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Buddha Boy

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Buddha Boy review

Buddha Boy by Kathe Koja is a realistic fiction story of a religious young boy named Jinsen, who is new at Rucher High School. The kids make fun of him for his dragon t-shirts and peaceful ways. Especially McManus, a popular hot-shot that likes to put others down. McManus does things like shoving Jinsen into lockers and jamming Jinsens locker. Justin, another student at Rucher High became friends with Jinsen despite the names other people were calling him. Justin's father is an artist and does not visit Justin very often. Jinsen just happens to be the best artist in the school. This draws Justin to Jinsen. Can Jinsen overcome what other people think and sketch his way to the top? You will have to find out yourself.

I would have to give this book a 4.5 out of 5 star rating. I enjoyed this book so much because of the simple writing style that was easy to follow yet effective to tell the story. This author really puts you in the shoes of Justin who is becoming friends with Jinsen. One thing that I didn't like about this book is the fact that it was a mere 117 pages which really turned me off when I saw this book. I really wish I could have kept on reading this book. I believe that you will love the story of Justin and Jinsen, 2 boys trying to make their way at Rucher High School.

Kathe Koja, Buddha Boy (Farrar, Strauss, and Giroux, 2003)

I got to the point about eight years ago where I finally gave in to the temptation to predict an author. After the back-to-back triumphs that were Skin and Strange Angels, I figured that from here on out, anything Kathe Koja would release would be brilliant, and every book she released would find its way onto my top ten for whatever year in which I read it.

Then she started writing kidlit. I approached Straydog with some trepidation, but it not only made last year's best-of list, it topped it. So I had no such qualms hunting down her second piece of young adult fiction, Buddha Boy. Needless to say, I wasn't surprised, at least not by the quality.

Justin is an Everyman in an Everyman's high school; if you went to high school in America, you'll probably recognize all the archetypes to be found here. The school gets a new student, Jinsen. To call Jinsen, an aspiring Zen monk, different would be the understatement of the year. And we all know what happens to different kids in high school.

Justin, however, assigned to a class project with Jinsen, discovers that Jinsen is one of the finest artists Justin has ever come across, and thus grudgingly befriends the kid the others at school call Buddha Boy. From all this springs this small, delicate tale.

Koja's writing is, as usual, short and to the point. Even the slowest reader will probably get through Buddha Boy in no more than a couple of days. Most people will be able to find someone here to identify with (though many won't like what they see in the book's looking-glass), and the story is compelling enough to draw the reader through, perhaps in a single gulp. Nothing surprising there.

What is surprising, perhaps, is the language she chooses. It seems, especially in comparison with Straydog, that Koja's language is slipping back towards that she used in her adult novels. Not that she talked down to the audience in Straydog or that she elevates them here; it's a slight difference in tone, a barren quality from Skin and Strange Angels that was (despite the painfulness of Straydog's subject matter) absent from the previous book.

She's got a new one coming out any day now, The Blue Mirror. I can't wait. **** ½

Great book--similar to Stargirl by Spinnelli in that it portrays an individualistic teen who flaunts the established social behaviors. Would be great for discussion!

"That's right: You can't play tug of war with someone who refuses to hold the other end of the rope."

That's how a friend of mine characterized what I was excitedly telling her about BUDDHA BOY, the superb new book by Kathe Koja. It was a foggy early morning on campus--I'd just come from voting--and I was explaining how, in contrast to the many stories where the bullies/jocks/student "leaders" had the satisfaction of seeing their victims beaten down and acting victimized, here you had a new, "strange" kid (Jinsen) who won't give them that satisfaction. There's a point in the story where one of the school's predators (part of the group who'd jumped Jinsen/"Buddha Boy" the day before) corners the story's narrator, Justin, and complains:

" ' Why do you hang out with him? Why do you stick up for him? The kid's a freak, he doesn't even belong here.' I opened my mouth, but he wasn't done; in a weird way it was like he wasn't even talking to me, but to Jinsen somehow through me, like I was a translator, a gateway. 'He wears freak clothes, he acts like a freak, he sure talks like a freak--'
" ' Well, ignore him,' my voice a little better, a little stronger, but not much. 'Just, just pretend he's not--'
" ' Ignore him! How can you ignore him? You know what he said to me yesterday? when he, when we were-- He said, "If it makes you happy." That's what he said. "Go on, if it makes you happy." What the hell is that supposed to mean?' Yelling now, but again not at me: it was as if he were arguing with Jinsen, arguing with himself, his face getting redder and redder and 'You tell him,' poking me in the chest, big fat hot-dog finger, 'tell him to stay the hell away from me. Just tell him that.' "

As the story begins, Justin tells us that:

"Our little group--we'd been buddies since middle school, Jakob and Megan and me--was mostly somewhere in the middle, never invited to the big-deal parties but not exiled to the outer limits, either. It's not a bad place to be, the middle: it's comfortable, it's easy, and it's safe. And I'd probably still be there if it wasn't for Jinsen."

