Ma dernière chance s'appelle Billy D.

by Erin Jade Lange

Dans la vie, il faut se battre. Dane Washington ne le sait que trop bien. A la moindre occasion, ses poings le démangent et ils parlent pour lui. Jusqu'à présent, ses bons résultats au lycée lui ont évité les plus gros ennuis. Seulement, il n'a plus droit à l'erreur : encore une bagarre et ce sera l'exclusion. Mais la violence, Dane ne parvient pas à la contrôler. Sa dernière chance s'appelle Billy D., un garçon qui vient de s'installer à côté de chez lui avec sa mère.Billy D. est trisomique, il n'a pas les moyens de se défendre, et certains en profitent. Si Dane acceptait d'être son ambassadeur au lycée, cela pourrait lui offrir le salut. Billy D. a une autre mission pour Dane : il voudrait qu'il l'aide à retrouver son père. Leur seul indice : un atlas des Etats-Unis, et des énigmes à toutes les pages ou presque.

Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Realistic Fiction, Fiction, Mystery, Friendship, Disability

468 pages, Paperback

First published September 3, 2013

About the author

ERIN JADE LANGE is the author of 5 novels for young adults, including the upcoming, Mere Mortals. Erin is the winner of the Friedolin Youth Book Prize in Germany and the Sakura Medal in Japan. She has also been nominated for the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize (twice), the German Children’s Literature Award and multiple state book awards. Her debut novel, Butter, was a 2013 Teens’ Top Ten Pick, and her books have appeared on several state reading lists. Erin is a recovering journalist and a lover of books. She lives in Phoenix, Arizona.
www.erinjadelange.com
@erinjadelange

Reviews

[Mar · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m not sure how to feel about this one. It was entertaining and incredibly fast-paced and kinda humorous but at the same I maybe expected more?

Maybe what I wanted was to be ripped apart by the book, it had so much potential to do so and not gonna lie, it did in a way, but just a very tiny bit.

I wasn’t a huge fan of the characters except for Billy D and the mom of the main character (LMAO), but they were alright.

The plot was alright, but I guess I was expecting some sort of great road trip between friends and didn’t get it.

[Drew · Rating 4 out of 5]

“He’s just an innocent victim.”
“A victim,” I repeated. A queasy feeling seeped into my gut. “Then what am I?”
Seely shook her head as if it was obvious and half smiled. “You’re the bully.”

It's hard to believe that hardly anyone has read this book. It came out in 2013 and barely has over 1,000 ratings on Goodreads. And yet when I picked this up on an impulse, never having heard of the title before, I ended up being so impressed with this marvelous, hidden gem.

Now I'm going to try my best to convince you to read it.

Do you like morally conflicted narrators? Dane is the mean kid who beats up anyone who even slightly provokes him. When he is about to get suspended from school he is offered one last chance - look after Billy, who has Down Syndrome.

The thing is, Dane ends up becoming good friends with Billy and promises to help find his dad, who disappeared and left behind clues in an atlas.

I loved the main characters. They felt real and flawed and I came to care for them so much. I laughed at their inside jokes, got caught up in their excitement, and their problems became my problems.

Seely was the tough skateboarding girl with bleached hair who lived in a biker's shop. When she and Dane started liking each other I actually didn't mind, because the romance was subtle enough that it didn't overpower the plot.

Billy's Down Syndrome was handled so well - it wasn't a defining trait in his character. The author showed how everyone else felt bad for him when Billy was actually freaking smart. He was his own person - he was capable of taking care of himself and didn't need other people's pity.

I did have a problem with some slut-shaming comments. Dane remarked that a girl he used to date, Marjorie, liked to spread her legs, and when Billy accused him of calling her a slut Dane's response was, "Yeah, but I didn't say it to her face."

Thankfully, these comments didn't take up much of the book or else I might have lowered my rating. I just thought I'd let any readers know who are sensitive to slut-shaming.

Billy makes Dane come to a halt when he asks, "Why do people hit?" I think this is such an important and heartbreaking question. For Dane, he realizes that he takes out his pent-up anger on innocents because he's never met his dad.

Compelling writing, fleshed-out characters, and underlying themes about judging others before you really know them. Whether you're a fan of contemporary or not, this story will no doubt touch your heart.

[Maggie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Edit: Omg it's coming out September 3rd. That's two days before my birthday. :D So I literally just figured out how to add gifs to reviews so if you don't mind me, I'm going to express my emotions through Sherlock gifs












I AM SO FREAKING EXITED TO READ THIS.

[Maja (The Nocturnal Library) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dead Ends is a simple yet wonderful tale about an unlikely friendship between two young boys, both of them social outcasts. Dane is a bully, raised by a very young single mom and angry at the world. He has no idea who his father is, and his mother, although otherwise great, refuses to divulge his identity. Dane takes out his anger on anyone who dares to look at him the wrong way, until Billy D. comes along.

Billy D. has Down syndrome. He is highly functional and pretty healthy, all things considered, but he's far from being a regular kid. He sees Dane as someone strong enough to keep him safe from all those who enjoy "hitting a retard". Being intelligent and aware of his situation makes him pretty manipulative so he somehow manages to blackmail Dane into helping him.

