Annotation: Teen celebration ends in tragedy after a drunk driving fatality. Survivors cope with it, but one of the group can’t deal, and spirals emotionally out of control.
Justification for Nomination: Andy Jackson, high school basketball star, takes his friends out for a party after winning a game. Of course, drinking and driving was involved, and tragedy ensues. He and all of his friends survive the crash. Except his friend Rob, who dies a very horrible and fiery death (which is well described, and is visually stuck in my mind). As the driver, Andy absorbs a huge amount of guilt over the death, and he becomes essentially manic depressive.
He goes to therapy, and persuades his shrink that he’s getting better, while at the same time sinks deeper into depression. His friends, family and teachers try to help him, but he doesn’t accept it. By the time he realizes that he does need help, it’s too late and there is no one around to help him. Andy commits suicide leaving behind even more pain and grief than he had when Rob died. His friends then write letters to him as part of their grief therapy
First and foremost, this novel is almost all dialogue. It could have been very confusing, but actually serves to draw the reader deeper into the story. Any descriptions we get are character discussions, journal entries, letters, or news clippings. This lends the characters a depth and a livelihood of their own, which gives them authenticity. They are all living breathing characters in their own right.
This depth of character helps the reader see how the death of a dear friend affects those already undergoing stressful changes as a teen. In addition to dealing with acceptance by adults, school/sport duties, and a relationship, Andy must deal with being responsible for the death of his best friend. This grief amplifies the pain and confusion caused by being a teenager.
The book is also a good example of how teens have one way to talk and act for adults, and a totally different way for each other. To each other they tend to use slang, and are more real with their feelings, but with adults they talk in a more articulated way, and are less open with their feelings. A great example is Andy. Andy opens up to his girlfriend about his sadness, but seems to dwell on it too much. In his sessions with his therapist, he seems to tell him his feelings as well but we find out later that he was just telling the therapist what he wanted to hear, having left out some of the finer points of his suffering.
The book also portrays the teens with their development processes going on. The following are some examples of characters going through their development: self-centeredness (Andy’s suicide, his need for Keisha), idealism (Andy thinks he should have died instead of Rob), characters dating, Andy becomes introspective about Rob’s death, the teens all socialize with each other about teen things, some of them discover who they are(B.J.’s faith in God grows, Tyrone and Rhonda discover their true love for each other ), and they try to act more adult (drinking, serious dating, just acting more mature).
The book also gets points for having African-Americans as main characters, who are for the most part good kids, not wrapped up in gangs/drugs. They are not stereotypes. That’s not too say they don’t have problems, but for the most part these teens are pretty good. The author also gets some points for pointing out how messed up committing suicide is. She condemns the acts, but does it in the form of letters from the characters. Some of what is in the letters could be preachy, but its not because the characters voices are so strong, its their voice that condemns Andy’s suicide. There’s enough edge to their feelings to make it the character’s voice and not the author’s.
Suggestions for improvement: While 90% of the dialogue sounds authentic, there is some, mostly in the beginning, that sounds a little preachy. Some of the dialogue discussing Rob’s death sounds very stilted and preachy. After this point though, the characters take on a life of their own, and it shows in their voice.
I also thought Andy’s suicide was a little abrupt, and would have really liked to see him overcome his demons. This is especially the case since his therapist said he was improving. His suicide was foreshadowed (bridge jumping), but the way he did it was not (gun).
Genre: Problem Novel/Edgy Fiction
Justification for Nomination: Andy Jackson, high school basketball star, takes his friends out for a party after winning a game. Of course, drinking and driving was involved, and tragedy ensues. He and all of his friends survive the crash. Except his friend Rob, who dies a very horrible and fiery death (which is well described, and is visually stuck in my mind). As the driver, Andy absorbs a huge amount of guilt over the death, and he becomes essentially manic depressive.
He goes to therapy, and persuades his shrink that he’s getting better, while at the same time sinks deeper into depression. His friends, family and teachers try to help him, but he doesn’t accept it. By the time he realizes that he does need help, it’s too late and there is no one around to help him. Andy commits suicide leaving behind even more pain and grief than he had when Rob died. His friends then write letters to him as part of their grief therapy
First and foremost, this novel is almost all dialogue. It could have been very confusing, but actually serves to draw the reader deeper into the story. Any descriptions we get are character discussions, journal entries, letters, or news clippings. This lends the characters a depth and a livelihood of their own, which gives them authenticity. They are all living breathing characters in their own right.
This depth of character helps the reader see how the death of a dear friend affects those already undergoing stressful changes as a teen. In addition to dealing with acceptance by adults, school/sport duties, and a relationship, Andy must deal with being responsible for the death of his best friend. This grief amplifies the pain and confusion caused by being a teenager.
The book is also a good example of how teens have one way to talk and act for adults, and a totally different way for each other. To each other they tend to use slang, and are more real with their feelings, but with adults they talk in a more articulated way, and are less open with their feelings. A great example is Andy. Andy opens up to his girlfriend about his sadness, but seems to dwell on it too much. In his sessions with his therapist, he seems to tell him his feelings as well but we find out later that he was just telling the therapist what he wanted to hear, having left out some of the finer points of his suffering.
The book also portrays the teens with their development processes going on. The following are some examples of characters going through their development: self-centeredness (Andy’s suicide, his need for Keisha), idealism (Andy thinks he should have died instead of Rob), characters dating, Andy becomes introspective about Rob’s death, the teens all socialize with each other about teen things, some of them discover who they are(B.J.’s faith in God grows, Tyrone and Rhonda discover their true love for each other ), and they try to act more adult (drinking, serious dating, just acting more mature).
The book also gets points for having African-Americans as main characters, who are for the most part good kids, not wrapped up in gangs/drugs. They are not stereotypes. That’s not too say they don’t have problems, but for the most part these teens are pretty good. The author also gets some points for pointing out how messed up committing suicide is. She condemns the acts, but does it in the form of letters from the characters. Some of what is in the letters could be preachy, but its not because the characters voices are so strong, its their voice that condemns Andy’s suicide. There’s enough edge to their feelings to make it the character’s voice and not the author’s.
Suggestions for improvement: While 90% of the dialogue sounds authentic, there is some, mostly in the beginning, that sounds a little preachy. Some of the dialogue discussing Rob’s death sounds very stilted and preachy. After this point though, the characters take on a life of their own, and it shows in their voice.
I also thought Andy’s suicide was a little abrupt, and would have really liked to see him overcome his demons. This is especially the case since his therapist said he was improving. His suicide was foreshadowed (bridge jumping), but the way he did it was not (gun).
Genre: Problem Novel/Edgy Fiction