A big part of Justin is clearly reluctant to leave that safe place. Frequently, we find him mumbling to himself that he's not Jinsen's friend--they just hang out together sometimes. Even Justin's friends think that he is nuts. But Justin is truly intrigued and impressed by the boy with the bald head, beatific smile, and incredible artistic ability:

"I was still watching Jinsen: calm gaze and careful hands, no wasted motion, working on his print as if it were any day, as if yesterday's bad news or the great news today were all just...part of everything, and he was just taking everything as it came, how could he do that? How could he keep on doing that? Balls? Luck? Karma?"

And what is Justin's role when Jinsen consistently takes it all and smiles? Justin, who has become more and more furious about what he sees happening, muses:

"In history, in a movie, in a book, you can always tell who the heroes are: they're the ones rushing into a burning building, giving crucial testimony in the courtroom, refusing to step to the back of the bus. They're the ones who act the way you hope you would, if the moment came to you.
"But the movies and the history books never tell you how they felt, those heroes, if they were angry or uncertain or afraid, if they had to think a long time before they did the right thing, if they even knew what the right thing was or just made a headlong guess, just leaped and hoped they landed instead of falling. They never tell you what it's like to stand on the brink, wishing you were somewhere--or someone--else, wishing the choice had never come your way and you could just go back to your safe, ordinary, everyday life. "Because you know what else the books never say? Nobody, hero or not, really wants to rush into a fire. Because fire burns."

This compelling tale of Justin's transformation firmly establishes Kathe Koja as a young adult novelist. Hopefully we won't have to play tug of war with the fans of her adult novels. ...

I found this book really riviting and also surprising. I recommend it as a read aloud for the classroom if you take out the swear words. The main character, Justin, finds himself stuggling to like the new boy, Jinsen. Jinsen acts like a Buddhist and is an incredible artist, but he won't defend himself against those who torment him. Read the book and find out why. It's really worth your time. I look forward to rereading this book!

There are coming-of-age books that deal with some things that are simple -- like love and sex. And then there are those that handle the harder topics - such as fighting cliques, going against the social order, or confronting inertia. This book is in the latter category, and is more about Justin, than about Jinsen (the Buddha Boy). Jinsen is harrassed daily by his classmates. This is half high school tale and half mystery, as new facets of the chracters are revealed in each chapter. There is also a dollop of karmic buddhism to give the story some uniqueness. The author has created a realistic story of Jinsen, a teenager who decides to live as a monk with a shaved head, calming smile, new name, and begging bowl. Justin, who is assigned to an Econ class project with Jinsen, must then face guilt by association, and decide what choices to make when confronting his parents, teachers, class leaders, bullies, drama club members, and friends. What sounds like a canned stereotypical story turns out to have much deeper nuances.

by Jerald Patch
Gateway High School, San Francisco

I thought the book "Buddha Boy" by Kathe Koja was well written to explain real life that goes on within a high school environment. The book talks about a young boy who is new to the school and is assigned to work with another classmate on a school project. The book is narrated by a character named Justin who descriptively observes the new kid by the name of Jinsen and gets to know this fellow classmate during their interaction on a class project. Jinsen shares his religion of Buddhism with Justin. Jinsen is out casted as the weird and unlikable student in the school and is bullied by a tougher kid named McManus because of the clothing Jinsen wears and the fact that he is the new kid in school. Justin is amazed at Jinsen's art skills during their project assignment while at the same time Justin sees a peaceful, quiet, and religious side of Jinsen which Justin perceives him to be a highly ethical and honest person. Jinsen continues to get bullied by the tougher kids and even gets physically abused without retaliating back. Justin can only stand by and watch helplessly as his new friend Jinsen is ridiculed in school. Justin believes that Jinsen's value of religion prevents him from fighting back and also sees Jinsen as a highly ethical person for keeping true to his values of religion and peace. The story takes a twist near the end when Justin discovers that Jinsen was once a bully himself and had been in many fights before as well as being kicked out of many schools in the past. It is this discovery that Justin realizes that his friend had found religion to change his life for the better and to maintain ethical and peaceful values in the face of being victimized by other bullies.
I liked this book because it had that certain descriptive detail about high school life and how a bully himself had changed for the better and had realized his wrong doings by feeling what a victim feels like. The book describes typical high school life where students are grouped into categories or types of friends like jocks, smart kids, weirdoes, loners, and faceless students. The book is also specific about bullies and victims. I liked how the book had an interesting twist near the end that described the type of person Jinsen was before coming to the school and how he remained strong in being a better person at this new school by not continuing with his bad behavior. I think that the death of his parents may have played a role in his change of character as well as having a second chance in life by being raised by his aunt. I think that Jinsen realized the value of life and the pain of losing something like his parents. I think that Jinsen realizes that his harming other kids in the past allowed those victims to lose something too. Jinsen allowed himself to be victimized by McManus as a way of karma but yet he refused to fall back to his old habits of harming others.
I don't have any dislikes about the book. I think the story was well told through the view or eyes of another student at the school. I think that the narration of the story as told by Justin allows Justin to understand the value of ethics and religion and how it has a positive role in a person's life. In the case of Jinsen, religion was Jinsen's way of finding peace with himself and was also a way to better his life.

