Truancy (Tom Doherty Associates Books) (Hardcover)

by Isamu Fukui (Author) "The man sighed and flipped his lighter open, light reflecting off its chrome finish as he slowly brought a thick cigar to his mouth and..." (more)
Key Phrases: student militia, chief enforcer, disciplinary officer, The Bar, City Hall, Penance Tower (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal
Grade 8–10—Tack, 15, lives in a dystopian society where a corrupt government oppresses its citizens, starting when they are students. A group of young resistance fighters called the Truancy violently strikes back against the system. Tack joins the movement after his sister is accidentally killed in a Truancy attack on a government official. His intention is to murder its leader in revenge, but he finds himself drawn into the group's philosophy and is torn between wanting to bring down the government or destroy the ferocious resistance. This hefty novel is not unlike an action movie or video game. It starts fast and barrels on with not one subtle moment. It is full of elaborate, graphic fights. The characters are amazingly skilled in a wide variety of unbelievable ways. Described as "kids" or "children," they are nonetheless portrayed as expert assassins, brilliant tacticians, even world-weary bartenders. Readers are beaten over the head with how evil the government is, how oppressed the students are, how unsympathetic adults are. According to the back cover, the author wrote the book "in one month the summer of his fifteenth year." He shows a lot of promise, but more experience, in life and in writing, might greatly improve his style. While Truancy may be popular with some readers who feel as though adults don't get them and school is oppressing them, it is a strictly additional purchase for robust SF collections.—Geri Diorio, The Ridgefield Library, CT
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From Booklist
The premise of teens combating an oppressive education system will entice readers to this heavily marketed novel centering on a young martial-arts expert who joins the ruthless Truants to undermine them but becomes caught up in their broader mission. Author Fukui is only 18, and his debut harbors many signs of an author still in high school: his writing can be overwrought, and, despite a pacifistic jacket-flap comment, he lingers so gleefully over the carnage as rebel dropouts plunge swords, snap necks, and throw homemade bombs that the message can’t help but seem a little dilute. Most teens, however, will take the combat scenes in the graphic novel–influenced manner in which they were presumably intended, and many will hear—and embrace—the passionate critique of high-school experience wrapped within the Truants’s battle cry: All kids are branded as a single faceless mass and herded through school like cattle. Recommenders, especially those in school settings, will find themselves torn between teens’ interest and the novel’s focus on violence in an educational context. Grades 8-12. --Jennifer Mattson

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Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Hardcover: 432 pages
• Publisher: Tor Teen (March 4, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765317672
• ISBN-13: 978-0765317674
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #215,587 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Way better than Paolini!, June 30, 2009

By	L. Hatem "Bibliophile" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Everybody always talks about Paolini being the most amazing teen author. I have to disagree. I believe Fukui has the most amazing ability I've ever read. His use of words pulls you in, drawing you deeper into the book. The action is detailed, the plot intricate, the feelings real. This is by far one of my favorite books, and I recommend it to everybody!

7 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mindful of Huxley's Big Brother and Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall", March 6, 2008

By	Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews (#1 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

The Mayor rules the city through the subtle use of the Bureaucracy starting with students whose minds and behavior are shaped to the mayor's ideal of perfection. Every pupil is brainwashed until as adults they do the same things to their offspring who are students. This has led to a totalitarian society in which the Enforcers make sure the students follow the rules; those who fail to conform are expelled to live as homeless waifs.

One former student saw the Mayor, his Educators and the Enforcers as tyrants. He and other disenfranchised and disenchanted students formed the Truancy who chose to live in a free world. Fifteen years old Tack is stunned when the Truancy Leader Zyid kills his sister in what he calls "collateral damage"; he vows to kill Zyid. He joins the Truancy in order to accomplish his quest and though he has chances he hesitates because without Zyid the Truancy, who is family to him, dies. Tack, Zyid and their enemy will soon confront each other with no telling who if any will walk away.

Mindful of Huxley's Big Brother and Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall", Isamu Fukui shows what happens to a society when a dictatorship centrally controls the entire education process especially what is learned. Zyid may be a young teen, but he is a pragmatist who believes bloodshed must occur to bring fear into the hearts of the Mayor, the Educator and their inner circle in order to incite a rebellion. Tack is his opposite as an idealist willing to die for his beliefs, but preferring change without bloodshed.. Readers will be enthralled by this meaningful story focusing on the impact of corrupt leaders controlling all communication starting when the citizens are young pupils.

Harriet Klausner

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I'm a teacher and I'd love to use this book in school, May 29, 2008

By	S. S. Livingston "Radical Teacher" (Santa Fe, NM USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

When I heard an interview with Isamu Fukui on National Public Radio, I was impressed with the reasons that he wrote this book. Many things he said during the interview and the themes in his novel really hit home: school is often the socializing forum for kids. Even though I'm part of the system the radical in me has wanted to blow it up and start over for quite a while. I'm glad that a teenager has had the courage to pen an exaggerated version of how many educators negatively affect their students' moral and self-respect. Thank heavens my summer break has begun because I can not put that book down!