American Youth

by Phil Lamarche

American Youth is a controlled, essential, and powerful tale of a teenager in southern New England who is confronted by a terrible moral dilemma following a firearms accident in his home. This tragedy earns him the admiration of a sinister gang of boys at his school and a girl associated with them. Set in a town riven by social and ideological tensions–an old rural culture in conflict with newcomers–this is a classic portrait of a young man struggling with the idea of identity and responsibility in an America ill at ease with itself.

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Coming Of Age, Young Adult, Literary Fiction, American, Adolescence

256 pages, Paperback

First published April 10, 2007

Reviews

[Ute · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't like this book. It would be a good book if the protagonist didn't have a vile character. Or it would be a good book if it was about a person with vile character. But I have the feeling the author didn't notice the boy in his book has a vile character. (which points to the author's character but I won't go there).
In the very beginning of the story the boy is throwing rocks at a horse because he enjoys seeing the way pain makes the horse move.
That is not a normal boy to me. If the story had carried on being about a vile, disfunctional teenager and what happened to him and why it did, that would have been ok.
But the story then took this boy, as if he was a normal boy, and had things happen to him. And we, the readers, were supposed to be shocked at the way society has changed and is changeing our youth..how can you show that when your boy has a nasty streak to start with and this streak is not even commented on?

On top of that it was averagely written. If it had been well written I probably would have liked it a bit more, even if the author didn't notice that his boy was born vile.

[tj · Rating 2 out of 5]

i think generally this type of book isn’t really my cup of tea and i wasn’t a big fan of the ending, but i do like the controversies the book deals with and how it made me feel just a little unwell the entire time

[Kelsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this debut novel from Phil LaMarche.

One of the things I really liked about this novel was that it didn't hit you over the head with a gun position pro or con - the scenes where Ted has just gone hunting with his uncle and where they're cleaning and preparing the dear were great. I know nothing about hunting or guns but I loved reading the perspective of this working class new england family and their real and true history with guns. The locals (Ted's family included) clashed wonderfully with the new class of folks moving in to town and into the McMansions. Ted's mother asks the investigating policeman, "are they one of us?" about the parents of the dead child and it's clear what she's asking. The separation between these two groups is wonderfully laid out and leaves you wondering how this is playing out in gentrifying cities across the country.

Another fantastic aspect of this novel was the shortness and tightness of the story. The book reads as though every sentence has been accounted for and that is truly a feat as well as a treat for the reader.

I recently saw an independent movie called "This is England" - interestingly it had almost the same storyline: boy with absent father gets into trouble and falls in with the wrong crowd of young people to disasterous end. In "This is England" the group is a bunch of skin heads. In this novel, the "American Youth" of the title refers to the name a group of misguided kids call themselves. I loved the convoluted yet passionate thinking displayed by all of the american youth kids.

Overall I really recommend this novel, it is a short, quick read that manages to pack a lot of insight into a story about these troubled New England teens. So much contemporary fiction is written about wry, ironic, overly smart Manhattanite teens or young adults trying to find themselves, and it was really nice to read this thoughtful coming-of-age story about a different set of struggles.

[Jessie (Zombie_likes_cake) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another 3.5* book, I feel like lately I am reading so many of those. This one I am willing to round up to 4* though, while it wasn't perfect I really enjoyed reading it.

The writing style seemed very basic almost bland at first but the more I read the more it felt like a great choice to tell this story in: simply stripped down and on target with no fancy extras, usually not my style of choice but I thought it worked surprisingly well.

The story takes an interesting stand, it is a coming of age, yes, but it is centered around an accidental shooting. So, gun culture in the US takes a center part and I really like what Lamarche did here with that. While it is not hard to figure out that the novel has critical view he doesn't demonize one side and glorify the other, after all the story is told from a kid raised in a pro-gun household and loves to go hunting with his dad and uncle. I thought, Lamarche managed to criticize the issue without criticizing the people, to him they were not idiots who follow propaganda, just people living their lives and that made the story stronger. Also, he doesn't isolate the gun debate, he centers it into people's realities who have lives and problems outside of it, that's why it works so well within a coming-of-age tale. A teenager who also deals with the desire to belong and find himself, consecutively struggles with friendships, romance and school. There is also the small town contrasting the liberal rest of the country, a glance into these perspectives of people feeling threatened where there is no need (!) to feel that way.

