, this book is violent, yet there's a definite detachment from the violence. Horrible things are stated in a very straightforward manner, but the descriptions tend to be brief, stated rather than egregiously described. Death is just a fact of life in Portero, and the unreality of the place gives the reader some distance from the horror of what's going on. Fancy and Kit's blase attitude also makes it difficult to take the violence very seriously. Nonetheless, this book isn't for every reader. I'd suggest it for the older teen with a black sense of humor. Some people might object that this was published for teens, but the emphasis on growing pains and young relationships indicates that it clearly is for teens. The relationship between Fancy and Kit is one of the best and most unusual (yet very recognizable) portraits of sisterhood I have ever read.

Dia Reeves also wrote Bleeding Violet, her first book set in Portero. Of course, I am now very much looking forward to checking that out too.

Heck Where the Bad Kids Go

A very interesting premise. Where indeed do bad kids go? Basye describes a dimension that would make any kid think twice about living a life that would guarantee winding up in Heck.

Marlo and Milton Fauster die in a horrible marshmellow bear explosion. Marlo is the bad seed and poor Milton winds up as collateral damage. There is the Bea "Elsa" Bubb who runs Heck and is the nightmare principal figure and just about every horrible thing that anyone could think of, like the only food in the cafeterium is spoiled vegetables. Ethics class is taught by Richard Nixon and Home Ec is taught by Lizzie Borden. There are other "wonderful" teachers. Showers run muddy water, woven hair pajamas are worn to bed and everything is filthy. Gross, gross, really gross!

It was kind of an overload situation on the descriptions for me. I think the readers would probably enjoy reading the various descriptions of Heck. I had to admire the spunk of Marlo, Milton and Milton's new friend Virgil in their relentless quest to escape. They do not give up. But will they be able to escape? It was funny and it will be interesting to read the sequel coming out in July 2009, Rapacia.