Dying to Know You

Starred review from March 26, 2012
Packed to the brim with challenging ideas, the latest from Chambers—winner of the Printz Award, Carnegie Medal, and Hans Christian Andersen Award, among others—is simultaneously an acutely observed (and surprising) love story; the chronicle of a young man coming into his own as an artist; and a slippery, twisting examination of the art of storytelling. Events kick off when an unnamed 75-year-old author opens his door to an uninvited guest: Karl, an 18-year-old apprentice plumber, who seeks help fulfilling his literary-minded girlfriend’s demand that he write to her about his “inner secrets.” For Karl, who is dyslexic and naturally reserved, this kind of writing is nearly impossible. For the nameless author, the challenge enables him to reopen a part of his life he thought had closed forever. This organic yet intricately crafted story of self-discovery unfurls mainly through the elderly narrator’s first-person account—which, admittedly, may not be an easy sell for teens—as well as e-mails and instant messages. For readers savvy enough to engage with it on any of its many levels, this is a generous gift. Ages 14–up.

March 15, 2012
Will a story told in believable first-person voice by a 75-year-old man truly strike a chord with a teen audience? The answer is yes, though it may be a smallish one. Karl approaches the older man, an author, with a request. His new girlfriend, Fiorella, has tasked him with providing a series of written answers to questions she's composed so that she can find out more about him. But Karl, an 18-year-old plumber who's no longer in school, is dyslexic; answering the questions is beyond him. Seeing something of himself in Karl, the author reluctantly agrees to help, but acquiring a good understanding of Karl is hard. Only slowly recovering from grief over his father's death, the boy doesn't like to talk about himself. The friendship the two form as Karl gradually gains knowledge of himself that isn't based on the previous failures in his life is artfully, touchingly portrayed. It's filtered through the fictional author's aged point of view, which is punctuated with prostate issues and his own sorrow over the recent death of his wife. As Karl matures, the author also changes, finding a welcome release from his emotional pain. The storyteller's unique perspective ultimately enhances the tale but also skews it to a more sophisticated group of readers. This quietly understated performance captures the wistfulness of music in a minor key and is ultimately successful in its life-affirming message. (Fiction. 12 & up)

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Starred review from May 1, 2012

Gr 9 Up-Quiet, good-looking, and sensitive, 18-year-old Karl Williamson has a secret. He's dyslexic and much better with his hands than with words. When Fiorella, his new love interest, insists he open up to her in writing, he seeks help from a prominent local author. There are shades of Cyrano de Bergerac, but this is not a retelling of the classic. Karl's ghostwriter isn't a rival for Fiorella's affection. Rather, he's a 75-year-old unnamed novelist dealing with his own heartache. A friendship develops that benefits both the teen and the author. ("I knew he was helping me as much as I hoped I could help him, though he didn't know how, and I still wasn't certain myself.") As the story progresses, Karl's problems are revealed to be more damaging and difficult than at first they seemed, giving the novel depth and complexity. Told from the perspective of the older man, this book explores the realities of love versus attraction, the joys and challenges of writing, depression and moving on after a loss, finding a purpose, and seizing life's opportunities. Readers are hooked with snappy dialogue and keen insights; Karl is a multifaceted and likable character who will keep them engaged and rooting for him to find his way in love and in life. This is a great title to recommend to introspective teens who enjoy character development and coming-of-age drama.-Patricia N McClune, Conestoga Valley High School, Lancaster, PA

Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from April 15, 2012
Grades 9-12 *Starred Review* After the expansive richness of his last novel, the masterful This Is All (2006), Chambers has set himself a new challenge: to write a sparer novel but one that remains a rich experience for the reader. That he has succeeded will come as no surprise to his fans. Here's the story: one day a writer receives a visitor, a young man named Karl who asks for help in writing to his girlfriend. The boy explains that he is dyslexic, and so the (unnamed) author reluctantly agrees to help. In the process, he becomes involved in the young man's life, and the young man in his. Then, the author decides he will write about the experience, and this novel is what he writes. Though ostensibly a work of nonfiction, the result is an exquisitely character-driven literary novel told in a variety of forms: unattributed dialogue, monologue, e-mail, and traditional narrative told in the 75-year-old author's first-person voice. Does this mean the novel is not young adult? By no means, for this is Karl's story, and in it he comes vividly alive and as fully realized and multidimensional as the sculpture the 18-year-old ultimately creates andappropriatelyplaces in the author's garden. Deliberate in pace and carefully insightful in its investigation of character, Chambers' latest is a work of art that repays multiple readings. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: A new novel from Chambers, one of the most acclaimed YA authors, is sure to incite plenty of interest from fans, librarians, and awards committees.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)

Starred review from May 1, 2012
Is a book narrated by a septuagenarian really a young adult novel? It is in the hands of Aidan Chambers, whose penchant for narrative experimentation (which here includes dialogues and monologues, e-mail and instant messaging, original poetry, and metafiction) dovetails nicely with the chaos and turbulence of adolescence. The unnamed seventy-five-year-old narrator, a famous author, agrees to help Karl, a dyslexic eighteen-year-old boy, write down answers for the questions his dream girl, Fiorella, has put to him. Karl is sure this plan will work since the author happens to be Fiorella's favorite, but the deception doesn't last very long, and Karl and Fiorella soon break up, sending him into a tailspin. By the end of the story the author has helped Karl work through much more than just his dating problems, namely the unfinished business of grieving and mourning, the fine line between vocation and avocation, and the transformative power of art. It's definitely a symbiotic relationship, however, as Karl helps the author through his own set of difficulties, giving him the impetus to write again after the death of his wife. Chambers delivers yet another intellectually satisfying novel with equal parts philosophy and repartee, and this one may have broader teen appeal than his most recent efforts. jonathan hunt

(Copyright 2012 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

July 1, 2012
The unnamed seventy-five-year-old narrator, a famous author, agrees to help Karl, a dyslexic eighteen-year-old boy, impress his book-loving girlfriend. While the author helps Karl work through much more than just his dating problems, Karl gives him impetus to write again after his wife's death. Chambers delivers yet another intellectually satisfying novel with equal parts philosophy and repartee.

(Copyright 2012 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)