The last thing Dane wants to do is to get involved, but with the expulsion from school looming over his head, his choices are limited at best. He even lets himself be blackmailed into helping Billy D. locate his estranged father, which forces Dane to think about finding his own missing dad. Despite how it may seem, a friendship born from mutual understanding is inevitable between these boys. Lange doesn't try to portray either of them in a better light, but as they learn things about each other, they also discover things about themselves, partly flaws they'd rather not see, but also qualities they didn't even know they possessed. Of course their journey ends up being painful and full of unwanted revelations, but it also gives them something neither of them has ever had before - a true friend.


There isn't much I can say about the plot for fear of spoiling it, but I will say this: Dead Ends is a beautifully written, poignant story that deserves far more attention than what it's been getting. I vote that we try to change that. It's what we do, after all.

[Ana Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una excelente mirada al mundo adolescente y una crítica a como es tratada una persona con discapacidad y como se evita hablar o como se intenta hablar con propiedad acerca de ellas.

Billy D. y Dan W. Son un par de amigos que pasan unos altibajos sorprendentes y que a pesar de todo logran continuar su amistad.

[Mina · Rating 5 out of 5]

این موضوع برای خودمم جالبه که من هیچ کتابی رو دوبار نمی‌خونم اما شاید سه چهار باری سراغ ایشون رفته باشم. الان که فکرشو می‌کنم بازم دوست دارم بخونمش!

[TL *Humaning the Best She Can* · Rating 4 out of 5]

“He’s just an innocent victim.”
“A victim,” I repeated. A queasy feeling seeped into my gut. “Then what am I?”
Seely shook her head as if it was obvious and half smiled. “You’re the bully.”

“I’d always said that I didn’t hit girls or challenged kids, and what it came to a fight between the two, I didn’t know which side I’d pick – I’d probably just stay out of it. But when it came to anybody versus Billy, there was no question whose side I was on.”

"Now I'll call you Dane, and you won't kick my ass."

"I might kick your ass anyway if you don't shut up. "

"You said you don't beat up retards."

"You said you weren't a retard."

"I'm not."

"Okay, then."

"Okay, then."

He fell quiet for a few blissful seconds, then:

"Does that mean you can still kick my ass?"



"I didn't know what he was saying to the warden and Mrs. Pruitt, but in a matter of days they'd gone from keeping a reproachful eye on me to going out of their way to wave and smile when they saw me in the halls. Billy was keeping up his end of the bargain. At least in the eyes of the jail keepers, I was becoming less hoodlum, more hero. "

A hidden gem of a book with a compelling story... with characters that aren't perfect but feel like real people.

Dane has his flaws, he isn't a bad kid but has issues with his anger, he hits people "who have it coming or deserve it." Then one day he meets Billy D, and his world changes bit by bit, though he doesn't realize it at the time.

I loved watching their friendship grow, rolling my eyes a bit at Dane's attempts to deny to himself they were friends. At first yeah, it was about getting on the warden's good side and staying in school but as Dane helps Billy search for his Dad, it becomes more than that.

Billy D endeared himself to me almost right away, I loved how his Down syndrome wasn't his defining trait and that he was smart and had a good personality.

You can tell there's something more going on than what Billy is saying but when we find out what it is, your heart breaks for Billy and his mom while at the same time you may struggle to understand the whys of Billy's line of thinking.
(Didn't want to make me drop kick any less)

Seely was pretty awesome herself:)

Loved the banter between Billy D. and Dane, quite a few passages had me bursting out laughing... giving the author points for writing humor that felt authentic and not forced.

Another where I don't want to say too much for fear of spoiling it but I highly recommend this one, this is one more people should know about :)

[Mob · Rating 5 out of 5]

شخصیت‌هاش>>>>>
دین و بیلی>>>>>>
سیلی>>>>>>
پایانش<<<<<<
اصلا انتظار پایانشو نداشتم. پایان نبود که مسخره=/
داستان و پردازش خیلی خیلی خوبی داشت. به نظرم چیزیه که همه خوششون می‌آد چون هم طنز شیرینی داره هم دغدغه‌منده.

[Alireza Khandabi · Rating 3 out of 5]

با گارد رفتم سمت این کتاب
ولی نویسنده کتاب رو با شخصیتی شروع کرد به اسم دین
خیلی از شخصیتش خوشم اومد و همون منو تا آخر کشوند

[Fatemeh Nazari · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5
ماجرای کتاب درباره ی پسری شونزده ساله به اسم دین واشنگتنه که خیلی خشنه و زود عصبانی میشه و دیگران رو کتک میزنه تا اینکه یه روز با یه پسری که هم سنشه و سندرم داون داره (به اسم بیلی درام) آشنا میشه و دوستی عجیب این دو تا باعث تغییراتی درون دین میشه.
داستان، ساده و روان و دوست داشتنی بود. کلا از این دست کتابایی که شخصیت ها طی اتفاقاتی عوض میشن و به یه خودشناسی ای میرسن خوشم میاد.
ترجمه خیلی عالی بود! واقعا کار خانوم عیبدی آشتیانی هم تو انتخاب کتاب برای ترجمه و هم ترجمه، حرف نداره.
دلم به این دنیای نوجوانانه تنگ شده بود. نویسنده رو تحسین میکنم که در عین سادگی داستان، تونسته بود جذابیت بهش ببخشه و پیام خودشو برسونه.

