Wise Young Fool

by Sean Beaudoin

Teen rocker Ritchie Sudden is pretty sure his life has just jumped the shark. Except he hates being called a teen, his band doesn't play rock, and "jumping the shark" is yet another dumb cliché. Part of Ritchie wants to drop everything and walk away. Especially the part that's serving ninety days in a juvenile detention center.

Telling the story of the year leading up to his arrest, Ritchie grabs readers by the throat before (politely) inviting them along for the (max-speed) ride. A battle of the bands looms. Dad split about five minutes before Mom's girlfriend moved in. There's the matter of trying to score with the dangerously hot Ravenna Woods while avoiding the dangerously huge Spence Proffer--not to mention just trying to forget what his sister, Beth, said the week before she died.

This latest offering from acclaimed author Sean Beaudoin is alternately raw, razor-sharp, and genuinely hilarious.

Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Music, Realistic Fiction, Coming Of Age, Romance, Fiction

448 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Sean Beaudoin is the author of five Young Adult novels, including the rude zombie love story The Infects, and the black comedy rock and roll love story Wise Young Fool. Sean likes love stories almost as much as he loves to talk about himself in the third person. Welcome Thieves is a short story collection that will be out March '16 with Algonquin Press.

Reviews

[Kelly (and the Book Boar) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Find all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/

3.5 Stars

Richie Sudden has some time to reflect on his life. Ninety days, to be exact. That’s how long he’s stuck in juvie – pondering his existence and what got him to his breaking point. The bad things like a dead sister, a dad who split and started a new family a nanosecond after the death, and his mom’s new girlfriend. The good things like his best friend, the girl he fantasizes about and the battle of the bands competition he competed in.

I was seriously loving this book until the last 20 pages or so. We’re talking solid 4 stars, maybe even 4.5. This book has great momentum, the overused but somehow okay once again “tough kid dealt a tough hand – the young cynic” lead character, gazillions of pop culture references that a nerdgirl like me can truly appreciate. Beaudoin’s writing style is pretty genius. The back-and-forth storytelling between the past and the present flows. And, if you are unlike me and happen to know ANYTHING at all about music, you’re probably going to have an even deeper appreciation of how smart this book is that I can’t even pretend to understand. But then the “A-HA” moment came. And it was such a letdown that Wise Young Fool will be forever known on the internets as a 3.5 Star book by me. Wah wah.

I don’t know what happened to the end of the book. Time crunch? Fizzled out? Thought he’d reach an awesome conclusion when he got to that point but it just didn’t happen? I don’t know the answer, but I feel like there needed to be MORE. I’m not writing Beaudoin off just yet, though. He’s got several other acclaimed novels that I need to read before I finalize my opinion.

[amy boese · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sean Beaudoin has written yet another book where his excellent writing style and consistently unique voice add a layer of awesome to his already excellent storytelling.

I love the way he puts his plot together with just the right mix of humor, mystery and angst. What can I say- he rocks it, hard. All the music references and band allusions are 3-minute icing on the cake.

[Aaron Dietz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beaudoin pokes so much fun at teen rocker-wanna-be's that I fear this may not actually work for teen rocker-wanna-be's--it's like holding up a mirror for the Gorgon to take a look. On the other hand, I got sucked in completely and thoroughly enjoyed it. Beaudoin always does great back matter for books but this book was in a way completely back matter--a collected manuscript found by a fictitious publisher (probably fictitious anyway)--this is Pale Fire but without the boring poem. Beaudoin's task also involved weaving two stories together--one after the main character's arrest and the other leading up to it. He handled the job brilliantly, perhaps due to his love for density and back matter--stories behind stories. He had a great grip on the pace and challenge of keeping me involved in both timelines. Oh! And he really nailed the music parts. Hilarious stuff, there. Truly.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great novel for teens who are just looking for a story, no vampires, no ghost, no werewolves. Just a novel about a boy, his band, and a Juvenal detention facility. But really just a good story for those who need a novel that is grounded in real life. ***Must appreciate music to appreciate this novel. There is some sexual content in this novel.

[Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was really looking forward to reading this book for the awesome plot of two hardcore teens trying to make it in their local music scene. The overall book was good but some of the language really rubbed me the wrong way. There are numerous jokes poking fun at sensitive topics and endorsing stereotypes but as long as you are prepared for that I think this book is still worth the read. :)

[Kait ♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5!

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

A while back the author published a zine called ZAPRUDER headSNAP. According to his history of the venture, it was meant in part to put "a literary edge to the stick it laid across the forehead of pop culture." Which is what this novel does, both with a master thwapper's verve and a bearishly loving hand. Because bears do mean well when they swat you upside the head. Really. They're just trying to knock some sense into your addled human wits.

I've read WISE YOUNG FOOL twice already, the second time for the sheer prose joy of the ride. This is my favorite of Beaudoin's novels, which is saying much. The characters are a memorable cast of losers and winners, where which is which is the intriguing question. Ritchie Sudden, our lead, seems hapless enough, but all his attempts at self-sabotage don't quite smother the guitar god simmering inside. Whereas the designated teen goddess, Ravenna Woods, is "caught two hundred meters below the reef, unwanted sexual pressure crushing her lungs, sharks below and the bends above, nowhere to go but further inside herself." (A description that gives me chills of recognition every time I read it.) Of the seemingly indomitable Elliot "El Hella" Hella and the terminally Grandma-sweatered Lacy Duplais, who's going to break away from purga-suburbia? For contrast with the uncertain characters, we have percussionist Chaos (pronounced Chow-us), who appears like a preppy-hippy deus ex bongos to drive Ritchie and Elliot's band to new heights and to smooth out every sketchy situation with amiable self-assurance. This guy just IS, until, job done, he ISN'T.

I also love B'los, Ritchie's fellow in juvenile detention. The opening conversation of their friendship is a work of genius, delivered a line or two every couple hours. And Young Joe Yung, who bids fair to be another Chow-us one day, if he can survive the hallucinogenics. And Looper, Mom Sudden's pool servicing girlfriend, who delivers one of those central truths the young fool needs most but is constitutionally unable to appreciate: "Man, being eighteen, it's like being in a cave. You can't see outside yourself. And then, five years later, you're five years older with nothing to show but the attitude you leaned on so hard, and how it was all bullshit."

Woven into and around what's attitude and what's truth, aching truth in the case of whom Ritchie loves and who loves (and doesn't love) him, or ecstatic truth in the case of those moments when the music takes over, are smartass humor and genuine jailhouse suspense. And lists. Beaudoin, as ever, excels at lists, from the evolving/devolving one Ritchie makes of his band's needs to the closing cadenza of the 25 Worst Band Names Ever.

Well, gotta tell you, WISE YOUNG FOOL isn't one of them.

[Liza Wiemer]

If you could take PAIN and ANGER and RESENTMENT and bottle them up and then spill them into a novel you'd get WISE YOUNG FOOL.

This novel opens with a plea to readers to help the editor find the author of this story. The manuscript landed on the editor's desk three years ago. After a futile search, she couldn't find its owner and so decided to publish it anyway. This opening certainly caught my attention. (Of course, we know who the author is, Sean Beaudoin, so suspend reality.)

His story goes back and forth between the present (in juvie) and his past (what led up to juvie).

Ritchie Sudden is a young man in a lot of pain. It pours out in his lyrics. It's reflected in his relationships. It's what lands him in juvie. It's almost impossible to like him, until the very end when you begin to understand him. This is Ritchie's story. He tells it with no apologies, no plea for compassion. It's brittle, it's a slash across one's heart, leaving an open gash.

This is a snapshot of a time in Ritchie Sudden's life. Miserable, destructive, creative (musically). Throughout the novel, there's a lot of interesting wisdom in this novel - definitely shows how Ritchie does a hell of a great job self-destructing. For the most part, the majority of the adults are clueless on how to help Ritchie. Looper, his mother's lesbian lover, is the most sympathetic, but for the most part, Ritchie ignores her advice, though I do think he "hears" her.

