Annotation: 14-year-old Ellen is determined to have interesting qualities and relies heavily on the opinions of her older brother and his best friend to define what those qualities should be. Trying to possess such interesting qualities while trying just as hard to become a wallflower at her new prep-school is just about all she can handle on top of uncovering her brother’s possible gay relationship with his best friend.
Rejection for Nomination:
The three teenage characters in this book are anything short of mature in an intellectual sense, but maintain the usual emotional instability like all teens. The central character, Ellen, tells us the story of her ninth grade year while experiencing some intense life issues. She prefers not to have friends, but to immerse herself in the fascinating worlds of her 17-yr-old brother Link, and his best friend James. The two boys are high-achievers who enjoy foreign films and intellectually stimulationg conversation while evaluated eachother and the world around them as if most of the world has much to be desired if they were not accepted into a prestigious university. The two boys are competetive with one another which keeps them connected, but a little too much so that they have a hard time not fighting. Ellen loves that she has always been included in the boys' activities and conversations, even though she's usually just an observer. She thinks very highly of Link and James and is especially concerned with their opinion of her. She's in love with James in a romantic sense and in love with her brother and proud of who he is. When she begins her freshman year at the boys' prep-school, a classmate suggests the boys are like a couple- leaving Ellen to wonder. Ellen questions the boys about this one night and Link storms out in denial and leavs Ellen and James as two. For the remainder of the book, Ellen and James form a sort-of romantic relationship, although James is very open about liking men and having slept with three of them. Ellen finds herself more concerned about re-uniting the two boys and investigating what it is to be gay. Ellen father pays Link to have a girlfriend, further confusing Ellen on why it's bad to be gay. In the end, James and Link become civil, but don't entirely re-kindle their former realtionship. Ellen and James have sex and he decides to go off to a German art school. No matter how loving and romantic the author wanted this storyline to be, it seemed to be ruined by the ending encounter between Ellen and James. I thought this book was very well-written and showed positive emphasis on the importance of education, teenage relationships and soul-searching, but didn't necessarily like the sexual contribution. Because of that one aspect, I have to reject nomination for this Printz book.
Genre Catergory: Printz Award Winner