American Youth is a very short novel and sadly that pays off negatively in the end, the finale is rushed and some subplots seem very unresolved, side characters deserved more attention, especially the romantic interest. There were aspects that could have blossomed with more attention and now we only get a quick glance. But all in all an interesting little novel that held my attention well.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

When teenager Theo entertains two friends at home he shows them his rifle. But a momentary lapse in concentration by Theo leads to a tragedy the consequences of which cause Theo's life to spiral out of control. Thought this was a really good read - interesting commentary on youth culture and the gun debate in America - 8.5/10.

[Andrés Cabrera · Rating 3 out of 5]

Novela de formación que percude el alma de la sinrazón de este mundo. Cuesta ver lo vulnerables que resultamos cuando somos jóvenes: el cuerpo, inquieto, se estremece al más mínimo roce; el alma, sonámbula y desenfrenada, deambula en procura de alguna satisfacción...del más mínimo sentido. En este caso, Tedd, el protagonista, procurará no sucumbir ante las responsabilidades y presiones que conlleva el saber que se ha cometido un error demasiado grave demasiado pronto. Sus días como niño terminan el día en que comete un error. Porque ser adulto implica reconocer que los errores no trascienden la propia piel, sino que la penetran para anidar en ella. Las cicatrices del mundo quedan incrustadas en la superficie del adulto. Ya no se es fantasma, mero vector de experiencias, sino un ser corpóreo, capaz de gracias y obligaciones.

Tedd sabe que la muerte es un escenario habitual de la experiencia humana; ahora bien, cuesta verla de cerca cuando se es tan sólo un niño. El problema es que, justamente, este suceso irrumpe demasiado pronto. Su vida, apacible y frenética por partes iguales, ahora se ve sujeta a la violencia: al hecho de transitar entre cuerpos que luchan por cualquier cosa, que ansían la pelea para justificar su estadía por este mundo. Y los puños, en estos casos, se traducen en política; o al menos en un discurso de comunidad que justifica un "nosotros" que excluye al que no es igual. Todo sea por garantizar el primer golpe, por defender el territorio y justificar la propia precariedad sin verla teñida de rojo ante el espejo.

"Juventud americana" deja ver esto: el escenario en que una persona procura encontrarse en medio de un mundo que lo reclama, que ya lo juzga descarnadamente sin que medie una factible redención. Es allí donde Lamarche deja ver que la juventud reconoce bien la miseria de la vida adulta: su odio, el desprecio por el que yace a un lado de la calle, la búsqueda de una eternidad que recuerde al cuerpo que un día transitó por cualquier calle; así dicho cuerpo no sea más que otro pedazo de carne dispuesto para la fábrica. Las ideas, ante la miseria del mundo, se convierten en pretextos para la violencia. Y la angustia tiñe la acera de rojo cuando un sonámbulo tan sólo espera encontrar sosiego sin despertar en medio de la noche. A veces un error hace que se envejezca demasiado pronto.

[Joseph Ramsden · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best book I’ve read in ages. Ripped through it in a couple of days. Couldn’t put it down. Nothing pretentious about it. Totally believable plot and such well-written characters. Absolutely loved it. Looked immediately for what else he’s written and couldn’t find anything. Sad face.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