If you're out there, Ritchie, I hope that you've found some peace. I can only imagine, but it seems like walking in your shoes is like a trip to HELL and back. Not that I really know. But like you, I'm going to imagine. I hope people read your story and learn some things from the pain you went through. Maybe then it was worth it? Live on. Live on. Wise. Young. Fool.

[Imillar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this, in part because our hero Richie is so consistently and obnoxiously hilarious. He's smart, self-aware, and fucked up, and that combination makes for some of the funniest Y.A. I've read in a long time. Don't get me wrong, there are some seriously challenging issues in here - death of a sibling, parents' divorce, the mostly unacknowledged but definitely alive and well American version of the class system - being some of them. A nice antidote to educational political correctness in some ways.

[Henry Cherry · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't read a lot of contemporary fiction. But this came across the transom and it resonated with the sixteen year old in me. That's not to say it's a young book. It isn't. There's a depth to the flow of this story, the way people pop up and reduce in roles is as natural as going through life. The mother moves some heavy baggage along the way and it does it without a need to become shameless or losing its internal clockwork and structure. These aren't people you want to meet, they're people you already know. And Beaudoin lets them do what they have to do, and we as readers are better for it.

[Lara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this one, and laughed out loud a couple of times while reading it, but I never quite got hooked somehow, or really felt anything for any of the characters. It took me a long time to work my way through it, and I kind of expected more of a payoff at the end, but I loved El Hella and Loop! I'd give other books of Beaudoin's a try though.

[Kevin Emerson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sean Beaudoin was born with a flying-v clutched in his chubby fingers. Is there any doubt that this book is going to rock? Hell no.

[Edward Sullivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Funny and full of ferocious attitude. So fucking GOOD!

[Christine Bongers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Smart, funny and irresistibly subversive. Five stars for making hardcore, high school and juvie hall this beguiling. Loved it.

[Bryce · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wise Young Fool Book Report
The title of my book is Wise Young Fool, the author of this book is Sean Beaudoin. This book is about a character named Ritchie Sudden, Ritchie isn't a very popular kid at his school and he is attempting to start a band with his best friend Elliot. The theme of this book is the discovery of self, the main character has to figure out who he is and realize some things about the real world. Throughout the book it goes between two timelines, the events leading up to Ritchie ending in Juvie hall, and the events in juvie hall. It is like a very large puzzle that has to be put together once the book is fully read through.

Ritchie buys his first guitar, a les paul and starts practicing playing, he already had some pre-guitar knowledge of how to play guitar so it wasn't very hard but he was yet to master it. His main goal is to win a competition for the best band at a concert, he and Elliot signed their band up for the competition once they put their band together. Throughout the book Ritchie goes to multiple parties and this is how he found the other band members to join their group.

I think the book was amazing, all the characters were brought into the scene slowly and in depth with detail so you understood who they were and what their purpose was. The scenery and style of the book matched the characters and the main message. There was a lot of conflict between the main character and almost every other character in the book, the conflict was explained well and made sense. The author's style of writing each chapter back and forth between two points in time makes the book confusing at first, but very good after it is understood, it helps to put the entire story together at the end and as the story closes most of the conflicts are resolved. The conclusion to the book was good, it showed an ending to conflict and left it open for more events to happen, though there isn't a sequel a sequel would fit very well for this book.

This book would appeal to anyone who likes rock or plays an instrument in a band, mainly because the book is literally about a person who plays guitar in a rock band, the book tells about a lot of realistic problems. In general I would highly recommend this book to anyone, it fits very well with anyone who just likes a good story.

In conclusion, I really enjoyed reading this book. It was very interesting and kept me engaged the entire time, there are a lot of big events happening constantly. I learned a lot from this book about self discovery and figuring out who you are, realizing to not jump onto things to fast.

