Take Me There

November 1, 2010

Gr 9 Up-Dylan Dawson, 17, is trying to stay on the right path. After a stint in juvenile hall for possession of stolen property, he's keeping his distance from gang activity and wants to do well at his job. However, it seems everything is going against him: a dad in prison, an alcoholic mom, and, on top of that, he can't read. He seeks solace in poems, and in Jess, a rich-girl love interest. Inevitably, he finds himself in a bad situation, running from the law and the gang, and headed to Texas to discover the truth about his father's trangression and his unknown past. Dean deftly portrays Dylan's tough-guy exterior along with his soft side through the poetry that floats in his head and is interspersed throughout the novel. The supporting characters, including a loyal but none-too-wise best friend and surly grandmother, are well drawn and believable. The story moves quickly as the mystery of Dylan's father's crime unfolds, partially revealed through chapters of a memoir the man wrote in prison and spurred on by his impending execution. At times, the book's message is a bit too obvious, but readers will empathize with Dylan, who is sincere in a desire to reform but can't seem to escape his circumstances.-Shawna Sherman, Hayward Public Library, CA

Copyright 2010 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2010
Grades 9-12 Seventeen-year-old Dylans father is about to be executed for shooting a policeman 11 years earlier, and Dylan is determined to get to his dads Texas prison to say goodbye. Dylan and his friend are also on the run: from the police, for violating probation after serving time in juvie, and from gangsters. Dylans long, first-person narrative spins out a plot that gets more and more convoluted, with dramatic vignettes that flip between past and present as Dylan hides that he can barely read, hooks up with sexy Jess, takes on his fierce grandmother, and confronts his own guilt. Jess is too perfect to be true, but the family secrets create powerful drama. Is Dad protecting someone? Why does Dylan remember handling the gun when he was six years old? What really happened that night? Dylans doubts reinforce the universal father-son tensions and the horror of capital punishment as tension builds to the execution by lethal injection.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)