American Youth, by Phil LaMarche

American Youth is a compelling story about teens, peer pressure, gang violence, and firearms. After an accidental shooting in his home, Ted (referred to as "the boy" throughout most of the novel…ok Phil, we understand he’s alienated) becomes entangled in a web of lies and falls in with the wrong crowd. That crowd is a straight edge gang called American Youth. They abstain from sex, beat up jocks who drink alcohol or smoke, and vandalize new housing developments that represent unwelcome change in the community. The pacing is ideal in creating a tense atmosphere which suits the seriousness of the subject matter, but you don’t really come to like or care for any of the characters. Overall there is a young adult tone and feel to the novel and in the end it comes across as a serious young adult book rather than serious adult literature.

LaMarche was a writing fellow at Syracuse University, the stomping grounds of George Saunders who has a four sentence blurb on the back of the book. Saunders calls LaMarche a “young master” and a “young genius”. That’s young twice in four sentences. Maybe George Saunders is trying to tell us something.