Making It As a Modern Male IV: YA Novels and the Teenaged Boy

John Green's second teen novel, An Abundance of Katherines, is a sort of modern quest novel. Colin Singleton (note the metaphoric surname) finds himself out of a job as child prodigy when he graduates from high school and fears that he'll never live up to his early promise to become an adult genius. Colin desperately wants to matter, but before he can do that he has to figure out why he has been dropped by nineteen girlfriends, all named Katherine.

Still in deep visceral pain from being dumped by Katherine XIX, Colin's only friend, Hassan Harbish (a fat, hairy Muslim couch potato with a killer wit) convinces him that what they need to find themselves is a road trip. Their trip winds up in Gutshot (note metaphoric name), Tennessee, where a side trip to see the (faux) grave of Archduke Ferdinand leads them to meet local teenagers, in particular a cool and appealing non-Katherine named Leslie. Colin and Hassan stop off, get hired to do an historical project for Leslie's mom, owner of a local factory making strings for tampons (don't even go there looking for metaphors), and, although dreadfully lacking in the social skills to meld with cool rural Tennessee teens, try to hang out with Leslie, her boyfriend TOC (The Other Colin) and their friends.

Perseverantly*, Colin, obsessing (is there such a word as Aspergerishly) over the many Katherines, feverishly attempts to create a mathematical formula which can graph the end of relationships from 1) breakup, 2)divorce, or the BIG ONE, 3)death. Meanwhile, Colin and Hassan try to fit in with the local teens, dining at Taco Hell, going on a wild pig hunt, and in Colin's case, developing a close relationship with Leslie. Not that that's easy, because unlike some teen boys, Colin talks way too much, mostly about himself and mostly on subjects which show how erudite and polyglot he can be. Still Colin and Leslie find some common ground and gradually grow closer until, inevitably, the hunky but dense TOC proves unfaithful and Leslie turns to Colin and becomes his Leslie I.

Colin's big insight, as he completes his formula for dumping, is that he can't predict or control the future and that that is a good thing. That's a trite truism that is nevertheless really true. It's not the end but the journey itself, as they say, and at last Colin isn't a singleton, but a part of everyone's else's story, as they are part of his. This conclusion won't be new to most readers, but with this book, it's not the conclusion but the journey itself that makes it a truly fun read. Just going along for the ride with Colin and Hassan is a trip.

*John Green's book is filled with footnotes, so I'm doing it, too! (Perseverantly, from perseveration, meaning "Uncontrollable repetition of a particular response, such as a word, phrase, or gesture..." [see Wikipedia])

Making It As a Modern Male III: YA Novels and the Teenaged Boy

Nominated for the 2006 National Book Award, Nancy Werlin's novel The Rules of Survival tells the story of a young teenager who is forced to become the protector of his two younger sisters from his progressively psychotic mother. From age four, when she cut him with a butcher knife to "teach" him not to eat a cookie without permission, Matthew realizes that his mother is fighting a losing battle to control what he calls "her demons." He and his sister Callie psychologically walk on eggs around their unpredictable mother Nikki, whose verbal abuse and terrifying rages threaten them and their little half-sister Emmy constantly. In Matthew's words, "The events we lived through taught me to be sure of nothing about other people. They taught me to expect danger around every corner....all of us full of fear."

Although their father Ben and their Aunt Bobbie are aware of Nikki's long absences and explosive behavior, Matthew's appeals for help are brushed aside with vague excuses of legal custody obstacles. Matthew almost obsessively seizes upon a man named Murdoch whom he observes defending a stranger's child, and when Murdoch actually becomes Nikki's boyfriend for a time, Matthew hopes that he has at last found an adult who will protect them. However, when Nikki sees that she is losing control over her children's lives with Murdoch around, she slips into a nearly constant manic rage against him, a rage which threatens several lives. When Nikki is finally jailed for her attacks on Murdoch and his neighbor, Matthew is able to unite the three adults, his father Ben, his Aunt Bobbie, and Murdoch, in freeing the children from his mother's control.

When Nikki is released from jail and kidnaps Emmy, Matthew manages to rescue his sister and take the final steps to break the bonds of Nikki's manipulation and possessive cruelty. In a hopeful conclusion to the story, Matthew comes to an early manhood, learning both to take responsiblity for himself and finally to trust the three adults who care for him and his sisters.

Making It As a Modern Male II: YA Novels and the Teenaged Boy

Laurie Halse Anderson, author of the noted historical novel Fever 1793, the popular kids-and-animals series Wild-at-Heart and her acclaimed teen novel Speak, takes a crack at the adolescent male psyche in her forthcoming YA novel Twisted.

The protagonist is Tyler Miller, who, having tried to rise above his "Nerd-boy" reputation by graffitting George Washington High, finds that mandatory community service has turned him into a well-muscled hunk. As he begins his senior year, the new Tyler earns the flirtatious attentions of the school's number one golden girl Bethany Milford, who, besides being the hottest babe in the school, is regrettably the daughter of his grim and overbearing father's boss and the sister of his long-time nemesis Chip Milford. Tyler struggles to live up to his new buff and bad-boy reputation, finding it hard to get beyond "Hhhhnn" in his conversational gambits with the glamorous Bethany, until, totally wasted at a wild party, she comes on to him in a complete drunken passion. In a funny internal conversation between his "Hormones" and "Best Self," Tyler resists the obvious temptation and gallantly makes sure Bethany gets home safely--and totally furious with him.

When photos of the nude and drunken Bethany appear on the internet, Tyler, already on probation for the graffiti incident, is the top suspect. Ostracized by the other kids at school, isolated in in-school suspension, and almost driven to suicide, Tyler finally finds his voice and forces a family confrontation which leads to a better understanding of his father, himself and what is really important in his world.

"Nerd-boy" or "King Dork," sometimes it's not easy being a decent human being and a high school guy at the same time. What Tyler learns (and teaches his father) is that it doesn't always work to go along to get along.