When a new artistically talented boy shows up at Rucher high, calling himself Jinsen instead of his real name, and acting strange, sophomore classmate Justin doesn't understand why, but he also doesn't know why Jinsen tolerates the continual harassment by the other students without complaint. More of a portrayal of friendship than of Buddhism, Buddha Boy shows how the practice of religious tenets can turn a person's life around. Koja manages to do this in a non-preachy way, noting through Justin's observations that all religions are about the same thing but that religion doesn't seem to make any difference in making people better or changing the way they act. Several chapters begin with Justin's comments on karma or other issues and then flash back to the events that formed them. Justin's growing concern about the way his classmates treat his friend, and how the school officials ignore it to serve their own interests, trigger actions that result in karma for both of them.

I am always on the lookout for children's and Young Adult books that introduce Buddhism and related spiritual themes in an accessible way, so that is how I happened upon this one (and I'm glad I did.) This slim novel (117 pages) centers around high schooler Justin and his initially reluctant friendship with 'new kid' Jinsen, who begs at lunch for food, wears old clothes, smiles all the time no matter what, and is widely derided as a 'freak' amongst the high school population. Jinsen's incredible artistic talents intrigue Justin however, and as he gradually gets to know him better, he comes to appreciate Jinsen's profound spiritual values. The plot centers around others' treatment of Jinsen, and Justin's struggles to decide how or if he should try and help.

It's very readable, and the high school environment and emotional struggles of the characters felt real to me. Although it touches on spiritual themes, the author does so with a light touch - the book isn't pedantic or preachy. Most of the themes come up in brief bits of conversations between Justin and Jinsen, or in the narrative added by Justin, who is telling the story in first person. On the plus side, this keeps the spiritual undertones from overwhelming the story or characters, but it also limits the amount of information we get regarding Buddhism. As someone who has studied Buddhism extensively, some of the statements regarding the Four Noble Truths, karma, and 'gods' (a word some Buddhist are very uncomfortable with) didn't resonate exactly right for me. I wasn't wild about Jinsen begging for his lunch either, as it seemed to play into certain stereotypes regarding Buddhism. But there are many branches of Buddhism, and so many interpretations, and as long as this book isn't read as a treatise on Buddhism, I think it is good. Certainly anything that gets tweens and teenagers thinking about tolerance and spirituality is a good thing in my view!

Buddha Boy has that feeling of hurtling towards disaster running along in the background of the whole thing. In the forefront, however, there is a great story about Jinsen and Justin. Jinsen seems not to care what anyone thinks of or does to him. Good thing, too, since he dresses, looks and acts odd, none of which gets him a bunch of friends. He practically invites kids to bully him when he starts to beg for lunch money in the cafeteria. Most of the kids do just that, either actively by throwing pennies or worse or passively by ignoring Jinsen altogether. Justin, instead, asks him why he's different.

The two boys have more in common than Justin had originally thought; they are both artists. Koja's use of language, especially when describing the boys' artwork, is beautiful. You can really see the works of art that Justin and Jinsen are creating as you're reading. Stemming from that, the rest of the book is simply lyrical. The story, even though it is set in a contemporary high school and deals with some pointedly cruel bullying, has the far away feel of a fairytale. Justin tells this story and it somehow manages to feel like it's happening in the present tense and like it's already happened at the same time. Regardless of the subject matter, it's beautiful. When you add Jinsen's attitude and actions, and the way he affects and changes Justin, the whole thing is really breathtaking.

I only had one complaint, and it's not exactly a deal-breaker. During the course of Justin and Jinsen's growing friendship, Jinsen explains a few things about Buddhism, but mostly smiles and lets Justin figure things out for himself. Jinsen lives by example. This is great and fits well with his reaction to the bullying in the story, but I did wish every once in a while that Jinsen would give a straight answer to Justin's questions. There doesn't seem to be a lot of young adult fiction dealing with Buddhism, so it would have been nice for this one to be a bit more informative.

I loved Koja's writing. I probably would have loved it even if the story hadn't been great, it was that good. Luckily, the story lived up to the writing and both worked together to create a magnificent finished product.

Book source: Philly Free Library