Steve Brezenoff

from Laura:

MMOG meets RPG in this young adult cautionary tale by Steve Brezenoff. Chapters are told alternately by Lesh, Svetlana, and Svvetlana, an online character that Lesh creates after meeting Svetlana late one night. As Lesh starts falling for Lana, another character in the game falls in love with Svvetlana and manages to track down the real Lana IRL (in real life). Confusion and creepiness, not hilarity, ensue. Still, the book has its funny moments and its obligatory love triangle show more (though, refreshingly, between a guy and two girls).

Favorite quotes:

Something about Fio: he leaves the fly of his jeans open all day, every day. Don't ask him why, because he'll just say, "It needs air," and then stare at you. He's challenging you, but you'll never know if it's to a fight or a make-out session.

"He sent me flowers."
"Wow," I say, because I am a genius at conversation.

Now I'm desperate to talk to Roan about this...because she is one of those great observer types. You've no doubt met some, though you might not know it. These people see everything, and they record everything, and they have insight into the motives of people they've never spoken a word to. That is Roan's secret power. show less

I can't tell if this book ends on a moral of "don't disobey your parents" or more "don't trust anything that looks perfect". The final line in the "after credits" if you will is about isolation and hallucinating, and in many ways this book comes off as a hallucination.

Though that is not a bad thing. The idea of creating a perfect little place and not letting criminals stay in it isn't a new idea. It's been tried before, and where better would it be to get executed than in space where having show more an offender among the populi is a problem. Of course, true to most systems, it's corrupt and extreme what someone will be cast out over.

A Hole in the Dome ends ambiguously after a hundred-and-seven pages, and it could be the end or the beginning for Florence's outside life. In many ways, that is absolute horror to think about. show less

Among the many, many Young Adult novels that I’ve read, *Brooklyn, Burning* is unique in two distinct ways. First—and most obviously—it refuses to gender its protagonist, Kid, or the object of Kid’s affection, Scout. Initially, this (intentional) failure to identify the gender of the two characters at the center of the novel evoked anxiety and discomfort in me—how could I imagine these characters, I thought, if I don’t know their respective genders? As I became more acquainted show more with Kid and Scout, however—and this is largely due to Brezenoff’s skill as a storyteller—their genders no longer mattered to me. I was more concerned with their happiness. And this reading experience, I realized, brilliantly reflects one of the novel’s prominent themes—love, affection, and genuine emotional connection transcends gender (whether socially constructed, biologically determined, ambiguous, definite, known, or unknown).

This novel’s other unique characteristic is its focus on homelessness and the impact of gentrification on urban neighborhoods and the queer youth who inhabit them. Kid and Scout—as well as their friends Konny and Jonny (and Felix—a spectral yet significant presence whose past is crucial in understanding Kid’s character)—lack any sort of nurturing home environment (whether in the conventional sense or any other sense), and the circumstances that resulted in their homelessness are directly related to their ambiguous gender identities and sexual orientations.

Employing a contemporary setting and featuring current cultural realities in a story that depicts a quest for the quintessential source of happiness, Brezenoff has woven a masterful and original tale of displaced urban youth in search of love and family. show less

Books that deal with younger characters have always had a draw for me. Especially when they deal with the subjects that most parents don't seem to want to broach with their children. It always seemed to me that kids will find the information that they are looking for one way or another, so wouldn't you rather it be accurate? At least if a book properly and effectively deals with a touchy subject, a younger person can get the information that they are seeking. Books like this have power.

The show more Absolute Value of -1 does deal with some difficult subject matter. I find it only fair that I warn you that pot smoking, shop lifting and mild violence lie within the pages. Buried in there are also teenage feelings and confusion over love and lust. However as an educator I know that these big ticket items are, in fact, a part of most younger lives at some point. As much as we would all like to pretend that teenage lives are sugar and spice, that simply isn't true. As Simon, Noah and Lily each show respectively, your home doesn't have to be a specific way for you to begin to follow a certain path. Instead it is the individual experiences in a person's life that lead them to down one road or another.

Told in sections from each character's point of view, this book shows us how the same set of moments can be experienced three different ways. It was fascinating to have that depth into each character's memories. Simon, Noah and Lily are each so different, and yet when you see the same story through each of their eyes you find that they have common links. Watching them grow, watching them make mistakes, it was as if there were real people right there in front of me. I think this is book perfectly embodies the concept of a "coming of age" story.

What I loved about The Absolute Value of -1 was that it was raw. This was a look at the inner workings of these children, and their thoughts. I especially felt invested in Simon, and struggled when he struggled. I saw myself in him as he fought to break away from that which was defining him. I'll admit that Steve Brezenoff knows how to weave a story that draws you in and pulls emotions forth that aren't always easy to deal with. There were many moments where I found myself teary eyed, and others where I found myself so angry. This book touched me in a way that I can't quite put into words.

Plain and simple, this story is beautiful. However if you're picturing lyrical writing and sweeping scenes, you're missing the point of this book. Truth is, The Absolute Value of -1 is a gritty, realistic read and that is what I adored about it. Steve Brezenoff has no qualms with diving into the darker parts of his characters' lives, and I think that is really important. Although this was a difficult read, I feel I came away from it a better person somehow. Recommended 100%. show less