The Patterns of Paper Monsters
Sep 30, 2010
The Patterns of Paper Monsters
Author: Emma Rathbone
Publisher: Reagan Arthur/Back Bay Books/
Little, Brown & Company
Publication Date: August 2010
ISBN: 978-0-316-07750-7
This is a sharply sarcastic, and yes antagonistic, book about youth angst and mental illness. It’s an interesting book, not necessarily enjoyable if you happen to have teenagers and see a whole lot of “what ifs” popping up in your face. It’s a slim book – but very intense.
Jacob has a lot of anger and repressed hostility in his life. This has landed him in juvie. He’s not learning his manners nor is he doing well making friends. In fact, he’s not really doing well at all. He does meet Andrea, a girl loaded down with her own issues, and unfortunately, he meets David. Unfortunately as David has his own plans to perhaps, just maybe, burn down the entire facility and escape. David decides Jacob will help him.
The book deals with Jacob’s dilemma of attempting to make a decision between bettering himself – for Andrea – or getting the heck out of Dodge with David. What will he do in the end? What emotion will win in the end? Though most of us, hopefully, will never have our kids in juvie, you can certainly relate to some of their actions and feelings.
