You Don't Know Me

From Publishers Weekly
The 14-year-old narrator describes the physical and emotional abuse he experiences from his mother's boyfriend in this "well-conceived novel," said PW. "The hero's underlying sense of isolation and thread of hope will strike a chord with nearly every adolescent." Ages 13-up. (Aug.) Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
Gr 7 Up-John, 14, makes himself unknowable, contemplating volumes about the absurdities of his world while restraining most utterances to monosyllables. The narrative bounces between comic and serious elements, such as band director Steenwilly's glasses being blown off by the "saurian screech" of Violet's saxophone, juxtaposed with the all-too-real violence that John suffers at home and elsewhere. Klass blazes past his previous literary efforts stylistically, introducing elements of magical realism to gradually reveal a quirky, talented, and likable guy. Having been trashed by beautiful, shallow, and manipulative Gloria, John gradually discovers that down-to-earth Violet is truly the girl of his dreams. With his life already at one of its lowest points, the protagonist verbally abuses his algebra teacher, "Mrs. Moonface" and receives a week's suspension. He is viciously beaten by "the man who is not my father," and his mother doesn't know that her live-in almost-fianc‚ is a hard-drinking, violent crook until he nearly kills John on a night when she is out of town. The story concludes with the teen finding that he is life itself to his mother, and that he is liked by his peers and teachers. School is still "anti-school," not a place of fun and learning, and snotty girls are still snotty. The world may be "muddled and painful," but it is, "in the end, a love song,"-a rewarding and important message for all readers.-Joel Shoemaker, Southeast Junior High School, Iowa City, IACopyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Gr. 6-9. At 14, John feels trapped in a life that he says "is not a life." Who could argue? Consider the facts: his father--who (he says) named him after a toilet--vanished when John was four; his mother, who works soul-destroying double shifts in a factory, is nearly always absent. What's worse, the man who moved in six months ago and whom Mom plans to marry abuses John routinely. As a result, the highly imaginative teen lives mostly in his head (the ambitious story is largely an interior monologue) and understandably feels that no one knows him. Although John is a genuinely sympathetic, interestingly complex character, his highly mannered voice belongs to someone much older than 14, and it's wildy inconsistent, veering in tone from seriously realistic to the farcical, from wryly sophisticated and ironically self-deprecating to sophomoric. Weigh that against some brilliant, dramatically charged scenes and John's endlessly intriguing character. Michael Cart
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
"A rewarding an dimportant message for all readers . . . Klass blazes past his previous literary efforts stylistically, introducing elements of magical realism to gradually reaveal a quirky, talkented, and likable guy." --Starred, School Library Journal


Book Description

ANNOTATION

Fourteen-year-old John creates alternative realities in his mind as he tries to deal with his mother's abusive boyfriend, his crush on a beautiful, but shallow classmate and other problems at school.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Fourteen-year-old John creates alternative realities in his mind as he tries to deal with his mother's abusive boyfriend, his crush on a beautiful, but shallow classmate and other problems at school.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

The 14-year-old narrator describes the physical and emotional abuse he experiences from his mother's boyfriend in this "well-conceived novel," said PW. "The hero's underlying sense of isolation and thread of hope will strike a chord with nearly every adolescent." Ages 13-up. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

John, the 14-year-old narrator of Klass's (Screen Test; Danger Zone) well-conceived novel, deals with not only universal teenage problems (escaping his algebra teacher's questions, working up the nerve to ask out his dream girl, whom he calls "Glory Hallelujah," fighting with a friend), he also must deal with his mother's boyfriend, whom John calls "the man who is not my father." The tyrant verbally and physically abuses him when his mother is not around, and John experiences a "meltdown" when he learns that the man plans to marry his mother. While people do care about JohnDa rather stereotypically sensitive music teacher and a likable girl from his band class, whom John calls "Violent" Hayes "because she appears to be trying to strangle her saxophone before it kills her"Deven they cannot convince John to reveal what's happening at home. John's narrative often addresses various characters directly (his mother's boyfriend, the music teacher, etc.) with wry internal thoughts; this approach plays up the alienation John feels and also conveys the teen's sardonic humor and intelligence. A few scenes are so outrageous and comical that they clash with the book's overall tone (e.g., when Glory Hallelujah's father hunts John and the girl down in the basement of her home). But most, such as when John first asks out Glory Hallelujah via note, instructing her to check either the "yes" or "no" box, are very grounded in the high school experience. The hero's underlying sense of isolation and thread of hope will strike a chord with nearly every adolescent. Ages 12-up. (Mar.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Children's Literature

The best books can make you laugh and cry, often on the same page. This novel is definitely one of them. No one knows who the real John is. Not his mother, to whom he feels invisible, not his friend who is not a friend, not the man who is not his father, not the students at his anti-school, and not the music teacher who tries to help him. In his house that is not a house, the man who is not John's father abuses him severely, and John is afraid to confide the secret to anyone. He takes refuge in the imaginary African village of Lashasa Palulu, where people live in intelligence, tolerance and love. John thinks his fortunes are changing when the girl he has a crush on, Glory Hallelujah, agrees to go out with him. But the date turns into a hilarious disaster, soon followed by a fateful Tuesday where everything goes wrong and John has a giant meltdown. John's first person narrative is undoubtedly one of the most unique fictional voices to appear in many years. John reacts to his sorry lot with sarcasm, irony and remarkable good humor. Put this novel on your "must read" list. 2001, Frances Foster Books/Farrar Straus and Giroux, $17.00. Ages 12 up. Reviewer: Christopher Moning

VOYA

John's life appears caught up in the normal craziness that challenges high school students. Algebra is torture. He and his best friend both want the same girl. Mr. Steenwilly, the orchestra director, senses that all is not quite normal, but John brushes him off with assurances that he is fine. At least at school, he can escape his mother's boyfriend, the man who abuses him. John copes with the mistreatment via a running inner soliloquy on life. When his mother's boyfriend talks of becoming John's stepfather, John's slippery grasp on reality comes crashing down, and neither his cynical view of life nor his sarcastic sense of humor can save him. An attempt to experience a taste of average teenage life—attending a school dance—ends with John being severely beaten, saved almost too late by Mr. Steenwilly, who had refused to take John's assurances to heart. John's inner voice is wonderfully cynical yet sweet and sad, reminding readers of Steve in Rats Saw God (Simon & Schuster, 1996/VOYA June 1996) or Charlie in The Perks of Being a Wallflower (Pocket Books, 1999/VOYA December 1999). Klass sets up two separate worlds in this novel. John keeps the gleeful, witty one inside as he deals with the harsh reality of the outside. Klass skillfully blends these two worlds so that sometimes they are hardly distinguishable. The closer John comes to despair, the more tangled his worlds become. To reduce this novel to a story of John's abuse misses the stark contrast between the surrealism and absurdity in John's mind and in his reality as he longs for normalcy. This book is for anyone—teenagers and adults alike—who has ever been faced with the absurdity of a normal life. VOYACODES: 5Q 4P J M S (Hard to imagine it being any better written; Broad general YA appeal; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2000, Frances Foster Books/Farrar Straus Giroux, M S272p, Ages 13 to 15. Reviewer: Susan Smith SOURCE: VOYA, June 2001 (Vol. 24, No. 2)

Alan Review