Please Ignore Vera Dietz

Starred review from October 11, 2010
Beginning with the funeral of Charlie Kahn, high school senior Vera's neighbor and former best friend, this chilling and darkly comedic novel offers a gradual unfolding of secrets about the troubled teenagers, their families, and their town. Though Charlie's death hangs heavily over Vera, she has the road ahead mapped out: pay her way through community college with her job delivering pizza while living "cheap" in her father's house. But first she has to face her fractured relationship with her father, a recovering alcoholic who worries about her drinking; the absence of her mother, who left six years earlier; and the knowledge that she could clear Charlie's suspected guilt in a crime. Vera is the primary narrator, though her father, Charlie (posthumously), and even the town's landmark pagoda contribute interludes as King (The Dust of 100 Dogs) shows how shame and silence can have risky—sometimes deadly—consequences. The book is deeply suspenseful and profoundly human as Vera, haunted by memories of Charlie and how their friendship disintegrated, struggles to find the courage to combat destructive forces, save herself, and bring justice to light. Ages 13–up.

December 1, 2010

Gr 9 Up-Vera Dietz and her troubled neighbor, Charlie, were best friends since childhood until they started to fall for one another junior year and everything broke apart. Evil Jenny Flick decides that she wants Charlie and that Vera is in the way. When Jenny offers Charlie oral sex and he refuses, she broadcasts his secret about his father's domestic abuse to the whole school and blames Vera. In "retaliation," Charlie reveals the fact that Vera's mother was a stripper before she deserted the family and then starts a perilous relationship with Jenny. In chapters that alternate scenes in the present with "history," plus various points of view, Vera's story begins at Charlie's funeral where she hides the truth about Jenny's part in his death. It seesaws through her full-time job delivering pizzas while maintaining "A" grades, her upsetting relationship with Charlie, her conflicts with Jenny as well as her father, her romance with a 23-year-old coworker, and other complications. This oddly compelling page-turner is unfortunately rather flawed. When circumstances call for Vera to end her heavy drinking, she surprisingly just stops. Charlie's ghostly presence manifests itself through hard-to-imagine replications. The perspectives of Vera's father, dead Charlie, and the pagoda atop the town (yes, the pagoda speaks) minimally click. Vera's father's "flow charts" about dealing with life circumstances seem out of place. Yet, Vera is a strong character whom readers will root for throughout her ups and downs. Ultimately, this will be read by teens who like edgy contemporary books dealing with untimely teen death, such as Brooke Taylor's Undone (Walker, 2008) or Jay Asher's Thirteen Reasons Why (Razorbill, 2007).-Diane P. Tuccillo, Poudre River Public Library District, Fort Collins, CO

Copyright 2010 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from November 15, 2010
Grades 10-1 *Starred Review* High-school senior Vera never expects her ex-best friend, Charlie, to haunt her after he dies and beg her to clear his name of a horrible accusation surrounding his death. But does Vera want to help him after what he did to her? Charlies risky, compulsive behavior and brand-new bad-news pals proved to be his undoing, while Veras mantra was always Please Ignore Vera Dietz, as she strives, with Charlies help, to maintain a low profile and keep her family life private. But after Charlie betrayed her, it became impossible to fend off her classmates cruel attacks or isolate herself any longer. Veras struggle to put Charlie and his besmirched name behind her are at the crux of this witty, thought-provoking novel, but most memorable is the gorgeous unfurling of Veras relationship with her father. Chapters titled A Brief Word from Ken Dietz (Veras Dad) are surprising, heartfelt, and tragic; its through Ken that readers see how quickly alcohol and compromised decision making are destroying Veras carefully constructed existence. Father and daughter wade gingerly through long-concealed emotions about Veras mothers leaving the family, creating the most powerful redemption story of the many found in Kings arresting tale. Although Kings characters turn into the people theyve long fought to avoid becoming, they ultimately rise above their challenges, reflect, and move on. A worthy, well-crafted addition to any YA collection.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)