[Art Edwards · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a teenager, I wasn’t much of a reader. Sure, I read the sports page, the occasional rock biography, but reading novels meant an assignment leveled at me by a teacher. Homework. These required books—A Tale of Two Cities comes to mind—offered nothing to appeal to my adolescent fantasies, which revolved around wanting to be awesome musician, play in a band, put out records and be chased by groupies. I wanted to be a rock star. Sorry, Madame Defarge, but Gene Simmons wins every time.

In the 1980s, the vast divide between books and rock music couldn’t have been wider. I suspect pop culture was seen as a threat to the vaunted world of books, the barbarians at the gate of The Important Stuff. David Lee Roth had a thousand times more influence on the kids of my era than Holden Caulfield, much less Natty Bumpo, and this no doubt pissed off some people with elbow patches on their suit coats. I of course loved that it pissed them off.

Still, when I turned eighteen and took my first lit class in college, I fell in love with A Clockwork Orange, 1984, Slaughterhouse-Five. These seemed more rock and roll to me than rock and roll, so much so I regretted not having started my fiction life earlier. Had Sean Beaudoin’s Wise Young Fool existed back then, it might have meant an entirely different launching point for my book life.

I’m a big fan of Beaudoin’s work at the websites like The Weeklings, and his first foray into the rock novel seemed the perfect time to jump into his longer efforts. Much of Beaudoin’s verbal talent is in full force in this novel. Here, the author renders the hottest girl in protagonist Ritchie Sudden’s high school class, Ravenna Woods:

So why does she make every dude in the school apoplectic?

Why does she walk around lobbing a toaster into the collective bath tub?

Hey, let’s not pretend.

It’s her body.

There is simply no ignoring its heft and criminal perk. It’s a monument of taut Austrian hydraulics. If she were flat or fat she’d still be pretty, but no linebackers would be cutting practice trying to get to know her better. Without the badonkadonk and sheik-money strut, guys would hardly be killing themselves to score her fake digits anymore.

You’ve got to figure that level of constant objectification and wheedling hypocrisy would make a girl bitter.

And you’d be right.

Ravenna’s caught two hundred meters below the reef, unwanted sexual pressure crushing her lungs, sharks below and the bends above, nowhere to go but farther inside herself.

Any reader of Wise Young Fool will have no trouble finding such acrobatics, the next tumble of tropes never far from the last, creating a distinctly Beaudoinian joy ride.

The plight of Ritchie Sudden from discontented high schooler to rock hero to juvenile detention attendee is the raison d’etre of WYF, and Ritchie’s frustration is palpable throughout—his unresolved feelings over his sister’s death; his too-busy, too-lesbian mother; his absent father; his disgust with the folks in his class. Most effective are the times Beaudoin touches on the very human teenager behind the wise ass, like when a high school student almost chokes to death in front of Ritchie in the cafeteria.

“Call the nurse,” Lacy says.

“Yeah,” Meb says.

“Right,” I say, but for some reason don’t move. I don’t take charge. I don’t leap to action. I don’t leap at all.

I just sit.

Scared.

Such trepidation is the yang to Ritchie’s sardonic edge, and Beaudoin plies his budding guitarist’s frank observations for all they’re worth. At the detention center Progressive Progress, Ritchie lists his classes: “Art Therapy, How to Do a Job Interview, How to Not Be High All the Time.” Ritchie’s mom’s girlfriend’s boss, a businessman and pool cleaning entrepreneur named Rude, is always worth a few chuckles when seen from Ritchie’s vantage. “There’s always enough dirty pools, leaves, and dead mice and bugs, and kids squeezing out a Baby Ruth in the shallow end to keep [him] busy.”

Answering the call for a literature that says something to young rockers about their lives, Beaudoin includes plenty of teenage rock fantasy moments, like when Ritchie dons his Les Paul in front of his bedroom mirror.

