Simon Says [Hardcover]

Elaine Marie Alphin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2002

Charles Weston won't play games. Even as a child he refused to play the schoolroom game of Simon Says. Not for fun, and not in life. Now an aspiring young artist, Charles enrolls in a private arts high school, not because he thinks he can learn anything from the teachers but because he wants to meet the "famous" Graeme Brandt, a student whose recently published novel touches a chord deep within him. Perhaps at last Charles will share his art with someone.
But Graeme Brandt is not at all what Charles expected, and soon the talented artist and the published author are drawn into a clash of wills that threatens to destroy them both.
Edgar Award-winning author Elaine Marie Alphin is back with a stunning story about life, art, and the pursuit of true self-expression.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

High school junior Charles Weston, whose paintings convey "truth" so powerfully that all who see them promptly fear and/or dislike him, has just arrived at Whitman, a boarding school for artists. The school's amenities notwithstanding, Charles has enrolled simply in order to meet Graeme Brandt, a senior, and author of a YA novel that Charles finds brilliant in its send-up of people's shallowness ("Life is just one big game of Simon Says.... Nobody even wants to admit they're playing"). Charles, who now refuses to let others see his paintings, is hoping that Graeme can show him "how to get beyond the game... show me how to keep from locking myself away inside a studio forever." While the boys connect immediately, Charles realizes that Graeme is also "playing," just like Graeme's protagonist ("He knew what Simon wanted before Simon even said anything"). When Charles pushes Graeme to find his true self ("You're nothing but a lifeless mirror that reflects everyone's expectations!"), Graeme commits suicide and camouflages it as a heart attack, leaving a note explaining his actions to Charles. Alphin (Counterfeit Son) adds texture by inserting Graeme's journals between Charles's narration, and she brings unusual candor to her portrayal of gay characters. But while the author taps into adolescent visions of the artist's life and the difficulties of being an individual, her constant reiteration of these themes grows tiresome. Metaphors run a little thick, and the quagmires seemed overcooked. Ages 14-up.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 8 Up-In this psychological novel, Charles enters a boarding school for the arts hoping to find a place where he can stay true to his nonconformist nature. Absorbed with painting in a vivid and distorted way, he wants to make friends with people who like him for himself and teachers who will accept his work. As in the children's game Simon Says, he finds himself mirroring others rather than pleasing himself. Charles knows that Graeme, a student writer whom he idolizes, shares a search for identity. Excerpts from Graeme's journal appear at intervals, revealing a parallel childhood. Elements of a homosexual crush draw the two together but the path to self-realization has a tragic end when Graeme commits suicide. As in many YA novels, the adults here are peripheral and antagonistic, providing a perfect setting for self-perceived isolation. Charles's musical roommate, Adrian, and the editor of the student journal, Rachel, are well-developed supporting characters who, as grounded individuals, become the ones who ultimately help the protagonist feel a sense of belonging. Plot development is emotional rather than eventful, and some of the details surrounding Graeme's death are not plausible. It defies logic that, in a small boarding school, Charles would learn about the teen's "fatal heart attack" from the newspaper. Still, adolescents will relate to the disconnected characters who feel painfully alone and will be encouraged by the acceptance of their uniqueness.
Vicki Reutter, Cazenovia High School, NY
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 14 and up
  
• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books; 1st edition (May 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0152163557
• ISBN-13: 978-0152163556
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,979,749 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Elaine Marie Alphin knew she was going to be a writer before she could even read or write. On early morning walks with her father in San Francisco, she listened to the stories he told, and made up stories to tell him, and she realized then that she wanted to spend her life making up stories. Winner of the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Young Adult Mystery (Counterfeit Son), the ForeWard Book of the Year Award for Young Adult Fiction (The Perfect Shot), the Society of Midland Authors Children's Fiction Award and Young Hoosier Book Award (Ghost Soldier, also an Edgar Award nominee), the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Award (Dinosaur Hunter), two Society of Children's Writers and Illustrators Magazine Merit Awards, and the Virginia State Reading Association Award (The Ghost Cadet), Mrs. Alphin has made writing for children and young adults, and speaking to them at schools and conferences, her dream career. Although she started out as a journalist in Houston, a tip from her husband, Art, drew her to writing for children. Her fiction and nonfiction books for youngsters from beginning readers through teenagers have been selected for Bank Street College lists, TAYSHAS lists, VOYA Top Shelf lists, and 20 Children's Choice state award lists. Although adults occasionally ask when she's going to grow up enough to write for them, Elaine Marie Alphin explains why she loves writing for young readers instead: "I always wanted my writing to challenge readers to question their assumptions, and I discovered that a lot of grown-ups don't really want to question their assumptions. They've made choices and compromises in their lives, and they want to feel comfortable about them. But young readers are still finding out who they are, like I am, I guess. They're the perfect audience for me because they want to consider new ideas in order to decide for themselves which ideas they agree with and which they don't, and work out how they want to live their lives." Elaine Marie Alphin has written one book for adults: Creating Characters Kids Will Love. It's about writing for young readers. Get to know Elaine Marie Alphin better at her website: www.elainemariealphin.com. The Alphins live in Bozeman, Montana, and spend time in South Dakota and Wyoming.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The themes of this book are desperately thought-provoking., July 29, 2004

By 

Teenreads.com (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Simon Says (Hardcover)

Even in kindergarten, Charles knew that he didn't want to play Simon Says. He didn't want to do what somebody named Simon said. He wanted to be himself. If it was a choice of playing Simon Says or standing in the corner, he stood in the corner. Charles is a sophomore in high school now, and he is still determined that he will not play Simon Says.

But people have always been dissatisfied with who Charles is. His life is full of Simons telling him to be different. Don't use his left hand; don't paint pictures that make them feel uncomfortable; make them proud of him; study for the right kind of job. The more he uses his paintings to show people how he feels, the more they hate him. They make fun of him, tear up his class assignments, and call him names. Teachers harass him, and his parents are ashamed of him.

That's why Charles wants to meet Graeme. When Graeme was a freshman at Whitman High School for the Arts, he wrote a book, The Eye of the Storm, that was published and made people sit up and blink. Charles knew as soon as he read it that he had to go to Whitman, too, and meet Graeme. Here was somebody who knew all about the Simon Says games people play, and yet he obviously never played them himself. Charles knows that he can learn from Graeme how to be himself without playing the game, either.

But Graeme is not what Charles expected him to be. Graeme is a senior at Whitman now, and he hasn't written another book since his first one. Graeme himself doesn't know why. Nor does he know why he's a disappointment to Charles. What does Charles want from him? The relationship between the two boys becomes more and more complicated, until it erupts in a storm that will change them both forever.

The themes of this book are desperately thought-provoking --- Always be yourself, because the alternative can be deadly. But to be yourself, you have to know who you are. And what we are in any given moment is not the whole truth of us. It can be more terrible to live than to die, but death takes away everything. And Simon Says might be a game we all play, even when we don't want to.

--- Reviewed by Tamara Penny

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Must Read!, October 7, 2002

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Simon Says (Hardcover)

I couldn't believe this book! It's so TRUE! I opened it Saturday morning and I couldn't stop reading until I finished it that afternoon. It just sucked me into Charles's world. I felt like I was part Charles and part Graeme, and like I wished I could be more like Adrian even though I didn't like him at all at first. But these guys were so REAL to me!

I thought I was the only guy who had these thoughts and these fears and was struggling with these issues. But this book says it all. It's okay to be different. It's okay to tell your parents you can't be the person they expect you to be - they might even accept you as you are. Or maybe they won't. The book doesn't promise any happy endings, but it's honest.

All I can say is that every teen, whether you're into painting or writing or music, or whether you're a jock or a geek or a Goth or WHOEVER you are, you have to read this book!! I feel different after reading it, and you will too.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Repetitious, July 24, 2008

By 

S. Dahlin (Port Orchard, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Simon Says (Paperback)

While I enjoyed the story and the insight into the creative mind and process, I was thoroughly annoyed by the theme. Constantly repeated, over and over again. Simon says this, Simon says that. I got what the author was saying about conformity and being true to yourself, but I didn't need to be reminded every page. The repetition robbed the idea of its dramatic weight.

I did like the matter of fact depiction of gay characters. I'm heartened to see this becoming more common in YA literature.