Synopses & Reviews
It was in November, a Thursday after swim practice. The thing with Mr. Tracy, Darren's English teacher.
The thing was how Darren would think of it, afterward.
The thing that was vague and not-named.
The thing that hadn t happened, anyway.
Darren Flynn has the perfect life -- until that day in November.
After that day, after what happened (did it happen?), life is different. Darren is different. Nothing is as it was before. His friends, his family, even the people who are supposed to be in charge are no longer who Darren thought they were. Who can he trust, now?
This compelling, masterfully written novel by acclaimed author Joyce Carol Oates explores one teenager's search for identity in a complex, deceiving world, and the answers he finds in the most unexpected places.
Review
"This is sure to be a popular title and is great for sparking discussion." School Library Journal
Review
"Full of ethical complexities, this deftly written page-turner offers a sympathetic portrait of a young man devoid of adult guidance, who struggles to come to his own conclusion while sorting through messy, complicated truths." Kirkus Reviews
Synopsis
. . . The thing with Mr. Tracy, Darren's English teacher.
The thing that was vague and not-named.
The thing that hadn't happened, anyway.
(Had it?)North Falls swim team member Darren Flynn is a guy's guy, a jock. He "shows promise" and has integrity in the classroom just ask his teachers. He's shy, but sexy. Just ask the girls who are drawn to him like moths to a flame.
Darren Flynn is something different to everyone he encounters, and that's fine by him. Until something disturbing, something ambiguous happens that rocks Darren to the core, making him wonder: Who is Darren Flynn?
Synopsis
The most provocative young adult novel yet from New York Times best–selling author Joyce Carol Oates.
Darren Flynn is popular, good–looking, and has a spot on the varsity swim team. But after what happened that day in November (did it happen?), life is different for Darren.
Now his friends, his family, even the people who are supposed to be in charge are no longer who Darren thought they were. Who can he trust now?
In her third novel for young adults, the author of the acclaimed Big Mouth & Ugly Girl leads readers on an internal journey of self–discovery, moral complexity, and sexuality.
About the Author
Joyce Carol Oates is a recipient of the National Medal of Humanities, the National Book Critics Circle Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award, the National Book Award, and the PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in Short Fiction, and has been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. She has written some of the most enduring fiction of our time, including We Were the Mulvaneys; Blonde, which was nominated for the National Book Award; and the New York Times bestseller The Accursed. She is the Roger S. Berlind Distinguished Professor of the Humanities at Princeton University and has been a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters since 1978.