American Youth begins with a tragic incident involving adolescents and a firearm. As the police investigate a young man named Ted, Ted's mother urges him to keep his mouth shut and protect himself. At the same time, Ted's confusion and guilt over the incident lead him to increasingly self-destructive behavior. He enters high school and befriends the American Youth - a vigilante group against alcohol, drugs, and the type of liberal thought that they believe is destroying America. Ted struggles to be understood by his father, enters into a semi-relationship with the ex-girlfriend of one of the American Youth leaders, and burns himself as an outlet for his pain (a take-off on the ubiquitous cutting I seem to see popping up all over books about teenage girls) all while continuing his hunting and shooting for sport lifestyle. This is a pretty short book, and LaMarche has packed in a dozen issues for young Ted to come to terms with. As a result, the narrative is a bit scattered. I felt like I would get a small glimpse into Ted's problems, only to have the story shift to yet another issue. Perhaps, in this way, it is like the real like of a teenager - filled with angst and turmoil, and no outlet for resolution. I could see American Youth as a good choice for a high school reading list - it has various avenues for generating conversation on hot-button issues, and leaves the reader with a sense of uneasiness - appropriate for a novel focused on the current state of American youth and politics.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This adult novel easily could have been published as a young adult novel. It's gripping and an easy read. The only thing that bugged me was that the narrator referred to the main character as "the boy" and he lived with "the mother" and "the father." I know there probably is a philosophical reason for the author to do this, but I just found it annoying. I also thought the detailed description of field dressing a deer was thrown in the book to gross city people out. [return]His name is Theodore. Teddy has quite the dysfunctional family, although you don't realize that at first. His mother deserves to be tortured. His father leaves them alone to get a new job 8 hours away and doesn't seem like too much of a dad. Teddy shows two brothers a gun, leaves it loaded, and walks away. Next thing you know, one boy is dead and it's the brother's fault. Teddy's mother tells him to lie about loading it. And thus begins the problems. Teddy falls in with the American Youth, a militant do-gooding Republican/almost Nazi group of kids who treat him poorly. He has a dysfunctional relationship with Colleen, his first girl, and is accused of raping her. His great uncle shoots himself. Teddy burns his own arm and contemplates suicide. He drinks. He smokes pot. He does everything to hide his problem. Finally, he talks to the dead boy's mother, admits the truth about loading the gun, and starts to handle himself. Wow. There is a scene at the end that makes me want to keep the mother locked in her bedroom for good.

[Courtney Lindwall · Rating 1 out of 5]

Even after finishing it, I can't decide if the author was making a point about the degenerate lifestyle of Skin-Headed Republicans, or rather about the pot-smoking, free-spirited 'Federalists.' Or maybe just a glimpse into the life of American Troubled Youth, both sides of the moderate line. Either way, after it was over, I was still waiting for it to begin and will, in a matter of hours, forget the entire occurrence of sitting down to read Lamarche's work entirely.

[Kendra · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think it's a great book not only because it is an important and much-discussed topic but much more because it is a great read, utterly convincing story, subtly described characters, intriguing plot, one of the books that swallow you whole which is my favourite reading experience.

[Chantel · Rating 2 out of 5]

mmm i thought the writer certainly had some great writing skills and plots but i felt the ending was left extremely opened ended...

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having just finished "Peter Pan", I couldn't help but notice that the old wooded hunting grounds in "American Youth" -- now signed off as "No Trespassing" -- was the Darling estate (same name as the family in PP). Whether intentional or not, this book offers quite a different take on childhood than that seen in Neverland. At least at first glance. But when we think of our childhood games, there is often simulated violence, as with Cowboys and Indians or cops and robbers. "I shot you, you're dead!" And so it goes with movies and video games and the six o'clock news, sadly. Maybe what's changed is the lethality. The same longstanding problems simply confounded by population density, drug use, easy access to guns and ammo, economic uncertainty, fear of immigrants ("us versus them" mentality), mental illness, copycats, social isolation, etc.

He does a nice job of humanizing the characters, avoiding cliches. And he is even-handed on the gun issue. I came away paradoxically with more empathy for rural gun owners whose legacy is hunting and a respect for weapons. The problem comes then from the generalized spillover. Lack of training. Lack of safety protections (small children accidentally shooting siblings). Assault rifles and high capacity magazines that serve no hunting purpose (Columbine, Va Tech, Sandy Hook, Las Vegas, etc, etc). Easy access at gun shows without background checks. There has to be a middle ground. But our political system is held captive by special interests groups like the NRA. Where do you start? This novel highlights many of the issues we face.

