You Don't Know Me

Rating:
Summary: You give your hand to me, and then you say hello
Review: The phrase "I laughed, I cried" has been so overdone in popular culture that attaching it to a book review is almost pointless these days. I mean, it's an incredibly overused sentence. People who've sat down and watched half an hour of "The Jerry Springer Show" are as likely to say it as people who've read "Les Miserables" cover to cover. I wanted to begin this review of David Klass's fabulous, "You Don't Know Me" by saying it. I'm a fairly hard-core book reviewer and I don't laugh OR cry at books easily. Heck, I can read a Lurlene McDaniels book without cracking so much as a sniffle (not a particularly difficult thing to do, but you get the picture). But "You Don't Know Me" is so well written, so funny and sad all at the same time, that it was literally impossible not to laugh AND cry at it all at once. This is the highest praise I can think to give this book. I state for the record that this is perhaps one of the greatest young adult novels written in the last ten years. So sayeth me.

You don't know John. You know absolutely nothing about him. You don't know what he looks like or how he feels or where he lives or what his life is like. Soon enough, however, you begin to learn more and more about him. As it happens, this book takes place from John's mind, a fascinating world of wry sarcasm, dead-pan humor, and ridiculous situations. John negates his existence by telling you frankly that his home is not a home because of the man who is not his father. His mother's boyfriend is a violent horrible person that beats John whenever he gets a chance, but does it in such a way that it leaves no visible marks on the fourteen-year-old boy. At school, John hardly fairs any better. He is desperately in love with a girl that he has nicknamed Gloria Hallelujah and he attempts in band to play a tuba that is not a tuba. It is, instead, a giant frog pretending to be a tuba. John has arrived at this conclusion due to the fact that his tuba does not play music, but rather, croaks. When John finally gets up the nerve to ask Gloria on a date, his world improves and destructs almost simultaneously. Within one week everything will change for John and the only question that remains is, will he survive it?

Using humor in a YA novel centered on abuse isn't a particularly new concept. The brilliant "Speak" by Laurie Halse Anderson uses it well. But there's a bitterness to "Speak" that taints it in some way. The sardonic voice of "You Don't Know Me" is saying humorous thinks because of the bleakness of his life, true. On the other hand, you really grow to love John. He's a fighter. He will not kill himself or run away from home when his problems become immense because he feels (perhaps rightly) that to do so would be a form of surrender. I was also impressed that Klass broke the old if-a-gun-appears-in-the-first-act-of-a-play-it'll-be-used-by-the-third-act rule. That takes guts and not a little sly writing.

But again, it's because the book's so funny that it flows effortlessly from scene to scene. When John passes a note to the girl he loves more than anything else on the planet, he is certain that whatever reaction she has to it will give him some indication of her feelings. So when she eats it immediately, he is understandably baffled. It makes for some wonderful writing, especially where John asks his make-believe father what that means and gets a great response. Klass is adept at displaying John's mother's boyfriend in all his nasty glory as well. When it snows the man merely looks up to the sky and says "sky dandruff". This is a book that's as liable to tread into sweetness and light as it is into gloom and doom. And through it all you're rooting for John. You're really cheering for him. You want him to trust the right people and drop the wrong ones. You want him to stop living so much in his own head (even though it's a great place for us, the readers, to be). You want what's best for the book's hero, but most of all you just want him to be happy. And Klass delivers tenfold.

So I laughed. I cried. It was better than many a young adult novel I've read recently. Don't let the dreary cover and even drearier title fool you. "You Don't Know Me" is writing gold. It's the sarcastic sardonic answer to every after-school special ever produced. Maybe what I loved the most about it was that it was so grippingly honest. Some books don't have the guts to tell you the truth about their characters. Some books don't have the skill to tell you their story well. "You Don't Know Me" has guts, skill, and extraordinary talent within its pages. If you can choose only one teen novel to go with you on a desert island somewhere, pick Klass's masterpiece. Get to know it.


Rating:
Summary: Cool Writing Style
Review: This book is pretty good. It's not GREAT, by any means. But it's funny, and I like the tone that the author gives John. He's a typical student who doesn't like school. He has an abusive home life and not a huge amount of friends. Makes perfect material for a book. Gets a bit tiresome at moments, but still worth reading if you like books about teens and school and whatnot. The end has a twisty moment that is very cool.

Worth reading, but look at a chapter or two while in the bookstore to see if you think you're going to enjoy it, first.