The Pull of Gravity

March 15, 2011

Blending Steinbeck and Star Wars, this debut novel with a touch of magical realism leads two teens on a weekend road trip to fulfill a secret mission. With a workaholic mother, an older brother heading to college and an out-of-work, 395-pound father who spends all his time on the couch, high-school freshman Nick doesn't get much attention, especially when his father walks (literally) out of their house in Albany and back to his roots in New York City. To top it off, his fatherless best friend (and Yoda aficionado), Scooter, has Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome, a rare and incurable disease that speeds up the aging process. Then Jaycee, who's also lost her dad, convinces Nick to join her in granting Scooter's dying wish: locate Scooter's father in Rochester and give him Scooter's signed first edition of Of Mice and Men. Nick's first-person narration and authentic teen voice give insight into this typical boy who wonders why, in the middle of thinking about his dying best friend, all he really wants to do is kiss Jaycee. Although the teens' best laid plans go oft awry, they discover that the force of the universe is with them—or at least friendship, family and romance. Pulls the heart in all the right places. (Fiction. 12-16)

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June 1, 2011

Gr 7-9-In this charming but uneven chronicle of a teen in his watershed autumn, Nick Gardner's claims to fame include having a dad, email moniker FatMan2, who decides to move his 395-pound body on foot the 196 miles back to his beloved Manhattan. The out-of-work newspaperman sets out to change his life, but Nick doesn't open the emails that chart his progress, unbalancing readers, who do see the messages. His next-door friend Scooter suffers from a rare syndrome that dooms him to look like "a shrunken old man" and cuts life short. Nick shares a love for Star Wars movies with the Scoot, but now that he's heading toward 15, there's less time for hanging with his frail childhood buddy, and after a stroke, Scooter has even less time. Enter Jaycee Amato, the bizarre yet beguiling friend of Scooter who presents Nick with a quest at the request of the dying teen-the two of them will track down the father who abandoned Scooter and his mom more than a decade ago to deliver a letter and a valuable signed first edition of Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men. When the two set out to try to make it happen for the Scoot, Nick instead finds Scooter's mother-and his own transforming father with her. This infidelity plot strand dangles a bit, but many teens will gloss over it to focus on the fact that bus road trips allow plenty of kissing practice time. Characters feel real, though unresolved, and the plot zips along, championing strength in adversity.-Suzanne Gordon, Lanier High School, Sugar Hill, GA

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2011
Grades 6-9 It begins with one of Nick's high fevers. Delusional, the 14-year-old tries to climb a local water tower but is saved in the nick of time by his best friend, Scooter. Which is ironic since the Scoot is the one who needs saving: he suffers from the rare disease progeria, which causes children to age rapidly, and so, though Scoot is only 15, he looks like an 80-year-old and is literally dying of old age. Meanwhile, Nick is also burdened by father issues: his nearly 400-pound, depressed dad seldom leaves the sofa until he decides to walk to New York from their upstate home. After Nick meets an eccentric girl from school and a romance begins to bloom, the two go on a well-intentioned road trip that will have unintended consequences. Polisner's first novel begins with a bang and ends with another. Although the second act slows down a bit, there is a great deal to enjoy throughout, and literary kids will surely enjoy a subplot involving John Steinbeck.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)