I do the Keith Richards slouch, the Billy Zoom grin, the Chuck Berry duckwalk, the My Chemical Romance dickwalk, the Eddie Van Halen finger-slam, the Hendrix teeth-pluck, the Joe Strummer low-slung, the Jimmy Page smack-daze .... Then I stop screwing around and just straight-out pentatonic air-wail like my man Joe Walsh.

Anyone who owned a guitar as a teenager can relate—or so I’ve heard.

Beaudoin skillfully bounces back and forth in time between Ritchie’s time in juvie and the events that lead to it, but the detention side of Ritchie’s experiences runs thin compared to the drama of his band, his love life, and the moment he commits his crime. Still, Beaudoin seamlessly brings it all together in the end, like the disparate members of a rock band coming down hard on the last note of the night, right before the singer shouts “thank you” and they scurry off.

Teenagers and angst go together like Les Pauls and Marshall Stacks. Luckily, rock is there for those who need a potent release from this mortal coil. If our literature doesn’t show that struggle, it’s the lesser for it. Wise Young Fool offers up a fun, fast-paced and ultimately satisfying road map for the young rocker in search of the way home.

[Brandi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I’m not punk enough for Ritchie Sudden.

This book will certainly appeal to some readers, but personally, I never really connected with the story. Ritchie didn’t feel completely authentic to me and all the punk/rock references were over my head. Not a horrible read, it was just not for me.

[Chris Notionless · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story and fantastic writing style! Musical references were OUTSTANDINGLY witty and hilarious (kudos for great choices too!!) Firmly subtracting one star ONLY because (don't worry it's a non-spoiler to the story) book should not have been "90" chapters?! ............... I'm surprised so one else caught that ............

[simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really fun to read with compelling characters, but subtracted a star due to that weird couple paragraphs in the middle where the author just starts talking through the characters to tell us how much he hates My Chemical Romance.

[Lidiya · Rating 4 out of 5]

*4.5

I really like it.

[Kelly Calabrese · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sean has a definite style and wit that pulls me in. I'm officially a fan.

[Diego Bittner · Rating 5 out of 5]

great book

[Tyler Alt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good

[Kaylee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shocked by how much I love it

[Martine · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5

Five things:
- Juvenile detention
- Musician MC
- Familial grief
- Queer parents
- Journal narrative

[Dana · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75 stars - idk if I have real thoughts about this book but it’s harsh and funny and I enjoyed it at least. Also people are offended it uses “fuck” a lot so it gets a rating bump from me

[Danny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read Review at Bewitched Bookworms

You all know these moments when you start a book and don’t really know what to expect, only to end up being super surprised. When “Wise Young Foul” came in, I wanted to read it because it sounded great and … well, the word “rockstar” totally helped a little too. But… what I ended up getting from this book was something I didn’t expect…



Who’s Richie Sutton???
This is how the book starts, with a note from the Editor saying that they got this manuscript and ever since are looking for Richie Sutton. If that isn’t smartly intriguing enough, we jump right ahead and hear Richie’s story from his POV and… especially in his very own voice! (Coming to that in a second..)

Richie right now is in Juvie, for what we don’t know yet – but the story is alternating with stories from inside the Juvie and from before, telling us how he ended up in Juvie in the first place!

Sex , Rock and Roll and lots of Attitude!
Richie is the classic rocker with tons and tons of attitude! His voice was incredible and I know I won’t ever find the words to describe him correctly. He’s playing the badass and he#s playing it right. He’s a jerk, sometimes an ass – but what he always is and was especially to me – real! I not often have a feeling of genuine characters, characters that feel like they are just ripped off real lives – but Richie was just fabulously real. He’s 18 and yeah, he things he owns the world but then has to realize that being 18 doesn’t mean being wise enough yet to tackle what life is throwing at you.

There is lots of casual talking of sex – but it was never downplayed not overplayed, it was just right and it was right for Richie!

