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A review by heykellyjensen
Räudiges Pack by Michael Northrop
3.0
You know how in YA there are 16-year-old boys and they have really mature voices and really deep story lines? A lot of times they're really good and they are so spot on. But other times you start to wonder what about those 16-year-old boys in the world who are kind of goofy and do really dumb things and yet are lovable and likable despite that?
Rotten is about the somewhat immature but really likable 16-year-old boy who is just kinda goofy.
When Jimmer Dobbs -- JD -- returns home from a "summer at his aunt's house," he discovers that his mom has a new roommate. No, it's not another person. It's a giant and intimidating dog. JD is skeptical and not into the idea, but once he names the dog -- Johnny Rotten or JR for short -- suddenly the dog feels a lot more like his dog. JR damn well becomes a friend, especially as the guys that JD hangs out with become more and more suspicious of his story about spending the summer at his aunt's house.
There is, of course, more to the story. But it doesn't pop up until an incident with JR and one of JD's friends. An incident which puts the fate of JR into the hands of someone else. Suddenly, JD wants nothing more than to prove how innocent and misunderstood JR is.
What I love about Northrop's writing is that it's humorous. Yes, there are some real issues at the heart of the story, but none of them are so supremely serious that JD cannot be funny. And he has some brilliant one-liners in the story that are so 16-year-old dorky boy it's impossible not to laugh out loud. They're not cheap shots, either. It's in a true-to-teen voice that's observant as much as it's spur-of-the-moment.
JR and JD have so much in common, especially as it comes to the things that brought them together. What happened for JR to end up "at his aunt's house" mirrors in many ways what causes JR to end up as a new family member. The severity is different, but they parallel one another such that they understand each other.
Pass this off to readers looking for a story about friendship and about relationships, especially of the human-animal kind. Because I know the question on a lot of people's minds will be "what happens to the dog?," you should know in advance that
Longer review to come.
Rotten is about the somewhat immature but really likable 16-year-old boy who is just kinda goofy.
When Jimmer Dobbs -- JD -- returns home from a "summer at his aunt's house," he discovers that his mom has a new roommate. No, it's not another person. It's a giant and intimidating dog. JD is skeptical and not into the idea, but once he names the dog -- Johnny Rotten or JR for short -- suddenly the dog feels a lot more like his dog. JR damn well becomes a friend, especially as the guys that JD hangs out with become more and more suspicious of his story about spending the summer at his aunt's house.
There is, of course, more to the story. But it doesn't pop up until an incident with JR and one of JD's friends. An incident which puts the fate of JR into the hands of someone else. Suddenly, JD wants nothing more than to prove how innocent and misunderstood JR is.
What I love about Northrop's writing is that it's humorous. Yes, there are some real issues at the heart of the story, but none of them are so supremely serious that JD cannot be funny. And he has some brilliant one-liners in the story that are so 16-year-old dorky boy it's impossible not to laugh out loud. They're not cheap shots, either. It's in a true-to-teen voice that's observant as much as it's spur-of-the-moment.
JR and JD have so much in common, especially as it comes to the things that brought them together. What happened for JR to end up "at his aunt's house" mirrors in many ways what causes JR to end up as a new family member. The severity is different, but they parallel one another such that they understand each other.
Pass this off to readers looking for a story about friendship and about relationships, especially of the human-animal kind. Because I know the question on a lot of people's minds will be "what happens to the dog?," you should know in advance that
Spoiler
the dog doesn't die. And for that I applaud Northrop because there is absolutely no emotional manipulation toward the reader.Longer review to come.