[Fateme H. · Rating 5 out of 5]

با این که دین قرار بود بچه بد داستان باشه، یه ج��هاییش خیلی دلم واسش سوخت.
مثلا اونجایی که با مامانش رفت رستوران و گارسنه فکر کرد نامزد مامانشه.

[Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5.

Dane's a bully. He has no friends, a long-gone father, and he and his mom live poorly. She's an expert at winning the lotto but she doesn't ever cash in the tickets. She frames them on the wall. But her luck might be running out as her job teaching yoga classes continues to be cut back due to low class participation. Worth noting, too, she had him as a teenager and everything since then has been hard times.

Billy is the new kid in town. He just moved in next to Dane, and on the way to school, he follows Dane. Eventually, he makes Dane talk to him. Eventually, he's the reason Dane has another chance at school after yet another fight sends him to the principal's office.

Because Dane has standards -- not hitting girls or people with disabilities -- he's been "kind" to Billy. And that kindness is now an obligation, as the principal declares that in order to keep in school and not be suspended or expelled, Dane has to be Billy's ambassador to his new school. Billy has Down Syndrome, and he fears he might get beat up regularly (a lie, kind of) and Dane can prevent this from happening. Oh, and Dane also has to agree to doing one thing that Billy asks of him.

So what is that one thing?

Dane has to help Billy find his father. The father who disappeared. Who made a "goodbye" gift of a map of strange-named towns scattered throughout the US. Billy wants to help Dane find his dad, too, even though Dane wants nothing to do with finding that man. He'd rather get Billy reconnected with his dad and put it all to bed. Oh also, Billy wants Dane to teach him how to fight, so they practice in the park every week.

Then there's Seely. She's the girl who bumps into them, who wears her hair short and proud, and who is the daughter of two gay men (non-biological daughter -- she had surrogate parents). She wants to help both boys out in her own way.

If you're counting up the issues in this book, you've likely lost track at this point: there's the bully; there's the social class situation; there's the forced companionship between Dane and a boy with Downs Syndrome; there's the romance; there's the two-boys-missing-fathers; there's the boy who wants to find his dad; there's the girl who is herself a story and a half. But wait, there's more! Billy is a LIAR. He makes up stories. He's mislead Dane time and time again about why his parents split. His father was abusive and a hitter and that is why his parents split and his mother moved him away from dad. But don't worry -- there will be misadventures as they seek out this father, and when Billy finally gets in touch with his dad, then he has to move again. Not to mention at the end of the story, Dane finds his dad, too, happy and with another family.

There's too much packed into this novel, and much of the middle sags beneath the idea of the story. For much of the time, I felt like Billy was depicted as very juvenile. He has Down Syndrome, and he's high functioning. The problem was that Dane talked to him and treated him like a child -- and through Dane's "bully" lens, it makes sense. However, this felt so much like a cliche: the bully befriends someone who is Different and therefore becomes a better person because of it. There's very little depth to their relationship, even as it progresses towards the ultimate revelation of what happened to Billy's dad. The depth comes later, when it is revealed that Billy isn't reliable or forthright, and then in that moment, he's suddenly got more depth to both the reader and to Dane. Which is a weird, uncomfortable way for his character to be fleshed out -- I wanted to actually know this boy. I wanted him to be a real person. Instead, he is flat, one-dimensional, and only ever comes to life when it's revealed he's lying. Isn't there more to him?

And maybe it wouldn't have been so frustrating as a reader for that to be the big character development moment if the story wasn't set up in the somewhat cliched ideal that a bad person can be made a better person by being forced to spend time with someone who is "different." Because in this instance, Billy's "differentness" is what makes Dane a better person. It's what forces him to reconsider his bullying tactics and what forces him to reconsider the power of actual, meaningful human relationships (that comes in the form of Seely). Which Seely herself is also flat and underdeveloped.

I get it -- Dane would see these people that way. But it felt like a cheap way to prove a point, by offering up two very Unique characters. They felt shoehorned into a bigger story about bullying that was itself unsatisfying. I wanted Billy to be a full character, rather than a tool. And he is a tool, since the story begins with his first arriving at the school and it ends with him being whisked away -- all within a matter of weeks.

