Book note: 'Chasing Tail Lights'

Um, Cyrus, the characters are smoking pot; none of them are addicted to meth.

pj

Just wondering if Cyrus is a paid reviewer for Amazon.com, or just like the rest of us who leave comments about the books we read. Teen lit today is a far cry from nineteenth century lit. Remember that the critics of the day back in the nineteenth century most likely found much to criticize. I believe there is a place for both the past and present in what we offer our teens today. Perhaps it should be left to them to pick their favorites.

As teenagers we are ofton told what to like and what to dislike based on some adults review. It is a nice change to find a book reveiw done by a fellow teen, even if he is a boy. As a teen age girl, I am tired of the sterio type that this book protrays. I found Christy to be annoying and unlikable. It would be nice to see some more books written about teen girls that are positive and strong.

I would have given anything to have had books like this one to read when I was a teen. I lived in a house full of mental illness and abuse. I had no idea anyone else was going through the things I was. I thought I must be an evil kid, because none of the kids I knew were afraid to bring their friends home. None of the books or stories I heard reflected anything like my life either. It’s amazing the teens reviewing this book have so little empathy for and/or knowledge of what is going on all around them. To say that this book is based on a stereotype is extremely naive.

While I can’t relate to the characters or situations portrayed in the book (What can I say? I’ve led a sheltered life.), I understand Tori’s point that Cyrus’s review demonstrates a certain lack of empathy and, perhaps, a bit of denial that these situations are possible.

To convey these situations is not to advocate the behavior depicted. To dismiss them as stereotypical is to turn one’s back on issues that, even if you don’t observe them, are very real and affecting teens. It would be one thing for Cyrus to say that gritty books portraying realistic problems of teens in urban environments are not his cup of tea. Perhaps if he’d faced that particular bias going in to the review, he might have been able to excuse what he considers to be “flaws” and judge the techniques by which the author conveys his message.

There is a wide gamut of YA books out there and not every teen will be able to identify with every conflict that comes up in them. Some books are light and fluffy, barely taxing the imagination with such dilemmas as ‘which cute boy to ask to prom.’ Others challenge a reader’s values and beliefs, forcing them to question what they think (not in an outright subversive manner; but it’s not a bad thing to re-examine what you believe from time to time and if you decide what you believe at the beginning of the book is what you believe at the end, then the worst thing that happened in the meantime is you had a fun little philosophical discussion with yourself). Because not every teen will love every book and because every reader brings a series of biases to whatever text they read, it’s often necessary to try and look past those prejudices and evaluate solely on the skills of the writer.

It’s a matter of perspective. Write what you know is the (somewhat cliched but often accurate) rule many writers use to guide their work. Even if they’re making up every single thing in what they right, somewhere inside they know a truth that’s related to the text. In this case, Patrick Jones parlays his experiences into a text that conveys a truth he knows. Some people are tired of hearing that truth. Some people hear stories of teens with problems and drugs use so often that they begin to THINK these stories are cliche. The authors who are writing the light/fluffy books don’t own these truths so they find their own. Who’s right? They both are.

To question its merit as a MN Book Award nominee may be taking things a bit far. Ultimately, the award is about literary accomplishment. A subjective topic, to be sure, but aside from Cyrus’s righteous indignation and sweeping assumptions that EVERY teen should be able to relate to what’s being portrayed, I don’t see much evaluation of how Jones’s writing is. The review reads much to me like someone who goes to a movie thinking they’ll hate it, they hate it, and then they like to say “I told you so.” Any book reviewer will tell you that, often times, the hardest part of the job is acknowledging our one bias towards subject matter, a particular author, or a given genre and trying to get past it to provide an honest assessment of the text. It’s impossible to completely drain the bias from a reading but I think many reviewers achieve it in a way Cyrus hasn’t quite mastered yet.

My reason for disliking the book was not because of the situation in which the main character is embroiled. I recognize that many teenagers do live in conditions very similar to what Christy experienced. My issue with the novel is rather the way that Christy reacts to her situation. She shows few signs of courage, integrity or, in fact, any positive traits. She is plagued with self-pity and does nothing to change her predicament until the very end. If the novel were about a character in the same situation who uses some backbone, strength and intelligence, it could have been an excellent read.

I have just read Cyrus’s review and the comments it generated and I must admit that it was a lot of fun for me. I very much liked the review; it made me laugh. I share a lot of views with Cyrus, it seems. I admit that teen fiction is not something I’m interested in spending time reading. There is after all only so much time one can devote to reading, so a person has to be selective. That’s partly why I read reviews. Another reason, though, is that a review is sort of literature in itself. Like a good book, a good review has to grab you and hold your interest. Cyrus sure did that with me and others, it seems…success.