But even with all his badass attitude, Richie was incredibly smart and clever which made this boy even more intriguing! I couldn’t help but like him and most of the things that came out his mouth made me laugh out real bad!

“A band is dying to be born. To rise from the ashes of our lameness” -ARC, Wise Young Foul

But with all these funny moments, there are lots of underlying drama and issues, which made the story not just light but also meaningful and earnest.

Brilliantly written!!!
I cannot say it any other way and I’m sad that I cannot express myself any better – but this book was absolutely and incredible brilliantly written. I’m in awe of the incredibly talented Sean Beaudoin as he managed to create characters in such a brutally honest way that made me want to jump into the pages and get to know these people! Richie’s voice was super smart, funny but then also filled with an earnest vulnerability Richie would totally deny himself.
Who’s Richie Sutton???
This is how the book starts, with a note from the Editor saying that they got this manuscript and ever since are looking for Richie Sutton. If that isn’t smartly intriguing enough, we jump right ahead and hear Richie’s story from his POV and… especially in his very own voice! (Coming to that in a second..)

Richie right now is in Juvie, for what we don’t know yet – but the story is alternating with stories from inside the Juvie and from before, telling us how he ended up in Juvie in the first place!

Sex , Rock and Roll and lots of Attitude!
Richie is the classic rocker with tons and tons of attitude! His voice was incredible and I know I won’t ever find the words to describe him correctly. He’s playing the badass and he#s playing it right. He’s a jerk, sometimes an ass – but what he always is and was especially to me – real! I not often have a feeling of genuine characters, characters that feel like they are just ripped off real lives – but Richie was just fabulously real. He’s 18 and yeah, he things he owns the world but then has to realize that being 18 doesn’t mean being wise enough yet to tackle what life is throwing at you.

There is lots of casual talking of sex – but it was never downplayed not overplayed, it was just right and it was right for Richie!

But even with all his badass attitude, Richie was incredibly smart and clever which made this boy even more intriguing! I couldn’t help but like him and most of the things that came out his mouth made me laugh out real bad!

“A band is dying to be born. To rise from the ashes of our lameness” -ARC, Wise Young Foul

But with all these funny moments, there are lots of underlying drama and issues, which made the story not just light but also meaningful and earnest.

Brilliantly written!!!
I cannot say it any other way and I’m sad that I cannot express myself any better – but this book was absolutely and incredible brilliantly written. I’m in awe of the incredibly talented Sean Beaudoin as he managed to create characters in such a brutally honest way that made me want to jump into the pages and get to know these people! Richie’s voice was super smart, funny but then also filled with an earnest vulnerability Richie would totally deny himself.

[Eric Townsend · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wise Young Fool, Sean Beaudoin's latest release, is hilarious, mind blowing and is every great aspect of Beaudoin's past work rolled into one crazy tale. The buildup is a bit slow but once you reach the meaty middle and the epic ending (apparently I'm in a wordplay mood) it's all worth it. While the book is filled with humor there are plenty of serious issues discussed and that gives some weight to an otherwise light piece.

Wise Young Fool bounces back and forth between the main character, Ritchie Sudden's, past and present. In the present he is in juvie and is being forced to write in a journal every day. In his journal entries, or past (depending on which makes more sense to you as the reader), Ritchie is working on starting a band and spends much of his time either playing his guitar or chasing Ravenna Woods, his crush, in the hopes that she will notice him.

Ritchie's character is a mixture of very heavy sarcasm and not-so-deeply buried pain over the loss of his sister. He's witty and clever but often uses those traits to his detriment rather than to benefit him in some way. Ritchie isn't a lovable character, but he is certainly an identifiable one. He's that guy who is cool without being part of the "in" crowd. He's the one you know is destined for something awesome if he can just get out of his own way, but you don't want him to lose that edge because you'd be losing a piece of Ritchie at the same time. I enjoyed learning about Ritchie and why he acts the way he does. He's a deeper character than you could ever imagine, I'm a fan just like everyone else (in the book).