Where Lange wrote an incredible story of bullying in BUTTER, here that thread gets short shrift to the missing father/social class issues. And it's weird, too, how social class is depicted. Dane is very bitter that he can't have a car like everyone else at school because everyone knows all sixteen year olds get cars (not true in the least, but I buy his hyperbole since he is a 16 year old boy). Poor in Columbia is the trailer park. He is one stop away from there in terms of financial issues at home. And if that is the case, then it makes no sense why his mother is as she is. She works an unsteady job (okay, could buy it, since it's likely her passion) but the lottery tickets she buys, ends up winning, then hangs on the wall rather than cash in? She's SELFISH. It's not a sign of economic struggle; it's a sign of SELFISHNESS. It may be worded as pride, but that pride here evolves into sheer selfishness. In many ways, this is the weakest plot point in the story, and it's what Dane's character and story really hinge on: he bullies because he's jealous. He calls it that eventually, and he owns it -- which I commend -- but I never found myself sympathizing for his situation or WANTING to sympathize, either. Maybe I don't need to, but given how much emphasis he places on social class, it should have actually made a bigger impact than it did. The show of class here was superficial.

In many ways, this felt rushed. It could have been stronger with a few more rounds of editing, with some tougher questions being pursued and explored, and richer characterization of both Dane and Billy beyond their "labels" as bully and boy with a disability who then turns out to be a liar.

[_.eameli · Rating 4 out of 5]

اگر دست نکشی هرگز شکست نمی خوری...
اگه دنبال داستانی هستید که وایب آرومی داشته باشه همچنین پایانش هم دل نشین خوب باشه ووووو تک جلدی باشه(چون من به شخصه دیگه از مجموعه های طولانی خسته شدم)این کتاب بخونید نمیگم واییی چه کتاب محشر و فوق‌العاده نه کتابیه که قلبت رو بعضی وقتا اکلیلی میکنه و بعضی وقتا قلبت ترک میخوره به خاطر کارها و رفتارهاشون با بیلی:<
از این دسته افراد واقعا بدم میاد که وقتی یک نفر خاصه(مشکل ذهنی یا عقب افتادگی، نمیخوام این کلمه رو به کار ببرم ولی اسم مریضی شو نمیدونم دقیق)اون اذیتش می‌کنند یا حتی مسخره اش می کنند اخه مگه اون شخص با بقیه چه فرقی داره؟؟
-پیشنهادی<حتما بخونید>و امیدوارم خوشتون بیاد از این کتاب.

[Mobinaaa · Rating 2 out of 5]

پشت جلد نوشته رمان جوان
ولی داستانش مناسبِ نوجوانه
از طرفی کمتر خانواده ایرانی ترجیح میده نوجوانش،تو یه کتاب چاپی،این قدر عادی در مورد دختری بخونه که فرزند دو هم جنس گراست و سه تا پدر داره.یا این قدر راحت در مورد معلم و دوستاشون صحبت کنن و بگن فلانی س.ک.س.یه.
ولی خوبیش این بود که بیشتر با زندگی و طرز فکر بچه هایی که مشکل ذهنی دارن آشنا می شید

[Hélène Louise · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book, clever and wise, with touching and realistic characters.

Billie's personality is strong and clear, his personality always rings true. I love his logic and assertiveness! The author does a great job to present a person with a disability (Down syndrome here), without sugar-coating anything, without letting the reader forget the differences, while making the character a full person in their own rights, never limiting them to their disability.
As a result Billie and Dane's relation is awesome, moving and funny, but never soppy, their interactions and dialogues credible and realistic, in a sibling sort of way.

Dane's voice, the narrator, is perfect, credible and appealing. The author manages to make the reader root for him, admiring his brains, guts and heart, while being critical about his violent attitude, oscillating between approval (even when we shouldn't all things considered, what is cool in a book - the mean boy beaten and defeated - isn't in real life) and dismay (so much violence in such a brilliant and sweet boy is alarming).

While the books seems focused on missing father, and "wheels"...
(always so funny and weird to see that any american sixteen yo must have their own car, when in France it isn't legally possibly before eighteen and still rarely a fact, as it's so expansive to get the licence and so expansive to buy a car, maintaining it and paying for the fuel, not to forget that no high school would have enough parking spots for everybody!)
... the main theme is about violence.
Why?
Why are the hitters hitters?
This theme is wonderfully well handled, with plenty of skill and subtlety.
I particularly appreciated how much pondering were let to the reader (as an example how nobody seemed considering about sending Dane to a psychologist, settling for detentions and expulsion threat, probably because he's an A student, clever and funny, a good son, and catalogued as hot-headed, prompt to play the sheriff and punish those who "have looked for it", characteristics unconsciously accepted for dominant males).

No lectures or transparent stereotypical messages, just a wonderful show-don't-tell.

A very intelligent book, lovely to read, heart-warming, funny and wise, but also thorough and non judgemental in its messages.

An author I'll be happy to read on!

[Jan · Rating 5 out of 5]

An engaging coming-of-age story with a pair of engaging, and unlikely, protagonists. Dane Washington is tough, intelligent and trouble. He's a basically decent kid with a whole load of anger which often comes out with his fists. Consequently, he's skating the edge of expulsion from his school, saved only by his good grades. Although he doesn't see it, he's something of a bully ... albeit with a code: he doesn't hit disabled people or girls. The new boy in his street, Billy D, has Downs Syndrome and in his off-centre view of the world, looks to Dane to save him from the real bullies. They have more in common than they think as neither has a father: Dane has never known one while Billy's is missing.

