So I finished The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet by Reif Larsen and I have to say I really liked it. The book starts slow, so be prepared for a leisurely pace until T.S. leaves Montana for D.C. A lot of that early bit is necessary though - it lays the groundwork for later revelations about his brother Layton's death and also thoroughly explores the relationship between T.S. and his parents (who are emotionally removed partly over grief and partly because T.S. is a quirky kid that they have never really known how to deal with). Once he jumps a train and hides in a Winnebago (being shipped as freight) though, the story starts to zip along quite nicely. It includes a flashback to T.S.'s great great grandmother (via a novelized version of her life which he discovers in a notebook taken from his mother's desk), a fight nearly to the death and a meeting with a secret society. The book veers from family drama (the truth of what happened to Layton) to thoughtful discussion of western history and geography, to a piece of historic fiction that belongs in the world of a science minded Jo March to underground tunnels in DC and a lot of politics. Through it all T.S. observes, considers, and sketches his way into one experience after another. Larsen's inclusion of so many of these sketches and musings in the sidebars is crucial to the book's success. It's not a typical read though and honestly I think it would go over much better with teens than adults (not that I didn't like it but I think a lot of teens would love it).

There were a lot of particular bits I liked about the book such as quotes like this one which go a long way towards explaining just how this kid thinks : "Every mountain range I have ever met has had its own mood and demeanor." Here's another that was particularly resonant with me as it is so incredibly true:

"And yet, I still could not shake the feeling of dull melancholy that had been lurking since my departure, a kind of persistent hollowness, similar to the feeling I got when eating cotton candy: initially there was so much associated nostalgia, so much promise emanating from those luscious pink threads, but when I got down to the act of licking it or biting it or whatever one did to cotton candy, there was just not a lot there - in the end, you were just eating a sugar wig."

That is why you should not go for cotton candy at the fair - if you must eat something bad for you (and really you must) then go for the deep fried elephant ears; way way more satisfying.

There's also a great passage when T.S. ponders the life of his great great grandmother and everything he does not know about her:

"What had happened to that sketchbook? What happened to the historical detritus in the world? Some of it made it into drawers of museums, okay, but what about all those old postcards, the photoplates, the maps on napkins, the private journals with little latches on them? Did they burn in house fires? Were they sold at yard sales for .75? Or did they all just crumble into themselves like everything else in this world, the secret little stories contained within their pages disappearing, disappearing, and now gone forever."

That just made me want to cry because it is so true.

There are a lot of funny moments though, like when T.S. ponders how shorts became pants and draws their steady lengthening over the years to the current "ambiguous calf zone". And the "Circulatory System of Limulus polyphemus (horseshoe crabs) is very cool as is the larger discussion of the erosion of the scientific method in schools across the country. (Kansas figures prominently here of course). And for EL Konigsburg fans there is the map of "Clare and Jamie's First Day at the Museum" which is pure bliss to every fan of that classic and goes a long way towards making T.S. not only an artistic prodigy but a wickedly cool kid to boot.

This is a book that ultimately has to be taken as a whole. It's quirky and I'm not sure that leaving all of it in there was the right thing to do. (Emma Spivet's life was much longer than I expected and while I enjoyed it I couldn't help but think that some readers would be lost in the pages of historical reminiscence.) I can see why the book would be appealing to critics as it is so unusual and it does give you the whole smart kid protagonist which is certainly faddish these days. I really wasn't committed to liking T.S. until I was about halfway through the book - until Chicago - and then I started to realize how many passages I had marked and knew I was digging this book. I'm glad I'm reviewing it for YA readers though as I think they might be missing it and there are quite a few who will find someone to identify with in this odd but interesting boy.

[This book was provided by the publisher - formal review will be in my August column.]