[LaNaturaDeiLibri · Rating 2 out of 5]

♛ Ho preso questo libro incuriosito dalla trama.
L'inizio del racconto ha attirato la mia attenzione, con il precedere delle pagine però ha iniziato a non rispecchiare più le mie aspettative, sfociando in una storia poco accattivante.
Ho sentito molto poco il peso, nel protagonista, delle indagini per un omicidio.
Il finale mi ha illuso perché pensavo che ci sarebbe stato un vero maturamento in Teddy (come accennato dalla trama stessa) ma, aimè, così non è stato.
Per questo motivo mi è sembrato un po' superficiale e avrei preferito leggere e scoprire le vere emozioni del protagonista in quanto sospettato di omicidio.
Ma non solo perché è stato oggetto anche di accuse pensati all'interno della sua compagnia e, pultroppo, anche qui ho vissuto ben poco i pensieri e le sensazioni che ne seguivano.
È una lettura che non consiglierei pienamente.



__danilo__

[Sheila · Rating 4 out of 5]

A teenager shows his friends his fathers gun, loads it and hears his mother coming so hides it under a press. While with his mother he hears a shot...a boy has accidentally shot his brother dead. The mother tells him to lie to police as he will be held us starts this really disturbing debut novel which leads to the boy joining a group of boys in his school who call themselves American Youth. They are right wing and have a strange idea of traditional , puritanical values, hating drink, drugs, she before marriage and ' punishing' anyone who doesn't agree. The boy ,Terry, struggles with the lie he has told police and when he is told that his are the only prints on the loading chamber he knows the game is up. What follows is devistating. Very disturbing book, brilliantly atmospheric.

[leni · Rating 3 out of 5]

This type of books isn’t my normal cup of tea but I decided to give it a go, specifically because the title intrigued me.

Writing is simple and story flows quick, hence why I finished it in a day.

I’d like to read more of this author’s work, that’s for certain.

I didn’t enjoy the ending, not as much about the way it was written or about what it expressed but more so because I found it predictable before even reaching the final pages.

It’s a decent story overall, demonstrating a harsh reality but it’s not anything tragic or groundbreaking either.

[Carl · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Rhys Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

A stunning book. I found it hard to put down. I can not recommend this highly enough

[Isla Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short read. It didn't entirely grip me and I'm not sure I learnt or felt much from it - I guess it has a slight 'Stand By Me' feel to it. The characters weren't great. It's ok, no more.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in a small, rural New England town, American Youth is a coming of age story which describes the consequences of an accidental shooting.
The economy is in recession and Ted LeClare's father, a life insurance salesman, has been forced to move south to Pennsylvania to get work. Ted and his mother have stayed in the family home, which is for sale.
On a hot summer afternoon, the Dennison brothers, Bobby and Kevin, visit Ted's house. Ted, feeling socially inadequate, is eventually persuaded to show the brothers his gun. Although he knows he shouldn't, he loads the gun. He leaves it momentarily and, in those few seconds, Kevin shoots Bobby. Dead.
At his mother's insistence and with his father's acquiescence, Ted lies about loading the gun.
A few weeks later, Ted starts High School. Here he finds himself the hero of a gang - the American Youth of the book's title. This gang is a sort of vigilante force protesting, in the local area, about anything which goes against their view of American society.
Ted, or "the boy" as he is frequently described in the book, eventually moves away from the gang and tells the truth about the loading of the gun.

Phil LaMarche is an excellent writer. The subject may be bleak, but the book is never depressing.
I enjoyed reading it, although the gun culture described - the LeClare household have five guns - is alien to me. Northern Ireland may be infamous in terms of violence but, in reality, very few people possess guns.
The American obsession with guns and the potential consequences of that obsession are clearly illustrated by American Youth.

[Marisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was way better than I thought it would be.

Plot can be summarized in one sentence(with a few related points) -- 14 year old Teddy's life spirals out of control when a friend Kevin accidentally shoots and kills his brother in Teddy's dining room. Oh, and the gun belonged to Teddy's parents. And Teddy loaded it. And although Teddy grew up hunting and knew all about gun safety, neither of the other boys had ever touched a gun before.