Their unlikely friendship is heartwarming and funny and sad and probably doomed but along the way, each learns some very important things from the other.

I think it's better than her first book, Butter, which I also liked. I think it's better than A.S. King's Reality Boy, which it could be easily paired with, because the difficult circumstances are more easily identified with than the family in Reality Boy.

[Vorágine (ig:voragineblog) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cuando irrumpe lo extraordinario nos cuenta la amistad que surge entre Dane, el matón del instituto que ha tenido una vida bastante solitaria y difícil, y tiene que hacer frente a los problemas diarios con su madre, y Billy D., un chico con síndrome de Down que se traslada a vivir cerca de la casa de Dane. Parecen muy distintos, pero pronto se darán cuenta de que tienen ciertas cosas en común. La más llamativa de ellas es que ambos no saben dónde están sus padres, llevan mucho tiempo sin verlos ni saber nada de ellos. Así, juntos decidirán adentrarse en la búsqueda de sus padres y obtener respuestas. Pero no será un camino fácil, ya que a lo largo del trayecto tendrán que hacer frente a adivinanzas, personas que irrumpen en sus vidas y numerosos desafíos que los pondrán a prueba. Y así descubriremos que cuando irrumpe lo extraordinario, lo común es un camino demasiado aburrido.

http://voragineinterna.blogspot.com.e...

[The Bibliognost Bampot · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was an interesting book. Well written, well developed, different and clever but something just didn’t quite sit right. Not sure why.

[Mahbod Kahnamouei · Rating 4 out of 5]

دوستش داشتم . کلیشه‌ای در کار نبود .توش احساسات دخیل بود.و در نهایت پایان خوبی داشت .

[Moe · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Halbe Helden erzählt Erin Jade Lange von der Freundschaft zweier ganz unterschiedlicher Jungen. Auf dem Heimweg, als er gerade noch dabei ist, einen Jungen zu vermöbeln, fällt Dane Washington plötzlich der Neue an der Schule auf: Billy D., ein Junge mit Down-Syndrom, beobachtet ihn ganz offen dabei, wie er den anderen Typen gerade scheinbar ohne Grund verhaut. Spontan machen die beiden einen Deal aus: Dane passt darauf auf, dass Billy D. nicht mehr gemobbt wird, und dafür muss er nicht mehr nachsitzen. Das ist die offizielle Version. Billy D. jedoch will noch mehr aus dem Deal herausschlagen, er möchte kämpfen lernen und mit Dane zusammen nach seinem Vater suchen.

Was dann folgt, ist die Entwicklung einer ganz außergewöhnlichen Freundschaft. Auf den ersten Blick passen diese beiden Jungen natürlich überhaupt nicht zusammen, allerdings ist Billy D. jemand, der Dane wahrscheinlich zum ersten Mal in seinem Leben so richtig Kontra geben kann. Vor allem hat er keine Angst vor Dane, während alle Mitschüler ihm nur noch distanziert begegnen. Das ist natürlich nur logisch, denn Dane ist zwar ein guter Schüler, allerdings auch ein Schlägertyp von der schlimmeren Sorte.

Billy D. redet unglaublich viel, nimmt alles wörtlich und versteht manchmal noch nicht alles, besonders die Sache mit den Mädchen. Insgesamt erscheint er als ein ziemlich unschuldiger Junge, der es allerdings faustdick hinter den Ohren hat. Besonders andere Personen kann er unglaublich gut einschätzen, deshalb versucht er auch gleich herauszufinden, warum Dane eigentlich andere Jungen schlägt. Dane, aus dessen Perspektive wir diese Geschichte erleben, ist von seinem Verhalten natürlich erst mal ziemlich genervt. Aber Deal ist Deal. Das denkt sich auch Billy, denn er verpflichtet Dane gleich noch dazu, mit ihm nach seinem Vater zu suchen. Dieser hat Billy einen Atlas voller Rätsel und Hinweise hinterlassen, die von einer Stadt mit witzigen Namen zur nächsten führen. Dabei wird es nach und nach zur Normalität, dass Dane und Billy nicht nur gemeinsam zur Schule gehen, sondern auch die restliche Freizeit miteinander verbringen, und eine Freundschaft auf Augenhöhe entwickelt sich.

Viele Stellen dieser Geschichte haben mich zum Lachen oder Schmunzeln gebracht, dabei sind die Themen in diesem Jugendroman sehr ernste. Die vielen Schmunzel-Momente liegen natürlich am locker-leichten Schreibstil der Autorin sowie an den vielen komischen Missverständnissen, wenn Dane und Billy sich unterhalten. Doch im Grunde geht es hier natürlich um viel mehr als eine ungewöhnliche Freundschaft. Es geht um Väter, die ihre Kinder aus unbekannten Gründen verlassen haben. Es geht um Mobbing, es geht um Schlägertypen. Gerade bei letzterem hätte ich mir noch viel mehr Entwicklung gewünscht. So nett Dane auch mit Billy umgehen mag, er ist und bleibt jemand, der andere Jungen vermöbelt. Das kann man noch so sehr mit einer schweren Kindheit beschönigen, davon wird es nicht automatisch besser. Meiner Meinung nach wird hier viel zu wenig darüber reflektiert, was Dane mit seinem Verhalten überhaupt anrichtet. Er selbst scheint das alles mit einem Schulterzucken hinzunehmen, obwohl er ständig von Billy und Seely, einem Mädchen, das sie im Laufe der Geschichte kennenlernen, mit der Nase darauf gestoßen wird. Das Thema wurde also zwar schon besprochen, allerdings erschien es mir zu romantisiert.

