I Should be Able to Craft A Witty Title Out of These Titles, But I Can't

So, as some of you will recall, our little contingent secured the first pick in the Smackdown draft,and I’ll have to be honest that I was getting all judging-a-book-by-its-cover and not really feeling either of our selections from the outset. Now, some (Brad) might suggest that I was just being sulky over us not choosing the Spider-man graphic novel, which my comic loving self was feeling very protective of, but I have it on good authority that Spider-man is moving through, so I’m writing in the spirit of generosity about both of our books. The covers of both Starfish and Piecing Me Together have actually grown on me, now that I can see the connections with texts, but I can’t even make a premise of close fight in this one: We all just flat out liked Piecing Me Together better.

Now, normally in such a lopsided affair, I’d lick my chops and start ripping into the unfortunate book that is about to depart this smacky vale, before waxing poetic about the victor’s many merits, but a conversation I had on Friday gives me pause. The one kid I know who has read both books, actually likes Starfish better. Yeah. I know. It kind of calls whatever I’m about to write into question. As I reflect on this, though, it doesn’t really surprise me. Starfish is one of those books - and there are some in every edition of the Smackdown - that reads like a Frankenstein monster of YA tropes: angsty teen, lots of references to angsty teen’s object of affection’s hotness, family drama, unfulfilled goal, mysterious strangers who provide just in the nick of time insight etc. You get the picture. I know that sounds dismissive, but really, I’m dismissing myself because all of this stuff works in YA - and even, if we’re honest, more highbrow stuff - because it speaks to things we can all connect to and for this young man, this book really spoke to him. And I mean that almost literally: one of the strengths and the weaknesses of the book is a narrator (and an author) who paints in pretty broad strokes and I can see this being very effective for some kids, even if it left all of us middle-agers clamoring for more nuance.

So this is not a terribly subtle book. Our young narrator, Kiko, lives in a broken home whose dysfunction is exacerbated by a mother whose narcissism might have even Donald Trump raising a blow-dried eyebrow. Her art is her solace and her albatross as her failure to get into her chosen art school leaves her adrift. And  . . . the hottest boy ever, her childhood crush, is back in town. There’s lots more, including a couple of biggies: ongoing sexual trauma and struggles with cultural and racial identity.  If that seems like a lot, it is, and there are times where we felt that there was more going on here than the author could be expected to do justice to in a relatively slim 330 pages. In our discussion, what we kept coming back to, however, was a lack of nuance in the prose that really boils down to the author not trusting her audience, and perhaps her own writing. Throughout the novel in pivotal moments we find our experience of the novel is actually hijacked by a narrator who tells us not only her every thought and feeling, but also her takes on the thoughts and feelings of those around her. This probably doesn’t sound like a bad thing, and sometimes it’s not, but there are other times where it feels like we’re getting a few more “Get it?” nudges than we need. This extends to the basic structure of the book where the connecting thread of Jade’s art rang somewhat hollow for us, particularly through the use of the sometimes cloying end of chapter encapsulations of what Jade is drawing in the moment. Again, I don’t want to get into too many examples of what wasn’t working because there are strong moments that would resonate with kids, but this was not a book that any of us found ourselves compulsively reading.

While I’ve sometimes found the opening round of The Mighty Smackdown quite jarring, where very disparate selections are matched up together leading to forced choices between books that are great (or, occasionally, not great) in fundamentally different ways. These books do not fall into that category as they have some similar features, perhaps most notably that their female narrators are young female artists who are struggling to find their own identity in a complex cultural landscape. If Kiko was at times a, a hard character to connect and maybe even like, Jade in Piecing Me Together was someone we all felt quite connected with. Part of this is a testament to the formal structures of the novel and Watson’s ability to craft an authentic voice for Jade. That concept of voice is the controlling conceit of the novel even more so than Jade’s work with collage, and ultimately there is a very empowering message here about the importance of speaking truth to power and I don’t mean this just in the more familiar context of looking at larger social injustice, although this does play a role in the novel and one that is all the more effective for it’s understated nature. More importantly though, this is a book about speaking truth to that power in your own head; that dominating voice that at some point tries to stop so many of us from doing what we want -and more importantly, need - to do. I know this probably sounds hypocritical after criticizing Kiko for TMIing, but while we certainly get her interior thoughts it is how that interior monologue links up to her spoken words that makes a tremendous difference. It is, in many ways, a primer for young people to contemplate how to have tough conversations. Jade has a lot going on too - friend and family issues, exploring her identity as a young woman of color and her body image, her relationships with authority figures in her life etc. - and yet this is all woven together in an artful and eloquent manner. There are some profound moments throughout the novel and some sparkling bits of prose -and poetry- that really made this a compelling read. We all really enjoyed the book and could envision kids who we’d really like to give it to. Piecing Me Together is our number one with a bullet.