Angry Young Man

Starred review from December 20, 2010
During a soccer game early in Lynch's latest novel, 17-year-old Xan, enraged by opponents' unsportsmanlike antics, fouls a player so hard that he's given a two-week suspension. Reading this story of economic and emotional desperation is only slightly less of a body blow. Robert, Xan's older half-brother, narrates with a cerebral wit and detachment that belie the stresses of life with their single mother in a small home that's been no stranger to bill collectors lately. Robert is eager for Xan to shed his outsider tendencies, but begins to realize that, caught up in his own life, he's never really had Xan's back. And social pressures, combined with Xan's sense of moral responsibility (and his susceptibility), are leading his brother down a dangerous path. "It is not because he is stupid or weak-minded," Robert says. "It is because he cares so much, and because he wants, so much, to belong." For those who wonder about the roots of homegrown terror and extremism, National Book Award Finalist Lynch pushes the spotlight from the individual to society in a story that can be brutal and ugly, yet isn't devoid of hope. Ages 12–up.

February 1, 2011

Gr 9 Up-Robert may have spent his early years tormenting his younger brother, Alexander, but the truth is, he really loves him. Presently, loving him is kind of hard. Now going by the name Xan, he's a strange 17-year-old who gets intensely passionate about injustice in the world. Their mother, a struggling waitress, faces her own brand of injustice when a slimy bill collector begins harassing her on an almost daily basis. While tension builds in the family's household, Xan makes a new friend in Harry, a mustached braggart with whom he begins spending all of his free time. Robert begins to suspect something is amiss with his brother-maybe something even more than the usual weirdness. After Alexander gets arrested for vandalism while espousing one of his causes, Robert fears that his brother may truly be beyond saving. The story is told entirely from Robert's perspective, and Lynch's dry and sardonic wit makes him a likable and charming protagonist. The story is well paced and provides an eerie look into the small town of repressed aggression in which the boys grew up. Alexander's actions may ultimately be wrong, but his heart is in the right place as he fights to make the world just a little bit better. A quick read, but one that will stay with readers long after it's over.-Ryan Donovan, New York Public Library

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2011

Robert's younger brother Alexander (Xan) has always been an oddball, but as they shift into adulthood, Robert increasingly worries about Xan's ability to function in the world in this intense, intelligent work of realistic fiction. The elder brother makes attending community college, having a girlfriend and holding down a job to help their struggling mom pay the bills look effortless. Yet Xan seems to drift through the days, easily influenced by those around him and flailing until he falls in with a radical group of activists, causing Robert to agonize about him even further. Lynch's depiction of the complex relationship between two brothers is multilayered and fascinating, charged with both loyalty and betrayal. Likewise, Robert's protectiveness of Xan and his mother is authentically moving--when a slimy bill collector begins harassing his mom, readers will empathize with his outrage. Tension builds steadily throughout the novel, and readers are kept guessing. While some may find the resolution too tidy and rushed, ultimately this is a unique thriller for older teens. (Fiction. 14 & up)

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

January 1, 2011
Grades 9-12 Alexander grew up constantly overshadowed and relentlessly, if good-naturedly, teased by his older brother, Robert, whose first-person narration provides the window into this complex sibling relationship. Both brothers take classes at the community college and fret about their single mothers financial straits, but Robert is the more responsible brother, and Xan the wildcard. Xan finally finds an outlet for his frustrations and inability to connect when he falls in with a group of young activists, who justify their frighteningly extremist means with questionably beneficial ends. As a loan shark hounds the family and hints of violence whisper in, Robert wonders what his brother is really capable of. Lynch cuts to the quick during this short novel. He shows how two brothers can be a part of a sibling relationship but have drastically different interpretations of it. And Roberts voice displays the claustrophobia of uncertainty about the forces that threaten the family even as he dwells on how he could have done better by his brother. It rings true, and hurts, at that.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2011
Robert is attending community college, trying to reach his career goals, and looking out for his mother (in over her head in debt) and younger brother, Alexander, who's increasingly caught up in extreme activist causes. When Xan's activities turn violent, Robert must determine where his loyalties lie. Complex family dynamics bolster this taut character study.

(Copyright 2011 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Starred review from February 1, 2011
Gr 9 Up—-obert may have spent his early years tormenting his younger brother, Alexander, but the truth is, he really loves him. Presently, loving him is kind of hard. Now going by the name Xan, he's a strange 17-year-old who gets intensely passionate about injustice in the world. Their mother, a struggling waitress, faces her own brand of injustice when a slimy bill collector begins harassing her on an almost daily basis. While tension builds in the family's household, Xan makes a new friend in Harry, a mustached braggart with whom he begins spending all of his free time. Robert begins to suspect something is amiss with his brother—maybe something even more than the usual weirdness. After Alexander gets arrested for vandalism while espousing one of his causes, Robert fears that his brother may truly be beyond saving. The story is told entirely from Robert's perspective, and Lynch's dry and sardonic wit makes him a likable and charming protagonist. The story is well paced and provides an eerie look into the small town of repressed aggression in which the boys grew up. Alexander's actions may ultimately be wrong, but his heart is in the right place as he fights to make the world just a little bit better. A quick read, but one that will stay with readers long after it's over.—"Ryan Donovan, New York Public Library"

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.