Gentlemen

by Michael Northrop

Overview

This debut YA novel combines the wrong-side-of-the-tracks edginess of books like THE OUTSIDERS and FREAK THE MIGHTY and the searingly honest storytelling of authors like Chris Lynch and John Green.Micheal, Tommy, Mixer, and Bones aren't just from the wrong side of the tracks--they're from the wrong side of everything. Except for Mr. Haberman, their remedial English teacher, no one at their high school takes them seriously. Haberman calls them "gentlemen," but everyone else ignores them--or, in Bones's case, is dead afraid of them. When one of their close-knit group goes missing, the clues all seem to point in one direction: to Mr. Haberman. Gritty, fast-paced, and brutally real, this debut takes an unflinching look at what binds friends together--and what can tear them apart.Michael Northrop is the New York Times bestselling author of TombQuest, an epic book and game adventure series featuring the magic of ancient Egypt. He is also the author of Trapped, an Indie Next List Selection, and Plunked, a New York Public Library best book of the year and an NPR Backseat Book Club selection. An editor at Sports Illustrated Kids for many years, he now writes full-time from his home in New York City. Learn more at www.michaelnorthrop.net.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780545231237
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	02/01/2010
Sold by:	Scholastic, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	901,383
File size:	225 KB
Age Range:	14 - 18 Years

About the Author

Michael Northrop is the New York Times bestselling author of the middle-grade adventure series TombQuest. He is also the author of On Thin Ice; Trapped, an Indie Next List selection; Plunked, a New York Public Library 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing selection and an NPR Backseat Book Club pick; and other titles. An editor at Sports Illustrated Kids for many years, he now writes full-time from his home in New York City. Learn more at michaelnorthrop.net.

Editorial Reviews

Northrop's debut is one dark ride, as events spin out of control for three friends who haven't had many lucky breaks. High school sophomores Micheal (the narrator), Tommy, Mixer and Bones are a pretty tight crew. (And, yes, that's how Micheal's name is spelled: "Mom or Dad, one of them dropped the ball on that one, probably Dad, in the hospital or wherever it is you fill out that paperwork.") Then Tommy goes missing. It isn't the first time, so the guys aren't initially too worried, but as time passes-and following increasingly unsettling interactions with their English teacher, Mr. Haberman, during a unit on Crime and Punishment-they begin to suspect that the teacher is involved in Tommy's disappearance. Micheal, who has an eye injury stemming from a childhood incident, is a sympathetic but unreliable narrator-something he himself recognizes ("Having a messed-up eye, you know, it'll affect how you see things"). The brutal narration, friendships put through the wringer and the sense of dread that permeates the novel will keep readers hooked through the violent climax and its aftermath. Ages 15-up. (Apr.)

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Publishers Weekly

Gr 7 Up—Micheal, Tommy, Mixer, and Bones aren't so much viewed as troublemakers at Tattawa High School as they are personas non grata. On the fringe, the four friends struggle their way through school and to survive their dysfunctional families. When Tommy disappears, his friends write it off as another one of his escapades until Mr. Haberman, their remedial English teacher, starts speaking in riddles that lead them to believe that he may have killed the boy. Despite an interesting cast of flawed misfits and an edgy concept, Northrop doesn't bring the gritty tale to its full potential because of a slogging pace and meandering narrative.—Terri Clark, Smokey Hill Library, Centennial, CO

School Library Journal

Underachiever Micheal finds that art imitates life a little too closely when his friend Tommy leaves school in a fit of anger and doesn't return for days. The timing of Tommy's disappearance coincides with the beginning of an English class unit on Crime and Punishment. Due to an unusual introduction to the book, Micheal and his friends Bones and Mixer start to believe that their English teacher, Mr. Haberman, is responsible for Tommy's disappearance and possibly his death. As he reads the book, Micheal cultivates the idea of Haberman's guilt. In violent Dostoevskyian fashion, the three boys take action against Haberman and are subsequently punished both by prison and guilt. Micheal's practiced, smart-yet-slacker voice is authentic but also uneven; there are times when the author, not Micheal, is describing his surroundings. A few subplots involving meeting girls and the changing nature of the boys' friendship add some realism but are ultimately unimportant. The boys' immediate, assured suspicion of Haberman's complicity in Tommy's disappearance is frightening and realistic, but Tommy's return and his reasons for leaving are a letdown, told and not shown. (Mystery. 15 & up)

Kirkus Reviews