What Happened [Hardcover]

Peter Johnson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2007

An unnamed sixteen-year-old is the hero of this impressionistic and fragmented novel. His account of events begins on a snowy winter evening after his brother Kyle brawls with Duane over the beautiful Emily. The two high school basketball stars make apparent amends and Duane offers the brothers a ride home from this late-night party. Drunk, high, and still fuming at Kyle, Duane drives recklessly to scare his passengers. In his mindlessness, Duane hits someone on the road, then leaves Kyle, the narrator, and the body of the victim to freeze while he speeds away in his car. After the night has passed, the narrator and Kyle must face Duane's powerful father, who hopes to intimidate the brothers into silence. The man hated the boys' father when the two adults were in high school, and he hates Kyle for dating his daughter, Emily. As tension builds, the brothers learn that the abandonment by their father after their mother died is only the tip of their father's mysterious history and only a sliver of What Happened.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 9 Up—An account of an accident unfolds slowly, in lyrical prose, from the voice of an unnamed narrator. As one of four boys in a car that runs down a pedestrian late one snowy night after a party, the 16-year-old makes observations that are erratic and clouded, not only by his own drunkenness, but also by the troubled teen's somewhat skewed view of the world. The driver, Duane, an arrogant rich kid, is a teammate and nemesis of the narrator's older brother. Kyle is dating Duane's sister Emily and the brothers also learn that Duane's father was once in love with their own dead mother and hated their absentee father. The hit-and-run incident fuels antagonism between the families, as Kyle wants to do the right thing by going to the authorities and Duane's father wants to use his wealth and influence to cover it up. The stream-of-consciousness writing style somehow diffuses the power of the accident and a gun-wielding showdown at Duane's house but draws empathy for the narrator's heartbreak over his mother's death, father's abandonment, and a secret crush on Emily. His thoughts are fluid and woven together, offering alternate scenarios that suit his own needs and imagination, such as one in which his father shows up at a basketball game. While Duane and his father get their just deserts, the more satisfying ending is the poetical narrator coming to terms with his past and looking to a brighter future.—Vicki Reutter, Cazenovia High School, NY
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* "Believe, believe," the unnamed young narrator of this extraordinary first novel tells himself. But in what? His mother is dead, his father has abandoned both him and his older brother, Kyle, and now the two have been involved, as passengers, in a hit-and-run accident. Should they go to the police? Or should they obey the wealthy father of the boy who was driving and remain silent? Peter Johnson, an award-winning poet, writes with unusual grace and tenderness about kids who are troubled--and occasionally baffled--by the necessity of moral choice when their lives seem to be nothing but a "combination of catastrophes and dumb decisions." No wonder the narrator is afraid, despite the meds he must take, and frustrated by his search for meaning and something to believe in. The voice that Johnson has given this boy--also a poet--is breathtakingly good, each word conspiring with every other word to create an irresistibly seductive tone that is a haunting combination of sadness and fragile hope. Fans of Robert Cormier will welcome this similarly satisfying invitation to reflect on religion, reality, and reasons for getting out of bed in the morning. Michael Cart
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 136 pages
• Publisher: Front Street Press (March 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932425675
• ISBN-13: 978-1932425673
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #964,310 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Courtesy of Teens Read Too, March 6, 2007

By 

TeensReadToo "Eat. Drink. Read. Be Merrier." (All Over the US & Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: What Happened (Hardcover)

WHAT HAPPENED begins with an apology. The narrator admits that what he is about to tell may seem "erratic" because that's the way his mind works. Readers will find the tale that follows does wind and weave through past and present, but as a whole it represents the troubled path of the narrator's life.

First, their mother dies, then their father disappears, and now the sixteen-year-old narrator and his brother, Kyle, live with their Aunt Lucy. Life hasn't been easy, and it's about to get even more complicated. There is a hit and run accident that involves the teens, some friends, and a man on a bicycle. Should they call the police or attempt to cover-up their crime?

Facts of the story become twisted and more complex as the brothers discover secrets about their mother's past relationship with the father of a friend. Aunt Lucy admits her knowledge of the past as she tries to help the two answer questions about their mother's death and why their father left. Although some questions are answered, the story mimics real life with its loose ends and untidy conclusions.

Peter Johnson takes his readers into the mind of the narrator for a glimpse into the life of a troubled teen. Life is definitely not a chronological series of events neatly catalogued by date and time. Johnson's story illustrates the crazy, jumbled order that makes up our daily lives.

Reviewed by: Sally Kruger, aka "Readingjunky"

0 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars EXCELLENT SERVICE/EXCELLENT READ, July 27, 2007

By 

Michelle A. Roseberry (FALL RIVER, MASS.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: What Happened (Hardcover)

BOOK WAS IN PERFECT CONDITION AND WAS RECEIVED QUICKLY, VERY SATISFIED WITH PURCHASE AND SERVICE