Halbe Helden erzählt also von einer ungewöhnlichen Freundschaft, die erst erzwungen werden musste, bevor sie zu einer echten werden konnte; von Kuriositäten im Leben einiger Menschen und von spontanen, verrückten Aktionen. Ich kann leider nicht beurteilen, ob Billy D., der Junge mit Down-Syndrom, hier authentisch dargestellt wurde, sympathisch war er aber allemal. Ansonsten drängt sich der Vergleich zu Wunder von Raquel J. Palacio ja geradezu auf. Einige Parallelen kann man sicherlich ziehen: Ein neuer Schüler, der offensichtlich anders ist, gegen alle anderen in der Schule, zusammen mit einem ungewöhnlichen Freund. Dennoch ist hier nur das anfängliche Konzept ähnlich, später rücken ganz andere Dinge, wie die Suche nach dem Vater oder der Kampfunterricht, in den Vordergrund und bilden somit die Grundlage für eine ganz eigene Geschichte.

[Adele Broadbent · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dane gets angry. A lot. When someone annoys him his palms get itchy, and he learnt when he was young, that the only thing that will make the itch go away is to hit the problem. He has a rep as a bully at school and is getting closer to suspension and then expulsion than he likes. He gets good grades and cares about school, but can’t keep his fists to himself.
His mum isn’t happy about it either, but understands some of the anger that seems to build up inside him. He asks every now and then about his missing father, but she tells him nothing, changing the subject or going to work at her yoga classes.

One day Dane realises he has a new neighbour who introduces himself as Billy D. He’s special, looks different with his round face, and slightly protruding tongue. He yells out to Dane and answers back, but Dane doesn’t hit retards or girls – it’s one of his rules.

But when Billy D asks to walk with him to school, Dane isn’t keen. It happens anyway – a deal struck between an impatient school warden and Billy D. If Dane helps Billy D around school, looks out for him and walks him to school and back every day, the warden will get off Dane’s case and maybe even erase some black marks on his school record.

Billy D is smarter than he looks and gets round Dane many times with his funny type of logic. They discover something in common – no dad. Dane never knew his. Billy D is looking for his and carries an atlas with him everywhere.

This was a gift from his dad with clues throughout it as to where he might have gone. They meet Seely, a funky girl with two dads who have taught her how to fix cars and other mechanical stuff. Dane thinks she’s awesome (hardly admitting it to himself) as he hates the fact that they have no money for him to have his own wheels.

What is a bug-bear for Dane is that the money he needs for a car is in winning lottery tickets framed on the wall instead of cashed in. His mum says she is saving her luck.

This is just what they need when Billy D, Seely and Dane get caught up in following the clues to find Billy D’s dad. This takes on a journey to even more serious trouble than school threatens.

This is an awesome story about not judging people. It’s about friendship, and building bonds you never believed possible. It’s about an angry teenager being made to look at himself by an unlikely alliance. And it’s about absent parents and their child’s longing to know them or get them back.

[Carly · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can read my full review for Dead Ends, plus all my other reviews here!
https://thebookdetective.wixsite.com/...

OVERALL:
I enjoyed reading Dead Ends mainly because of the interactions between Billy D. and Dane Washington. A shy character with Down syndrome working together with an angsty neighbourhood bully is a pretty interesting dynamic!

WHAT I LIKED:
The characters - Dane Washington and Billy D: I love it when authors write about characters who aren’t perfect. Just like Ed Kennedy in “I Am The Messenger”, both Dane and Billy great characteristics and flaws in their personality. Dane Washington is an anti-hero - a bully who uses physical violence on people he thinks are being rude or obnoxious. However, most of the time, he only hits or punches when he feels the urge to help someone else. In fact, to me, he feels like a realistic version of Kaz Brekker, minus the Six of Crows and the gloves. On the other hand, Billy D. isn’t just a helpless victim, subject to bullies who mock his Down syndrome. He is headstrong and stubborn, but also has a great deal of perseverance. When searching for his father, he doesn’t ever question if any of his work will lead to a dead end. He continues to try, and won’t accept no for an answer. These attributes and flaws all play out nicely in the book, which means as a reader, it’s hard to place the blame for a problem or mishap on just one character. For me, this makes a book all the more interesting and real.

WHAT I DIDNT LIKE:
There wasn’t anything specific I didn’t like about Dead Ends - it was a solid, but not entirely perfect four star read.

[rachel, x · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.75 stars

This is the perfect book about diversity.

