Lewis Buzbee wrote one of my favorite books this year, Steinbeck's Ghost. Readers familiar with my blog will remember my initial reaction to this teen mystery that actually made me want to read John Steinbeck again. (He was another casualty of my high school American Lit class.) My formal review of the book can be found in my October column and I also interviewed Lewis last month as part of the WBBT. This is what he said then about Steinbeck:
"I first read Steinbeck when I was fifteen—The Grapes of Wrath, for a book report. I hadn’t been that much of a reader to that point; I thought perhaps I’d be a rock star. But when I read that, everything changed. I immediately began reading and writing, and the rock star dream, alas, died."
Here are Lewis' thoughts on one of his favorite reads this year, Carlos is Gonna Get It by Kevin Emerson:
When I read a really great middle-grade novel, I always think, now there’s a writer with great “kid-brain.” And Kevin Emerson has it by the bushel. He understands how kids think, and most importantly how they feel. And his command of the “kid-voice” in here is extraordinary.
Trina and her fellow seventh graders have always found Carlos to be annoyingly weird. He’s always scratching himself in public, and he just can’t seem to do anything right. And when Carlos does something wrong, everyone seems to pay the price. Trina and her friends, led by the somewhat-bully Thea, decide to get their “revenge” on Carlos. But of course, their plan backfires, with dangerous consequences.
What stunned me about this book is Trina, who’s the narrator, and how her emotions change and flow with every gesture. I’m also completely impressed with Emerson’s ability to convey information so quickly, and to never be predictable about it. Who these kids are, and where they go to school, are so delicately handled in here. And Carlos’s “condition” is never diagnosed but quite apparent. Where other writers would have tried to capitalize on these aspects, Emerson plays them honestly in a way that’s rarely seen.
I want to say that there’s a big dose of Jerry Spinelli in this book, and I mean that only as a compliment. But the truth is, Emerson is a true original. This book literally made me laugh and cry—all clichés aside. I can’t recommend it highly enough. Mandatory.
