THE world is a tough place to live in. It’s hard enough for us adults to wade through issues that come with living in today’s universe. The world out there is on fire and we’re feeling the aftermath of its meltdown. Yet, how do our young ones navigate through issues that we ourselves are ill-equipped to deal with?
Authors Colleen Hoover and Angie Thomas have come up with two novels featuring young adults who have to deal with adult issues. Depression, psychosis, police brutality and racism — pretty heavy themes that get us questioning about the kind of world we’re leaving behind for our children. It’s not all that bleak though. Humanity, even at its worst, can find salvation through acts of honesty and acceptance.
And those are the themes that thread through these stories. What’s even more interesting is that at the end of the day, there are no heroes that come bursting through to save the day. We save ourselves and we keep on surviving each day as it comes.
WITHOUT MERIT
Author: Colleen Hoover
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
362 pages
The Voss family is quirky, flawed and full of secrets. Just how abnormal? They live in a repurposed church bought by Merit Voss’ father who had a vendetta against the pastor’s dog. Merit’s cancer-stricken mother lives in the basement, her father is married to her mother’s former nurse, her half-brother isn’t allowed to do or eat anything fun, and her siblings are perfect.
If that isn’t dysfunctional enough, Merit collects pre-owned trophies. Ones she’s never earned. As the story begins, she’s eyeing a particular trophy from a 1972 Dallas pageant called Boots and Beauties, complete with a gold-plated woman on top. But I digress. This isn’t the only thing Merit collects. With all the secrets running through her household, Merit has reached tipping point.
She falls for boy called Sagan with secrets of his own and discovers he’s completely unavailable. Retreating deeply into herself, Merit finds that she’s unable to bear the weight of all the secrets in her home, and decides to shatter the “happy family” illusion. She writes each one of them a letter, exposing their lies and decides to run away for good. When her escape plan is foiled, she’s forced to deal with the staggering consequences of telling the truth, and discovers that the layers of lies that build walls between families can be broken down through the power of love.
Most young adult novels are predictable; you often get a general idea of where the story is headed. Author Colleen Hoover tries not to follow that much trodden plot. There are enough unexpected plot twists to keep you wanting to turn the page. At the heart of the story is a family that’s struggling to come to terms with the rifts and resentment that brew between them.
What’s Hot: Everything about the Voss’ lives is so strange but they go through the motions, ignoring their problems, accepting that they’re social outcasts. This makes the book all that more difficult to put down. It’s like going on a road trip without a map. Just buckle in and enjoy the ride. Here’s one pithy quote that gets me all teary-eyed about family: “Not every mistake deserves a consequence. Some just deserve forgiveness.”
What’s Not: Although depression forms the anchor of the story, it’s not really explored at length. The over-the-top situation that the Voss family goes through — while highly entertaining — isn’t really the idea of a normal family’s issues. But then again, in this day and age where nothing can really surprise us anymore, what’s normal?
THE HATE U GIVE
Author: Angie Thomas
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
444 pages
Protagonist 16-year-old Starr Carter balances her life between two disparate worlds — the impoverished black neighbourhood where she lives, and the fancy suburban prep school that she attends. The carefully built-up boundary between her two worlds crumble when she witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend, Khalil, at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.
As a sole witness to Khalil’s fatal shooting, Starr finds herself overwhelmed by the pressure of testifying between a grand jury and the responsibility of speaking out in Khalil’s memory. Former teen rapper Angie Thomas weaves a story that’s both shocking, poignant and extraordinarily lyrical in prose.
The story begins at a party that Starr reluctantly attends. The pounding music, the strong smell of weed and the maze of sweaty bodies mark the kind of party that she feels she doesn’t belong in. Observing keenly, she describes: “Girls wear their hair coloured, curled, laid, and slayed. Got me feeling basic as hell with my ponytail. Guys in their freshest kicks and sagging pants grind so close to girls they just about need condoms ...” Then gunshots shatter the music.
Fleeing from the party, 16-year-old Starr is led to apparent safety by her friend Khalil. Shortly after, their car is pulled over by a police officer. The unarmed Khalil is murdered — shot at point blank range by the man Starr refers to from this moment on as “Officer One-Fifteen”: “I blink through my tears. Officer One-Fifteen yells at me, pointing the same gun he killed my friend with. I put my hands up.”
Starr is the only witness to the crime and her 16-year-old shoulders have to bear the ferocious outrage of her race and community. Back at home, she lives with her father “Big Mav”, a former gang-member who wants to make their crime-ridden neighbourhood a better place, and her mother Lisa, who wants to move away in order to keep her family safe. Summoning up the courage to testify, Starr learns that sometimes telling the truth can set off painful repercussions that send her family and friends hurtling through extraordinary experiences and circumstances.
Titled after former slain rapper Tupac Shakur’s Thug Life concept: The Hate U Give Little Infants F****Everybody, Thomas initially developed this story after being shaken by the police shooting of Oscar Grant in 2009. This book is a good start for those wanting to further understand what the “Black Lives Matter” movement is all about.
What’s Hot: If you’ve only enough time to read just one book, pick this one. When she was 12, Starr’s parents instructed her on what to do if stopped by the police. “Keep your hands visible,” her father advised. “Don’t make any sudden moves.” Something that Khalil failed to observe which led to his untimely death. It’s shocking to know that this lesson is something every black child in America needs to learn — the dos and don’ts if confronted by the law. Perhaps the powers-that-be in America need to be reminded that instead of seeking out enemies in the far corners of the earth, they should open their eyes and look within to find ways to keep their citizens safe from the insidious poison of racism and bigotry.
What’s Not: This is a powerful book that begs to be read and understood. The only “not” would be if you bypass this book and reach out for another predictable young adult tortured-hero/vapid-heroine-in-the-typical-quandary-of-choosing-between-two-boys story.