Nailed

by Patrick Jones

Book Review

Publishers Weekly :

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Jones's (Things Change) forthright, message-driven novel explores the relationship between teasing and school violence. Sixteen-year-old Bret's life is becoming intolerable, both at home and school. He's ignored at home for not being just like his older brother (who "does oil changes for a living"), and tormented at school for not being a jock. Bret, who narrates, is not interested in working on cars or playing sports. Instead he'd rather act onstage or make music with his band, Radio-Free Flint (inspired by "hometown antihero Michael Moore"). As he grows frustrated at being harassed by the school's bully, he writes an essay expressing empathy towards the Columbine gunmen: "I... pointed out that how they had been treated at their school was wrong, too. I said they were the first victims." Teens will applaud Bret's spunk as he goes up against the school principal. But life takes a turn for the worse when Bret sees his girlfriend making love with bandmate Sean and reacts with violence, a response he's been taught to abhor. Eventually, with the aid of his father (who has a rather abrupt change of heart), Bret makes amends with Sean. Through the first-person narrative, readers see Bret's shortcomings and his struggle to fit in where he feels like an outsider. At times, however, it seems as though the author has set up his characters to serve his issues, even if his message is one that teens in a similar situation may find beneficial. Ages 14-up. (Apr.)

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School Library Journal :

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Gr 9 Up–Bret does most things the hard way, according to his father, and the teen is sure his dad hates him. He more interested in acting than sports and covers his long green-tinted hair with a fedora. It takes Bret most of his junior year to understand what his dad always told him: the nail that sticks out the farthest gets hammered hardest as he struggles to deal with the jockarchy at school and their constant taunts (mostly being called a faggot or a homo because he a born artist). As in Jones Things Change (Walker 2004), the father/son relationship is central to this story. While readers may feel a bit hit over the head with the nail imagery, tension and frustration build naturally. Subplot relationships are believable and well developed, such as tender sexual moments with Kylee, Bret girlfriend, and language is realistically raw to reflect Bret anger and frustration. Issues of free speech, conformity, and the power of the in-crowd all surround Bret as he begins to buck the school establishment and to stand up for himself. References to pop culture such as WWF, The Green Mile, and Austin Powers will attract many teens. Without being too preachy, Jones gives Bret several mentors: his theater teacher, his school counselor, and, yes, even parents, who help him sort out the roller-coaster ride of his life.–Kelly Czarnecki, Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg, NC

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: BookList :

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Gr. 9-12. Sixteen-year-old Bret Hendricks personifies his father's adage: “The nail that sticks out the farthest gets hammered hardest.” He's an actor in a school that worships jocks, a semi-intellectual in a blue-collar family, a kid with a ponytail in a school that values conformity. Although he secretly longs to be normal, he just can't bring himself to give up his love of theater--or his argumentative tendencies. The consequences of his aggressiveness are great: school suspensions, loss of his driving privileges, and a potential lawsuit for damaging a former buddy's car. This is a raw novel, filled with intolerance and pain, and many readers will recognize and identify with the small, everyday horrors that Bret endures because he can't or refuses to conform. Using multidimensional characters, Jones ably explores the dynamics of raising successful, independent children, at the same time exposing the difficulty faced by an educational system charged with celebrating independent thought and individual differences while enforcing rules and keeping kids safe. A tough, revealing book worthy of discussion.
FrancesBradburn.

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