Sometimes I totally disagree with a book or movie review. There are a few reviewers out there who I always disagree with. If they say something’s good, then I know, as far as I’m concerned, it’s going to be awful and vice versa. I like to express my disagreement out loud to myself as I read them. It’s part of the fun of reading a review. I don’t get personally offended by what they write or say; a review is ultimately someone’s opinion, and it’s OK if it’s not mine. There is room in the world for other opinions than mine, after all. Thank goodness.

Some reviews are “light and fluffy” others might “challenge your values and beliefs.” These would be clues to help determine if you want to invest your valuable and finite time in a book. I do not think Cyrus was righteously indignant, in denial of the situation nor had a lack of empathy. What are the sweeping assumptions he made? Did he assume that not every book is going to be liked by every teen? He certainly empathized with the feeling that self pity and passive victimization are far too popular as character traits in the media. If he is “extremely naïve” about anything it seems that it is drug use, and that’s a good thing for a teen.

To say that a book review should be written from a near total bias-free perspective would remove the personality and style from the writing, rendering it inert. I think Cyrus did assess the author’s writing, and he didn’t like it. He even explained why he didn’t like it. He seems to have some valid points and I’m glad he expressed them; I sure enjoyed it. I hope he never masters the bias-free review because the personality in his writing has panache.

My biggest problem with these comments, I’d have to say, is the opinion of the main character, Christy, herself. I don’t know any single person that would call her whiney. It seems odd to me that you’d expect a girl in her position to have a stronger will than she did at the beginning of the book. Maybe you didn’t read about where she came from and what she’s been through.

When you grow up in a family, in a town, in any sort of household, where everyone is making you feel like dirt or like you don’t matter it’s hard to hold yourself in any kind of higher regard. After a while you start to believe what they’re saying. It’s like brainwashing. Ways of thinking can be taught and untaught. Christy isn’t whining about anything. For most of the book she doesn’t even talk about her problems with anyone. She bottles them up and does what she feels she has to do. Ryan first started abusing her when she was really young. I don’t think it takes a genius to figure out that children are impressionable, easy to scare, easy to prey on, and easy to keep on a chain.

If you get ‘em young there’s a good chance you’ll have them for life.

I’m not saying Chasing Tail Lights is perfect, but I’d definitely say that it’s a story unique in itself. If you don’t think it is, fine, but that’s life. Stories sound similiar, which is bound to happen statistically, but it’s the characters that make all the difference; the way the story is told, presentation, the pace.

Life, in general, is about figuring out yourself and where you want to go. Sometimes you don’t think you have any options and sometimes you have so many options that it’s overwhelming. You don’t need to be a victim of rape or abuse to understand where Christy was coming from. Hell, you don’t even need to look at Flint (though I don’t live far from it). If nothing else it’s about that stuck feeling that everyone gets at some point in their life. That, ‘where the hell do I go now,’ or that ‘what am I supposed to do,’ feeling, or even that feeling that tells you that you have to do something, take responsibility when others around you could be taking it. If you’ve ever felt trapped in any way you should be able to relate to Christy.

Call me crazy, but I don’t think I’d call anyone whiney for being put down, raped, abused, living in an opressive town, feeling overwhelmed or trapped, or feeling obligated to do something. If she’s whining, hell, what’s the rest of the world bitching about? In the end, the point is, that if you don’t think she has anything to ‘whine’ about you obviously have a warped view. I’ve seen girls complain about their hair or what to wear, and they whine six times as much as you think Christy does. It’s not a ‘wah wah my life sucks I don’t know what to do,’ kind of book. After all this talking, my biggest point is that it doesn’t deserve this review.

Rape.Christy was raped,please let her complain.Dead dad.No love. Im pretty sure that ANYONE in christy’s situation would want a change. Christy didnt attempt to change her situation because every situation in her life, every person made her believe she couldnt. She wasnt strong enough to change the situation; just like she wasnt strong enough to fight off brother ryan.Welcome to the mindset of a victim. Robbed of her innocence.It’s important to think of how these tragedies can affect someone. Slowly, and luckily, people come into christy’s life that start to change her perspective and help her re-evaluate her self worth. I think the way she finds her strength is beautiful.Patrick Jones made me see Christy. He made me love her and believe in her. TRAGEDY TO TRIUMPH. Now as for the ending…it was brilliant, and not at all cleche. For once it was good to hear of someone truly trying to get justice instead of painting a pretty[unrealistic] picture of letting bygones be bygones. All in all, Jones has written some amazing novels, novels that change peoples lives and perspectives and give them ONE SINGLE thing to relate to.