Dead Ends by Erin Lange
Jun. 26th, 2014 10:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
”I had a foot on some guy’s throat and a hand in my pocket the first time I saw Billy D …”
Dane Washington and Billy D couldn’t be more different.
Dane is a bully. He says he has ‘standards’: he doesn’t hit girls, and he doesn’t hit special ed kids.
Billy D is too kind to hit anyone. He has Down syndrome and hangs out with teachers in his lunch break.
But one chance encounter leads them to realise that they have more in common than they think …
For anyone who loves a roadtrip.
For anyone who’s ever been bullied.
For anyone who’s ever felt different.
16-year-old Dane Washington lives with his mum in the poorest part of Columbia, Missouri. His mum’s been saving her winning lottery tickets to help send him to college but Dane has anger issues and has been in trouble at school for fighting. One more incident could get him expelled.
Billy D has Down syndrome and he and his mum have just moved into the house opposite Dane’s. Billy’s a favourite of the teachers, which is helpful because when Dane gets his last strike and is looking at expulsion, Billy blackmails him into helping to find his dad. Billy’s got an atlas with clues for identifying different towns and he knows that his dad’s in one of them. As they work through the clues, an unlikely friendship develops and they realise they have more in common than they first thought …
Erin Lange’s second YA novel returns to the theme of bullying in a touching story about friendship and anger that’s not quite as good as BUTTER but still an enjoyable read. The main reason to read this is Billy D whose Down syndrome is authentically presented but who remains a nuanced character with his own desires. Dane’s a similarly layered character, frustrated by his mother’s refusal to use her lottery winnings and convinced he only hits people who deserve it. I was a little disappointed with Seely, who’s little more than a love interest for Dane and there are places when the pace sags and risks becoming repetitive. That said though, I enjoyed reading it and will definitely be reading Lange’s next novel.
Much of the book is about anger and its effects and the most effective scenes are those where Billy forces Dane to confront his own behaviour and his simple way of cutting through Dane’s self-justification is very touching. It’s also worth saying that there’s a lot of humour in the book as well and some laugh out loud lines (notably in a scene where Billy gets arrested). I wasn’t wild about the downbeat ending (although it does ring true), Dane is very slow in picking up on the clues about Billy’s father and a hint that Billy has a crush on Seely is quickly disposed of (a shame because that would have been an interesting subplot) but for the most part this was an entertaining read and I look forward to Lange’s next book.
The Verdict:
Erin Lange’s second YA novel returns to the theme of bullying in a touching story about friendship and anger that’s not quite as good as BUTTER but still an enjoyable read. The main reason to read this is Billy D whose Down syndrome is authentically presented but who remains a nuanced character with his own desires. Dane’s a similarly layered character, frustrated by his mother’s refusal to use her lottery winnings and convinced he only hits people who deserve it. I was a little disappointed with Seely, who’s little more than a love interest for Dane and there are places when the pace sags and risks becoming repetitive. That said though, I enjoyed reading it and will definitely be reading Lange’s next novel.
Thanks to Faber & Faber for the review copy of this book.
Dane Washington and Billy D couldn’t be more different.
Dane is a bully. He says he has ‘standards’: he doesn’t hit girls, and he doesn’t hit special ed kids.
Billy D is too kind to hit anyone. He has Down syndrome and hangs out with teachers in his lunch break.
But one chance encounter leads them to realise that they have more in common than they think …
For anyone who’s ever been bullied.
For anyone who’s ever felt different.
16-year-old Dane Washington lives with his mum in the poorest part of Columbia, Missouri. His mum’s been saving her winning lottery tickets to help send him to college but Dane has anger issues and has been in trouble at school for fighting. One more incident could get him expelled.
Billy D has Down syndrome and he and his mum have just moved into the house opposite Dane’s. Billy’s a favourite of the teachers, which is helpful because when Dane gets his last strike and is looking at expulsion, Billy blackmails him into helping to find his dad. Billy’s got an atlas with clues for identifying different towns and he knows that his dad’s in one of them. As they work through the clues, an unlikely friendship develops and they realise they have more in common than they first thought …
Erin Lange’s second YA novel returns to the theme of bullying in a touching story about friendship and anger that’s not quite as good as BUTTER but still an enjoyable read. The main reason to read this is Billy D whose Down syndrome is authentically presented but who remains a nuanced character with his own desires. Dane’s a similarly layered character, frustrated by his mother’s refusal to use her lottery winnings and convinced he only hits people who deserve it. I was a little disappointed with Seely, who’s little more than a love interest for Dane and there are places when the pace sags and risks becoming repetitive. That said though, I enjoyed reading it and will definitely be reading Lange’s next novel.
Much of the book is about anger and its effects and the most effective scenes are those where Billy forces Dane to confront his own behaviour and his simple way of cutting through Dane’s self-justification is very touching. It’s also worth saying that there’s a lot of humour in the book as well and some laugh out loud lines (notably in a scene where Billy gets arrested). I wasn’t wild about the downbeat ending (although it does ring true), Dane is very slow in picking up on the clues about Billy’s father and a hint that Billy has a crush on Seely is quickly disposed of (a shame because that would have been an interesting subplot) but for the most part this was an entertaining read and I look forward to Lange’s next book.
The Verdict:
Erin Lange’s second YA novel returns to the theme of bullying in a touching story about friendship and anger that’s not quite as good as BUTTER but still an enjoyable read. The main reason to read this is Billy D whose Down syndrome is authentically presented but who remains a nuanced character with his own desires. Dane’s a similarly layered character, frustrated by his mother’s refusal to use her lottery winnings and convinced he only hits people who deserve it. I was a little disappointed with Seely, who’s little more than a love interest for Dane and there are places when the pace sags and risks becoming repetitive. That said though, I enjoyed reading it and will definitely be reading Lange’s next novel.
Thanks to Faber & Faber for the review copy of this book.