The romance in this book, to me at least, is the embodiment of all that teenage romance is and can be. There is the guy chasing after the gorgeous girl while making an ass of himself more often than not, the girl who really likes him that he ignores until it suits his purposes, and steamy goodness (don't worry, Beaudoin doesn't go into detail, this is YA) despite it all. Hormones rage, tempers flare, communication fails are abundant and the hot girl always gets what she wants, or at least thinks she wants. It may sound like a bunch of cliches but in Wise Young Fool it just feels honest. This is what teenagers, myself included, often experience in high school and the way Beaudoin displays the awkwardness that is teenage romance is perfect.

The references to different (and awesome) bands are abundant and the journey Ritchie takes as both a musician and a person can be linked to the songs mentioned each step of the way. The depth Beaudoin goes into to describe the process of becoming and being in a band is fantastic. The struggles are intense from infighting to romance conflicts and even into stylistic differences, Wise Young Fool has it all covered.

The parts of the book where Ritchie is in juvie provides extra depth for his character, shows where he ends up as a person and even touches on what life might be like for troubled teenagers in a detention center. As with most things it is a place that both helps and hinders progress for the inhabitants and that's made clear in the piece. The time spent in Ritchie's present aren't as fast paced or filled with quite the hilarity as in his journal entries/past, but there are necessary elements and cool stuff that I did enjoy. It was a nice way to break up the insanity of the rest of the book.

Overall Wise Young Fool is another really strong and well written piece that I am thrilled to add to my collection o' Beaudoin. While his other work certainly covers a wide array of topics and issues, Wise Young Fool, to me, is the best and most pure representation of any group of humanity, in this case teenagers/young adults. The book is hilarious as are all of Beaudoin's works, and I couldn't get enough. The messages that are covered are deep and will definitely make you think which is pretty impressive considering this is mostly a humor piece. Ritchie is a great MC, the supporting cast is really well done and the references to bands and music culture are spot on. I highly recommend it.

Rating: 5/5

[Clementine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actual Rating: 4.5 stars

"I mean, is it even possible to "improve", or do we all just learn strategies to hide our ugliness better? Like, did your boy Freud finally come to understand himself, standing on the precipice at the bitter end, or did he jump like everyone else?"

This is my second raving review about a contemporary book in less than a month. What's going on?

If you like characters who eat and shit nothing but rainbows, pass on this one. If you like bitter and unreliable but likeable narrators, screwing up and then, learning to fix their mistake: dig right in. Ritchie is a sarcastic cynic intelligent asshole who has so many walls around him, he can't even tell the difference between his act and what he really feels. Reading this novel is like reading about a ticking bomb that isn't aware of the where, how and who. It was deliciously raw, agonizingly painful, just like every coming-of-age novels should be. He's not in a perfect friendship. He's not in a perfect couple. He's not in a perfect family. Did I mention that he was a sad angry teenage boy and the novel revolves mostly around family and friendship?

"Beth starts to laugh. Mom starts to laugh. I start to laugh.
And for half a second it almost feels like w're a family, until that second is over."

There's a dead sister, but it's not all about her. It's about his mom and her new girlfriend. It's about first times, falling in love and falling out of it. It's about music. It's about good stepdads and an absent father. It's about being friends with an asshole and trying to remind him not to be too much of an asshole. This novel wins in its layered details that makes everything come together at the end. It's complex in its simplicity. If that makes sense.

This book is written in a dual POVs manner; the first one is "Before the incident", the second one is "after the incident". Instead of breaking the narrative, they tie it together. They build up the tension. There's always a detail of the first POV bouncing back into place in the second one. This is without question the best book I've ever read that used two storylines. The incident isn't what binds those POVs together, Ritchie is. He's the pivot point. He's the ticking bomb and once it explodes... Coming of age.

