Sexy ANNOTATION
Sixteen-year-old Darren Flynn, a popular, good-looking high school athlete who lacks self-confidence, learns that his jock friends are hatching a revenge act against their English teacher for failing a member of the swim team.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
"Darren Flynn has the perfect life - until that day in November." "After that day, after what happened (did it happen?), life is different. Darren is different. Nothing is as it was - before. His friends, his family, even the people who are supposed to be in charge are no longer who Darren thought they were. Who can he trust, now?" This novel explores one teenager's search for identity in a complex, deceiving world, and the answers he finds in the most unexpected places.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
As she did in Freaky Green Eyes, Oates once again explores the link between sexuality and aggression as she delves deep inside a vulnerable 16-year-old's psyche. Structured in short, introspective chapters, the novel unfolds entirely from the third-person point of view of shy high-school swim team member, Darren Flynn, who has suddenly turned handsome, popular and "sexy." Darren is taken aback when his usually "formal" English teacher, Mr. Tracy, acts overly friendly one afternoon, gives Darren a ride home from school and asks the teen to address him by his first name. Darren tells himself that the incident means "nothing," but becomes more uneasy when the English teacher gives him a higher grade for the semester than he deserves. Meanwhile, some fellow swimmers who did not fare as well in English hatch a plot against Mr. Tracy that involves fabricating lies about him being a gay child molester. The boys' lies have a snowball effect, threatening Mr. Tracy's career. Rather than delineating the lines between right and wrong, truth and falsehood, Oates uses the uncertain teen's viewpoint to mine the gray area, inviting readers to draw their own conclusions about the events. The author's open ending, in the aftermath of a tragedy, raises thought-provoking questions about whether Darren is a hero or a coward and whether the tragedy has changed his perception of the world. Ages 14-up. (Mar.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
School Library Journal
Gr 9 Up-Oates has produced another novel with a compelling story line and a complex protagonist. Darren Flynn is incredibly good-looking, but isn't quite sure how to handle all the admiring attention he receives from females and males alike. In addition, his teachers and swimming coach remark consistently on his untapped potential and the way he holds himself back both in the pool and in his writing, and Darren knows this to be true. The teen's hardscrabble rural New England lifestyle is juxtaposed with the professional, well-off families of his friends. As in Big Mouth and Ugly Girl (HarperCollins, 2002), Oates takes an ambiguous and uncomfortable incident with a male teacher and allows the story to unravel through rumor and innuendo into a horrible climax. Here, a retaliatory attack on the man's character by some disgruntled students careens out of control and has deadly consequences. The characters of family and friends are well drawn but the star is the protagonist, and Darren's authenticity shines through. The male-centered, first-person narrative and athletic allusions make this novel appealing to reluctant male readers. This is sure to be a popular title and is great for sparking discussion, even though the explicit language and subject matter may be problematic in some schools.-Courtney Lewis, Wyoming Seminary College Preparatory School, Kingston, PA Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
Handsome, popular, and athletic, 16-year-old Darren Flynn should be on top of the world. But this "guy's guy" is not exactly what he seems. Loaded with self-doubt, burdened by other people's expectations and distressed by feelings he can't articulate, Darren likes to keep things light and jokey. However, after fellow swim-team member Jimmy Kovaks is kicked off varsity for plagiarizing, a group of Darren's buddies anonymously accuses the teacher who caught and failed Jimmy, of coming onto boys. The school and police take action, destroying the teacher's life and putting Darren, who knew about but refused to participate in the hoax, in a state of moral turmoil. Oates further complicates matters by giving Darren some unsavory but still ambiguous information about the teacher as well as an inchoate terror that he will somehow be tarred with the same brush. Full of ethical complexities, this deftly written page-turner offers a sympathetic portrait of a young man devoid of adult guidance, who struggles to come to his own conclusion while sorting through messy, complicated truths. (Fiction. YA)
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