A Review in Two Parts

Part One
Ariel, recommended this book to me, and she wrote a fine good review of the book. You can find it by clicking on her name.

I really liked the book, but didn't love it. I think the things I didn't love about the book were me being a crank. For example, the myopic narrator view point of a seventh grader was great; it caught the distortions that a kid sees the world through and the way teachers and others outside of their own circle are depersonalized into roles instead of people. Without being preachy, though. But, then I would not like the Wally and Beaver golly-gee attitude that would at times sneak into the book. Sometimes it worked for good comic effect but it seemed too pure and innocent for me. Another part that I'm not quite sure how I feel is the Forest Gump path the story veers off into sometimes. But maybe if Tom Hanks hadn't starred in the movie I wouldn't be annoyed by anything that reminds me of the movie.

On the plus side, I really like the month of May in the book (each chapter is a month in the school year). I was a little afraid of what May may bring when I was reading the book, you know since it would be May 1968, probably the most tragic month of the second half of the 20th century. I'm not interested in going into detail and talking late story plot developments or anything, so I'll just leave it that the author does a great job capturing a certain pathos by this point in the novel that originally had only been a suburban comedic effect.

If I was a teacher of young adults and I had them read this book, I'd probably test them by asking them this question: "Tragedy or Comedy? Why? Explain and Defend".

Part Two
(If you are averse to potty mouth language please go away, I'm about to rant it up. You've been warned. Now go away if you don't like dirty words. Seriously. Go Away)

Anyway, thank you for sticking around. This part is called Wednesday Wars as Republican Fantasy , or something like that.

The basic premise of this book is that there is this one WASP kid in a Long Island class surrounded by Papists taking orders from the Vatican (and thus only a step better than Communists, but never to be trusted as real Americans) and Jews (those greedy fucks who run the banks., ie., the ones who figure a way to swindle the poor upper middle class white Protestant males money from him through usury, liberal politics, socialism and ultimately Communism). This paragon of WHITE AMERICA is (gasp!) a MINORITY in this own home, and further more sees that the people in power (his teacher) irrationally hates him! (Just like Big Government (i.e., Liberals, Democrats, (see Jews!) hate the SILENT MAJORITY- which is not mentioned in the book, but which would be used as a rallying slogan by Nixon in the 1968 elections)). See the character in this book as RIGHT WING CHRISTIAN AMERICA circa, well whenever, but today is good. When they are a MAJORITY but for some reason see themselves as a persecuted MINORITY, and they are angry, ANGRY, ANGRY!!!!! that anyone else gets any of the pie besides them, and that if people aren't on their hands and knees sucking their dicks then they are only trying to steal their money and take things away from them (see THOSE FUCKING GAYS WITH THEIR WANTING TO GET MARRIED!!!! HOW DARE THEY!!!!!!).

This might sound like fiction, but sadly it's not. A 13 year old has the right to seeing the world in a distorted manner or persecution. A nation of adults seeing the world in the same way is sad?, scary?, retarded?, enough to make one (me) want to seriously reconsider democracy and not let those suffering from extreme persecution delusions have a right to vote? All of the above?

This isn't even so much a rant, as a pointing out of another story going on in this book. Sadly, for my theory here, the White, Right and Dumb American story falls apart after a chapter or two. Which goes to show that 13 year olds can grow, but stupid ignorant tea-baggers haven't yet shown that they can.