Passing Each Other in Halls

by Matt de la Peña, Patrick Ryan (Introduction)

"The story follows the course of one loopy night in Los Angeles, as the narrator and his friend P.J. prowl the streets and the clubs, talking tough but feeling vulnerable," writes Patrick Ryan, editor of One Teen Story, in his introduction to this issue of Recommended Reading. "[Matt de la Peña]'s narrator is—perhaps secretly—into vulnerability. He’s an aspiring poet; a keenly observant, wanna-be tough guy; a romantic who still isn’t confident in his kissing abilities.
"When he and P.J. stumble upon a group of girls and 'join forces' for the evening—palling around, flirting with one another—it’s because that’s what young people are supposed to do. When the group falls into the tracking beam of a spoiled, semi-rich kid named Lawrence, and ends up at the house of his dying great-aunt, and commences partying only to discover that Lawrence is a Class-A jerk and his great-aunt wants to have the lot of them arrested for trespassing, it’s because that’s the kind of muck young people barreling toward adulthood can expect to find on a rambling, adventurous, and possibly ill-conceived night on the town.
"Matt de la Peña writes with a forward lean that sends us, as readers, right from the beginning to the end—but with the crazy, zigzag path of a Magic Bullet. His dialogue is pitch-perfect...The result is that, upon finishing this story, you’ll want to go back and read it again just to see how he does it."

24 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 16, 2013

About the author

Matt de la Peña is the New York Times best-selling, Newbery-medal-winning author of six young adult novels and four picture books. Matt received his MFA in creative writing from San Diego State University and his BA from the University of the Pacific, where he attended school on a full athletic scholarship for basketball. de la Peña currently lives in Brooklyn, NY. He teaches creative writing and visits high schools and colleges throughout the country.

Visit Matt at: mattdelapena.com

Reviews

[Donna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read this excerpt-novella-ish, by Matt De La Pena. It originally appeared in a the literary magazine, One Teen Story. in 2013. Passing Each Other in Halls is a very sophisticated read. I would not consider it for my population of middle schoolers. I will credit de la Pena with "excellent voice," however, it is for a very mature young adult audience. Themes involve (inter-generational) family dynamics, friendship, relationships, money. It comes from a multicultural perspective.

If I had approached it from a sense that I was just picking it up for myself, I might reflect more positively, however; I "came" to this piece for my students, and my middle-school-at-large. I am not a fan for these grade levels, no matter what the maturation level. I think it is part of my responsibility as an educator of English Literature, to give my students better examples of books available. Remember, minds are still developing at this stage of the game. What we present as the future is crucial. We can share "angst" in better ways. Charles Dickens and William Golding did it. Judy Bloom has done it. Jordan Sonneblick is doing it...just to quickly name a few authors.

Save Matt de la Pena's work for high schoolers.