I thought this was going to be really cliched, but it wasn't -- it was tense and original and, like I said, way better than I thought it would be. And although I've never been a 14 year old boy, I think it paints a pretty accurate picture and I imagine that anyone who had ever been a 14 year old boy would relate to what Teddy goes through.

That said, I don't know that it should be a common book. It's definitely written for adults. I'm afraid that 18 year olds, especially 18 year old boys, would lack the introspection and distance from adolescence required...

[Bookmarks Magazine]

"There exists, of course, no more defining American image than death by bullet," notes the Los Angeles Times. In his debut novel, Phil LaMarche ties this all-too-common image to timeless themes (coming of age, class struggle) as well as more contemporary ones (violence in children, gun control, fascism). What results is a gripping narrative that says as much about the incongruities of 21st-century America as it does about one boy thrown prematurely into the maelstrom of adult life. Despite a few flaws__some academic dialogue attributed to teens, some cardboard characters, and the practice of referring to Teddy and his family as "the boy," the father," and "the mother"__LaMarche has delivered a powerful, emotionally devastating novel.

This is an excerpt from a review published in Bookmarks magazine.

[Brian Ayres · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very well-executed book on all levels, from style to characters to plot to symbolism. Teddy, a ninth grader, is asked to betray the truth by his mother in an accidental shooting at his home. The story characterizes the struggle of times that changes and people who refuse to change with the times. LaMarche creates a modern-day values debate that shows -- SURPRISE -- moral decisions are not black and white issues like conservatives tend to explain it. In the shooting death of a friend, Teddy finds that the truth becomes clouded in self-righteousness and self-preservation, as it does with he and his band of "Straight Edge" peers. How can there be such thing as cultural values if cultures are consistently shifting? LaMarche debuts quite well with this book.

[Lauran Lansdon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story revolves an accidental death, in the home, by kids playing with guns. The protaganist was the kid who owned and loaded the gun, but not the one who fired it nor was he even in the room at the time the gun was fired. I think this speaks to the far reaching affects of accidents of this type. The book was suspenseful - I had to read it all the way through because I needed to know if 'the boy', as the protaganist is often referred, would do the right thing regarding is role in the accident. It was a very well-written account of teenage life in a community with families that have grown up with guns & hunting. The author does a good job of telling this poignant story without taking sides on the issue.

[Susan L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The most impressive thing about this novel for me is the way LaMarche plays with the narration, always calling Ted "the boy" and never anything else. He clearly has a name as he's called in dialogue with the other characters, but we see him only as "the boy," making him remain somewhat faceless and therefore like he could be any one of us -- at the same time, a certain distance between the two is created.

There are also some passages throughout that are beautiful both in their simplicity and in their uniqueness.

[Mac · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid, gripping story that does what realistic fiction does - tells a specific story to illuminate larger themes. And even as it does the literary dance, the language is simple and the story is enticing enough to keep everything moving forward very rapidly. The simplicity may take over at times - it's not the most complex novel I've ever read - and I could smell the MFA workshop process all over much of the book, but the story was engaging enough to keep me with it throughout.

[Ethan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just before he starts his freshman year of high school, Ted gets into a heap of trouble when one friend shoots another with a hunting rifle Ted loaded. With the rumors circulating, he joins a Libertarian, almost racist clique and tries to get on with life. The book borders on cliche at a few points, but it always comes back from the brink, making it believable and gut-wrenchingly sad at points.

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

OK book about what happens to a teenage boy after a gun accident in his home kills a friend. The author calls this youth "the boy" throughout the book, which I supposed to meant to imply that he could be anyone. Instead, it actually distances the reader from him, and makes it harder to relate to him.

[Kurt Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maybe not quite a 4 but definitely an interesting book. The story line was quite interesting, suspenseful but a little too neatly wrapped up at the end.

Part of what was interesting about this book was that the quasi-omniscient point of view that kept referring the to the main character as "the boy..." (instead of him, or he, or whatever.)

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

American Youth is a powerful, well-written novel about a naive teenage boy who struggles to overcome a moral dilemma that transforms his life forever. I would not add this novel to my middle school classroom library, as I feel some of the content is more suitable for mature high school teenagers.