THE LOWDOWN:
Today is Leonard Peacock’s birthday. It is also the day he hides a gun in his backpack. Because today is the day he will kill his former best friend, and then himself, with his grandfather’s P-38 pistol.
But first he must say good-bye to the four people who matter most to him: his Humphrey Bogart-obsessed next-door neighbor, Walt; his classmate Baback, a violin virtuoso; Lauren, the Christian homeschooler he has a crush on; and Herr Silverman, who teaches the high school’s class on the Holocaust. Speaking to each in turn, Leonard slowly reveals his secrets as the hours tick by and the moment of truth approaches.
FIRST IMPRESSION:
The P-38 WWII Nazi handgun looks comical lying on the breakfast table next to a bowl of oatmeal. It’s like some weird steampunk utensil anachronism. But if you look very closely just above the handle you can see the tiny stamped swastika and the eagle perched on top, which is real as hell.
I take a photo of my place setting with my iPhone, thinking it could be both evidence and modern art.
—Hardcover edition
SNAPSHOT:
Whether you’ve been or known someone like Leonard, his is a path that–at first–might sound too shocking to follow. But, if you let this abused, abandoned young man tell you his tale, you’ll see there’s so much more to him, his motives, and his final actions than meets the eye.
Leonard’s eighteenth birthday unfolds through his first-person narrations, mental footnotes, and a series of fantasy letters from his future (which readers will so badly want to be real, for his sake). The premise is intriguing: Leo hacks off his hair and then spends his day giving gifts to the four people who matter to him, though the affection proves not to be mutual in some cases, before he will kill his ex-best friend and bully followed by ending his own life.
While the major cast is small, consisting of Leo, the four giftees, his mother, and bully abuser Asher, the only characters with depth beyond the narrator are the two adults meaningfully in his life (Walt, an elderly smoker and fellow Humphrey Bogart aficionado, and the understanding young Holocaust teacher, Herr Silverman). The book’s lack of ageism is a distinctly delightful note. Though not a negative aspect, readers may find Leonard an unreliable narrator, especially as the exact trauma becomes apparent along with the anxiety disorders he developed as coping skills.
Appropriate for ages 14+. Strong language, intense sexual situations, difficult subjects, violence/violent intentions, suicidal and homicidal ideation. Deals with abuse, neglect, assault, mental health issues, and the question every teenager asks: does it really get better?
Readers would benefit from discussions on expectations of adult life, and how to better prepare to balance such responsibilities while retaining their individuality, passion, and zest for life. Equally, others may enjoy discussing the ways in which to form healthy friendships–both within and without their age groups.
GET IT ON YOUR SHELF:
If you…
– Enjoy realistic, emotionally driven tales
– Always fall for the hurt ones
– Want an edge-of-your seat revenge story
– Have ever felt alone or without a future and need to know someone else gets it
THE ESSENTIALS:
Contemporary YA
Hardcover & Ebook, 273 pages
Published August 13th, 2013 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (ISBN0316221333)
www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/matthew-quick/forgive-me-leonard-peacock/9780316221320/