Ethan Marcus Stands Up

June 15, 2017
High-energy seventh-grader Ethan Marcus campaigns to be allowed to stand up in school. By the end of the day, sitting quietly in class is nearly impossible for easygoing Ethan, who has always had what his family calls Ethan Squiggle Disease, but when he snaps and tries to stand up at his desk in language arts, he earns two days of after-school Reflection. Five voices alternate in short, first-person segments to describe the events of the next two weeks: Ethan; his best friend, Brian; Ethan's sister, Erin; her best friend, Zoe (whose zeal to save the world has been overtaken by her conviction that she's in love with Ethan); and bad-boy classmate Wesley, who's furious that his mother has abandoned his family. More caricatures than characters, each has distinctive concerns but none is fully developed. All seem to be default white. Ethan and Erin, though only 11 months apart in age, are wildly different. Ethan takes the world as it comes; Erin compulsively prepares for it and broods over her losses. The emotional arc of this narrative moves them almost completely apart and then back together. The climax comes during their junior high's Invention Day. The imperfect construction of Ethan and Brian's desk-evator and the lack of resolution of Erin and Zoe's invasive-species-eradicating experiment mirror the flaws in this slight story. Terrific ideas imperfectly executed. (Fiction. 9-12)

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June 1, 2017

Gr 4-6-Seventh grade siblings Ethan and Erin are only 11 months apart in age. The two used to be close but now have different interests and are getting on each other's last nerve. Ethan, according to Erin, doesn't worry about anything and is their parents' favorite. In Ethan's eyes, Erin is too uptight and concerned with grades-and their parents think she's perfect. The annual invention contest at school is coming up, and Ethan and Erin are entering separately with their respective best friends, Brian and Zoe. When Ethan's football accidentally lands in the middle of Erin's invention-in-progress, tempers explode. This is a case of two people not taking the time or trusting each other enough to talk about their feelings. Readers will easily pick up on the relevant life lessons peppered throughout. The story is told by the characters as if they are directly addressing readers. Unfortunately, even though each section is clearly labeled with its narrator's name, the voices are often indistinguishable. VERDICT Readers with siblings will appreciate this story about rivalry. A supplemental purchase for large collections.-Nancy P. Reeder, Heathwood Hall Episcopal School, Columbia, SC

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