As soon as I finished Rebel Bully Geek Pariah and saw how much my friends had enjoyed this book, I knew I had to pick it up. I’m so damn glad I did. I don’t think there’s much I can say about this book. It made me cry. I laughed out loud. Multiple times. My mum gave me weird looks about it. This book was just so damn realistic. It had the perfect interpersonal relations. I adored Dane and Billy D and Seely. It dealt with serious topics to perfection. The writing style was hilarious and beautiful and simplistic, all at the same time. I think Erin Jade Lange is the queen of writing non-romantic relationships. Seriously. I just want to devour everything she's has ever written. Don't worry, I went and picked up Butter immediately to do just that. This has my highest recommendation.

[Dimity Powell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dead Ends took my breath away then forced it back so challengingly I was left gasping for more. Two unlikely characters form an unexpected alliance that quickly deepens into a friendship that is beautiful to behold and heartbreaking to witness as it disintegrates and regenerates. Dane is life weary at 16 and at odds with a heart that feels more than he'd like and a temper that demands all of his attention and energy. Billy D is the catalyst to his self discovery but is struggling with his own intense longing to understand his world. Full of unexpected turns and discoveries, this is a road trip of sorts, simply told, brutally real and superbly executed. Dane and Billy's story of dead ends and spiraling hopes is an exquisitely coloured stone; not a smooth, river-tumbled pebble, more a jagged chunk of gravel. Difficult to hold, a little sharp around the edges but too wonderful to let go. And I didn't want to. Larger than life characters, sharp intelligent dialogue and a story line that equally crushed and floated me, Dead Ends is one of the most satisfying reads I've had this year.

[Magui · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this for my english class and I'm not the type of person who hates on books but this particular book was impossible to read. I found it so boring and pointless. I know my main problem is with Dane but the story wasn't something really memorable either. Dane was awful for me to read. I can't stand a bully and Dane was so aggressive and looking for trouble all the time. His personality and mine don't go together so every time he said something stupid the only thing I could think of was "shut the fuck up" or a variations of "asshole" and rolled eyes. Billy D didn't make a good impression on me either. Very plain character with not much to say about him. Seely was kind of okay, a shame she ended up with Dane, honestly. The story was so pointless and that end. Was it even an end? I don't even know. I got no conclusions out of it. I guess that for me this book was really a dead end. I don't wanna leave this review so negative so just so the person that's reading this knows, a lot of my classmates loved this book, maybe you can give it a try.

[Birgit · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW! Everybody go read that book!! It is the best book i read this year and it's absolutly amazing and I love it!

Adding: There is some great character development in this book. Like really great character development!!

And the story is great. It is hard to chatch me, but I couldn't put this book away and I had feelings for the characters and all the feelings you should have while reading a book and this doesn't happen often to me... So just READ IT!!!

[Masoome · Rating 4 out of 5]

یک پسر 16 ساله که آدم خشنیه و دیگران رو می زنه، با یک پسر مبتلا به سندروم داون دوست می شه و اون ها سعی می کنن با کمک هم، پدرهاشون رو پیدا کنن.
کتاب خوبی بود. یک داستان ِ خوب ِ شاید یک کم معمولی، و درباره ی آدم هایی که پدر مشخصی ندارن!
یکی از سه کاراکتر اصلی کتاب، پدرش رو هرگز ندیده بود، یکی شون پدرش رهاش کرده بود و یکی شون سه تا پدر داشت! حرف های جنسی و رکیک (حتی بعد از سانسور!) هم توی کتاب وجود داشت.

[normis Punto lectura oax · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un historia juvenil bastante tierna, una amistad entre un chico “abusador” en la escuela y un chico con síndrome de down una amistad que se va desarrollando a lo largo del libro. Un libro agradable

[Mobina · Rating 4 out of 5]

کیوت و تینیجری

[Sarina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Zum Buchinhalt

So ganz kann Dane sich nicht erklären, wie er da hineingeraten ist: Gerade ging er noch (überwiegend) friedlich und unbescholten zur Schule, jetzt hat er einen Aufpasserjob. Dumm nur, dass Billy D., ein neuer Schüler mit Downsyndrom, nicht will, dass man auf ihn aufpasst – viel lieber ist ihm, wenn Dane ihm beibringt, wie man sich prügelt, oder wenn er ihm hilft, seinen Dad zu finden. Der hat Billy nämlich einen Atlas mit geheimnisvollen Hinweisen hinterlassen, und Billy ist überzeugt, dass sie ihn am Ende zu seinem Vater bringen werden. Dane kann den Ärger förmlich riechen, der ihm blüht, wenn er Billy einmal quer durchs Land kutschiert, aber dessen Enthusiasmus hat er wenig entgegenzusetzen. Wo ihr Weg sie schließlich hinführt, hat keiner von ihnen geahnt…

Meine Meinung

„Halbe Helden“ ist mein erstes Must Read im zweiten Quartal 2015 und gleichzeitig mein erstes Monathighlight im Juli. Bereits der Klappentext konnte mich davon überzeugt, dass die Geschichte genau meinem Geschmack entspricht und ich dieses Buch bestimmt lieben werde. Die ersten Seiten haben diesen Eindruck schließlich nur bestätigt. Federleicht bin ich durch die Sätze und Zeilen geschwebt, habe die Bekanntschaft mit Dane und Billy gemacht und mir dabei das eine oder andere Lächeln nicht verkneifen können. Billy ist nämlich ein kleines Schlitzohr und mit allen Wassern gewaschen.

