TWISTED is a novel from Laurie Halse Anderson (author of SPEAK) that examines the mindset of the typical American suburban teenage male. The story is told from the point of view of Tyler Miller. Tyler was just an average, overlooked high school student until the end of this junior year. He did well in his classes, but because he didn't play sports, come from a wealthy family, or have a great physique he was a just one of many nameless faces at George Washington High School. Tyler was tired of being a nobody and decided that he would do something to get the entire school to recognize him and at the end of his junior year committed the Foul Deed. The Foul Deed gained him high school infamy, but it also forced him to sell his car and earned him a summer of community service working with the schools maintenance and janitorial staff and six months of probation. He spent most of his summer tarring roofs and doing landscaping work. By the end of the summer he had ended his growth spurt topping out around six feet and his flabby frame was as solid as chiseled granite.
Tyler likes his new look and isn't the only one. The most popular girl in school, the queen bee, Bethany Milbury suddenly starts noticing Tyler. Tyler's sister, Hannah, who begins high school as a freshman also notices Tyler's new physique and uses it to her advantage on the first day of school. Tyler had liked Bethany since grade school. She is his dream girl. But there are some big obstacles. Besides the obvious, that Bethany and Tyler are from two completely different worlds, there's also the fact that Bethany's Dad is Tyler's Dad's boss and that Bethany's twin brother Chip is Tyler's worst enemy. Somehow Tyler is able to overcome these obstacles and the school year begins as the best of his high school career. But events at a rowdy party after a football game turn everything upside down and Tyler finds himself looking at a possible jail sentence for a crime he didn't commit. He thinks about committing suicide and he plans to run away. Everything in his life is all screwed up and the only thing he is sure about is how complicated and twisted life has become.
I know that Laurie Halse Anderson gained a huge amount of public and critical acclaim with her novel, SPEAK. I haven't read that book, yet, but knew from recommendations from friends who have read that book what an excellent writer she is. TWISTED just reinforced everything I had been told.
The story is a very honest and brutal examination at the inner struggles that a typical suburban teenage American male goes through. I work with teenagers on a regular basis and I was once an American teenage male myself (though I wasn't from the suburbs) so I can relate a great deal to the character of Tyler Miller. However, I also found the novel to be rather disturbing because in reading about Tyler and his struggles I see how far we (as people) have changed in the past ten to fifteen years and it frightens me.
We live in a culture and society that is constantly changing. Some people would argue that these changes are for the better. To an extent, I would agree. But only to an extent. Change can be good, but it isn't always good and change just for the sake of change is very seldom a good thing. Traditions and the status quo can sometimes become a barrier to creativity and originality, but they have their place in society and culture even though they are unfortunately systematically being erased little by little. In such a culture, boys no longer know how to become men. Physically, many boys appear to be men, but their emotions and mentality remain that of a boy. Advertising saturates us with messages that conflict with our innermost sense of self, yet appeals to the most primal urges within each of us and this causes old boys and young men to have a mental life full of twisted confusion and frustration.
Then there's the public education system itself. I'm a committed teacher, but I'm also a realist when it comes to educating secondary students. Anyone who doesn't want to acknowledge that our public education system is messed up is living in an imaginary world. In the United States we have attempted to do what no other country in history has ever done before by providing the same basic education to everyone regardless of ability. It's a noble ideal. Unfortunately the ideal will never be realized if the current system remains the way it is. Extremely talented and creative children are being left behind, their gifts and talents unacknowledged and unrecognized while someone who is able to fill in enough little circles properly in the right amount of time is lavished with praise. Then there's the whole issue with how public high schools in America have become little more than semi-restricted centers of social experimentation instead of the pantheons devoted to education, civic training, and morality that they are supposed to be.
TWISTED deals with all these issues and at times it can be quite bleak. Yet, the book is a book of hope. Tyler has to face his inner demons but they don't ultimately conquer him. Not only that, but he's not alone. Outside of his family he has his best friend, Yoda. At school his favorite teacher is his English teacher, Mr. Salvatore who is concerned for Tyler and his well being. These characters in addition to Tyler's mother, sister, and the high school janitorial crew help Tyler realize how unique and special that he is. He recognizes this, but doesn't fully understand it for quite sometime. Every teenager needs people like this in their lives and I weep for those who don't have anyone or think that they don't because I've seen first hand what happens to kids who don't.
TWISTED is prefaced by a short warning that declares "NOTE: THIS IS NOT A BOOK FOR CHILDREN." I'm glad that warning is there because though TWISTED is marketed as a young adult novel, it's a novel not written for children and is aimed at adults. There is a lot of crude and foul language, there is a great deal of violence, and the book is filled with images of sexuality. I know that there are many teenagers will read this book and I hope that when they do they can take something positive away from it. However, I hope that more adults than teenagers will read it. However, TWISTED is so insightful and powerful that it's a book that any adult who works with teenage boys should require themselves to read.
