The Importance of Being Wilde at Heart

June 17, 2019
Ken Z, 17, lives in the fictional Pacific Island country of South Kristol, which is a developing nation under the thumb of militaristic, wealthy neighbor North Kristol. When Ken Z visits an upscale shopping mall to see how the other half lives, he meets Ran, a boy from across the northern border, and over the course of a few weeks, experiences his first kiss, first love, and then his first heartbreak after Ran ends their budding relationship by vanishing without a word. Linmark’s YA debut, told in a smattering of literary styles (prose, haiku, lists that are half poetry, and imaginary conversations with Ken Z’s literary hero, Oscar Wilde), conveys a universal story, but it becomes bogged down in its own obsession with language, with pretty turns of phrase taking priority over plot. While the merger of narrative and poetry isn’t wholly successful at
creating a believable emotional core, the narrative element, in particular, falls short, with dialogue that feels stiff and scripted. Older readers might find this story familiar, but younger teens especially might appreciate an artistic fantasy of first young love. Ages 12–up. Agent: Kirby Kim, Janklow & Nesbit Assoc.

June 15, 2019
Love, loss, and surviving heartache are at the center of this coming-of-age romance set in the South Pacific. When Ken Z, a bookworm and senior from "the middle of Nowhere, Pacific Ocean," with a Japanese mother, braves a trip to a snooty mall a bus ride away from his high school, love is the last thing that he expects to find. A chance meeting with Ran, a wealthy, blond-haired, white doppelgänger for Dorian Gray, changes his mind. The pair bond over being the only children of single mothers and their shared love for the playwright Oscar Wilde. When Ran abruptly breaks everything off, Ken is devastated and has to find a way to continue believing in love. In this earnest novel, Linmark (Pop Vérité, 2017, etc.) creates a sweet love story that celebrates diversity of its characters and culture. The Pacific island, while unnamed, reads like an amalgam of the Philippines and the Korean peninsula. Everything, from Ran's compulsory military service to the banning of books, feels authentic and heightens the stakes of the burgeoning gay romance. At times the metaphors emphasizing the class disparity between Ken and Ran can be heavy-handed, but the boys' romance builds in a way that feels natural. An unabashed love letter to Oscar Wilde, Cole Porter, and the arts' ability to give voice to human emotion. (Fiction. 12-18)

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July 26, 2019

Gr 7 Up-Ken Z decides to go Bunburying on the rich side of his Pacific island town when he meets Ran and they hit it off over their joint love of Oscar Wilde (Ken Z's friends have an Oscar Wilde book club at school). Ran even looks like Oscar Wilde. Ran is from North Kristol, which is rich and militaristic, doesn't let anyone in, and barely lets anyone out. Ken Z's South Kristol is lower middle class but more liberal. Ken Z ditches his whole spring break as he falls in love with Ran. But shortly afterward, Ran disappears and Ken Z spirals into depression, further isolating himself from his friends as he skips school to languish in his bedroom and write out his feelings. The book is a mixed format of prose, play, texts, poetry, conversations, and letters that create a melodramatic monologue. Wilde, who was also a member of the LGBTQ community, is an invisible friend/ghost in the novel, and there are a lot of allusions to his work. The island of Kristol is reminiscent of Korea politically, and there is discussion of civil rights, mainly with regard to censorship and LGBTQ rights. With all of this complexity, not much happens in the plot and the characters are all flat. VERDICT Teens who like literary allusions and mysteries without resolution might push through this one. Otherwise, not recommended.-Rachel Reinwald, Lake Villa District Library, IL

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2019
Grades 9-12 On an island somewhere in the Pacific lives a 17-year-old boy named Ken Z., a self-�described nerd, bookworm, and geek who, more important, is also a list maker, poet, haiku creator, notebook writer, and fervent Oscar Wilde fan, and whose best friends are bisexual Estelle and girl warrior CaZZ. Once upon a time, Ken Z. meets another boy with the improbable name of Ran, who?wouldn't you know it??looks exactly like Dorian Gray and is also an Oscar Wilde enthusiast. The boys form an instant friendship that soon blossoms into love. But then Ran disappears and a bereft Ken Z. finds wisdom, counsel, and support in the imagined presence of Oscar Wilde himself, who improbably begins to appear to him. But can he bring Ran back? Linmark's novel is definitely offbeat and wild(e)ly imaginative, inviting long thoughts about the uncertainty of love, with its wonderment and hummingbird heartbeats. Beautifully written, sad as a Wilde fairy tale, and home to highly empathic characters, the novel is a rich reading experience that would make the ineffable Oscar proud.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)