Dane war ich gegenüber zuerst skeptisch, da er für mich auf den ersten Blick kein Charakter war, den ich als sympathisch bezeichnen würde. Denn schon bei der kleinsten Provokation (die meistens nur er als solche empfindet), geht er auf seine Mitschüler los und lässt seine Fäuste sprechen. Doch wie man schnell feststellt ist das nur eine Seite von ihm. Eigentlich ist er ein netter Kerl, dem es wichtig ist gute Noten zu schreiben, damit später einmal etwas aus ihm wird. Außerdem liebt er seine Mutter über alles, weshalb es ihm leid tut ihr immer wieder Kummer zu bereiten. Das alles zusammen hat ihn mir total sympathisch gemacht.

Billy D. hat sich vom ersten Augenblick in mein Herz geschlichen, da er mich an einen Jungen aus unserem Bekanntenkreis erinnert, der ebenfalls das Downsyndrom hat. Wie er, ist Billy die reinste Frohnatur und geht so unbefangen an die Dinge heran, dass man nur staunen kann, wo er all das Selbstvertrauen hernimmt. Im Übrigen ist er sehr ehrlich und spricht meistens das aus was er denkt – in manchen Situationen ist das mal mehr mal weniger gut. Darüber hinaus ist es ihm wichtig, dass er nicht auf seine Behinderung reduziert oder für dumm gehalten wird. Er möchte als normaler Junge wahrgenommen werden. Der einzige Charakterzug, der mir nicht so gut an ihm gefallen hat, dass Billy Dane stellenweise ganz schön zusetzt und ihn emotional erpresst hat.

Obwohl die beiden nicht unterschiedlicher sein könnten und Dane am Anfang alles andere als begeistert ist Billys Aufpasser zu spielen, ist er insgeheim jedoch lange nicht so genervt von seiner Anwesenheit wie er immer tut. Daher war es kaum verwunderlich, dass sich mit der Zeit eine wahnsinnig tolle Freundschaft zwischen ihnen entwickelt hat, die man als etwas besonderes bezeichnen könnte. Am schönsten war jedoch die beiden dabei zu beobachten wie sie voneinander profitieren und sich gegenseitig beeinflussen.

Dreh- und Angelpunkt der Geschichte ist allerdings der Atlas, den Billys Dad seinen Sohn hinterlassen hat und der voll mit Hinweisen ist. Billy möchte diese mit aller Macht lösen, da er davon überzeugt ist, dass sie ihn zum aktuellen Aufenthaltsort seines Vaters führen werden. Einige Rätsel hat er bereits selbst gelöst, doch für die anderen braucht er Danes Unterstützung. Dane ist nicht wirklich begeistert davon, da es ihn daran erinnert, dass er kaum etwas über seinen leiblichen Vater weiß und ihn wahrscheinlich auch nie kennenlernen wird. Seine Neugier gewinnt aber die Überhand, sodass er sich der Suche trotzdem anschließt. Zusätzliche Hilfe gibt es von Seely, einem Mädchen das ebenfalls auf ihre Schule geht. Ich fand sie richtig klasse, da sie nicht das typische Mädchen ist, was sich darin gezeigt hat, dass sie Dane in Sachen Autokenntnisse weit voraus ist.

Diese Schnitzeljagd hat ordentlich Spannung in die Geschichte gebracht, vor allem da man mit der Zeit etwas misstrauisch wird, da Billys Mutter sich ziemlich komisch verhält, wenn Billy seinen Dad zur Sprache bringt. Außerdem schweigt sie sich beharrlich über die Gründe ihrer Trennung aus, was in mir die Frage aufkommen ließ, ob nicht vielleicht etwas Ernsthaftes dahinter steckt.

Die vorhandene oder eben nicht vorhandene Beziehung zwischen Vater und Sohn wurde gut und einfühlsam thematisiert. Das Ende hat mich alles in allem zufrieden gestellt, wenn ich mir doch einen anderen Ausgang ausgemalt hatte.

Mein Fazit

Mit „Halbe Helden“ erzählt Erin Jade Lange eine warmherzige und humorvolle Geschichte, die mich von der ersten bis zur letzten Seite begeistern konnte. Thematisiert wird die Freundschaft zwischen zwei Jungs, die auf den ersten Blick nicht unterschiedlich sein könnten, durch die Suche nach Billys Vater jedoch zusammenwachsen und mit der Zeit unglaublich viel voneinander lernen. Erin Jade Langer hat einen schönen und flüssigen Schreibstil, der sich wunderbar lesen lässt. Die Charaktere sind tiefgründig, sehr facettenreich gezeichnet und könnten einem so jederzeit im Reallife begegnen.