I know that this book won't be everyone's cup of tea, namely because of the narrative, but also because everything is raw. Ritchie addresses many issues going from his mom getting a girlfriend after his dad left to Native Americans' rights and cultural appropriation by drifting along the lines of drinking and driving. It didn't flip any of those issues over. It also addresses drugs and sex. I enjoyed that Ritchie even if he doesn't want to touch drugs or alcohol didn't disdain anyone. He spoke of choices and then, he made his. I know some puritans have shot down this book for alluring to these issues, but I think instead of trying to bury that alcohol, drug and sex exist, it should be addressed. And saying that this book does a disservice to society by bringing them up along side curses is like saying that talking about homosexuality will make you homosexual. Hint: it won't. What does make a disservice to society is censorship.

The book is heavily packed with emotions and social issues, but it's also an epiphany of pop references, of music lovers coming together. It's the full package. As Ritchie grows up, the narrative becomes more and more like a song. Beaudoin did more than just pass his "show don't tell" class. It started with music and it ended with music.

Complex characters, complex relationships and beautiful raw execution.

"He is going to beat me, and it pisses me off.
Not that it'll hurt.
Pain don't hurt.
Much.
What bothers me is how none of it seems to matter to him. The fact that I am not an asshole. That we are almost friends. The time in the library. He can still just plant his knuckles in my face, no problem at all."

[Elizabeth K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I put this on my pile as part of my recent efforts to read more current YA with male protagonists. "Current YA with male protagonists," by the way, is the compromise term I have come with up to make me feel less guilty about thinking of YA books as girls' books or boys' books, because while I feel strongly that ALL BOOKS ARE FOR ALL PEOPLE (like dinosaurs), I have to grudgingly admit that everyone in the free world (who reads YA) knows what is meant by girls' books and boys' books. Whenever I describe something that way, I feel like I am swallowing the party line of the patrimony, but then of course whenever I act like there's no difference between girls' books and boys' books, I realize I'm coming across like a total tool.

So our male protagonist here is Ritchie Sudden, and the story is in the form of his journal. It's written in juvenile detention, and in parallel tells both the story of how he got sent to the detention center and what happened to him once he got there. The primary focus is in the events leading up to his arrest.

The basics of the book didn't particularly appeal to me at first, I've never been a big fan of juvie literature, probably because in 8th grade we had to read Bless the Beasts and the Children, not in English, but in Health Class for the purpose (it wasn't at all clear AT THE TIME, at the time it seemed like it was from out of left field, but looking back, there was a purpose) of goading us into talking about "teen issues" in some sad "rap session" format. I'm dying all over again just describing it. Those kids were actually at some weird camp, now that I think about it, but yeah, trapped in an institution.

The other thing is that Ritchie plays guitar in a hardcore band, and A LOT of the book is about that, and my interest in that is so zero I can't even express it. I didn't even care about bands when I was a teenager. Again, there was A LOT about being in a band. A LOT.

But yet, this book was such a good time. The writing is extremely tight and Beaudoin nails the dialogue consistently. There's something that reminds me a little of John Green -- not in style or tone, which is completely different -- but in the sense that the characters are speaking and thinking in the ways that your very best teen self aspired to. One big difference is that I'm always very aware of this in Green's books (and I don't mind it at all), but here it wasn't on the surface so much, it's something I realized only after finishing the book. It's very, very funny without ever being slapstick.

All the teen characters feel very real and complete, the adults get a little blurry and archetypal, but I'm convinced this was something intentional on the author's part to illustrate the lens of Ritchie's world. It worked for me once I got it.

My only real complaint is that the structure of the book is built around a big reveal at the end - that's when you find out what Ritchie was arrested for -- and it was going for suspense ... you don't know, and then find out at the end. For me, this didn't quite work the way it was supposed to. Other than some very slight hints, you get all the information WAY at the end, and it felt more like a "completely random surprise" than something that suspenseful. It was not enough, and then way too much right at the conclusion. I would have liked more of an arc.

And just to keep up my reputation as a jackass pedant, I CANNOT stop myself from mentioning that you don't take the LSATs to go to prelaw.