A picture is worth a thousand words--and with a unique photographic format, a stunning original voice, and a provocative portrayal of bullying, Young Man with a Camera is a book to get people talking.
T-- is used to getting grief. He gets it from his mom, who blames herself for his accident years earlier. He gets it from Mr. Lam, who suspects every kid of stealing from his shop. Worst of all, he gets it from Joined at the Hip, a trio of bullies so vicious that they leave T-- terrified of even using his entire name.
But T-- has his own strength too: his camera, which captures the unique way he sees the world. His pictures connect him to Ms. Karamath, the kind librarian at school; his friend Sean, whose passion for mysteries is matched only by his love for his dog; and especially Lucy, a homeless woman who shares his admiration for the photographer Diane Arbus. When Lucy is attacked by Joined at the Hip, T-- documents the assault on film. But the bullies know he has the photographs, and their anger could be deadly. What's the right thing for T-- to do? Do pictures ever tell the whole truth? And what if the truth isn't always the right answer? Young Man with Camera
Emil Sher ´ 1 FREE READ
HOLY COW.
This book is going to give you serious anxiety. And with the lack of closure or justice in the ending, that anxiety isn't going to go away. I can't decide whether I like the unsettled effect, or whether I want the book to be three times longer so I can walk away without my heart racing. I literally threw my arc across my room.
I mean this all in a good way. 9780545541312 I wanted to like this one, I really did. Goodreads readers seem to either hate it or love it. Unfortunately, the only thing I really loved were all of the photographs.
This is hard to read...for a number of reasons. It's not a nice story at all--the blurb says that Ryan torments T---, but that's not really accurate. Ryan is a sociopath and borderline (or not so borderline) psychopath who harasses, assaults, frames, blackmails...and worse. And NONE of the adults realize it, which seems sketchy. Also, T--- never ONCE stands up for himself, even a little bit, which makes his character kind of unlikable. And yes...I know this happens. I teach a lot of middle schoolers who never stand up for themselves. But it would have made for a better (and more enjoyable, at least for me) story.
The figurative language also felt out of place in what feels like is supposed to be a gritty, realistic novel--especially from such a young narrator. The metaphors are complex and might be hard for some of my middle grade readers to follow, and the all the hyperbole feels awkward. 9780545541312 This story surprised me. I was all ready to write it off as fluff that would be a way for the author to voice his views for one cause or another, but it wasn't like that. It was a real hard look at the effects of being bullied. A book for everyone. Not just a shout out for the LGBTQ, or people of a certain skin colour or people of a certain faith. No, this book represented everyone. Something I found quite refreshing. At least I don't remember the main character being identified as one thing or another so it at least didn't dwell on it or make it the central focus. The story didn't even identify the main character; only gave his first initial, T. Is he black, white, gay, overweight, shy?? Don't know, because the author cleverly saw that bullying is the issue, not the why. It was quite brilliant in my estimation.
The second thing that made this story brilliant is that the author didn't bend and make it a tidy little story where everything always works out. For the most part it felt a little uncomfortable leaving a lot of people asking why the main character would act the way he did? But that is the brilliance! It is more likely that the way the character acted is exactly the way a real person might act under the same circumstances. Fear. That is what he is up against and fear usually triggers silence and inaction.
It also dealt with the rest of us as bystanders. How we are all manipulated by the bully and can even be downright deceived into believing the victim is the one who actually is the one who brought it on, or worse, that it isn't even happening. There are really no answers or solutions offered, but many times that is the horrible reality for the life of the bullied. Not that there are no answers, but fear imprisons the bullied into accepting their fate. T has become so withdrawn that other than with his best friend Sean and a homeless lady named Lucy he only communicates through his photographs. Communication with all others is a waste of words for T since he has already decided how they will respond so he has given up.
If you don't like disappointment this book is probably not for you, but it has some valuable insights and a strong message about the more likely outcomes of being bullied. Perhaps not to the same extremes as the book, but a more likely scenario than the sugar coated everyone rallying around the bullied person and then putting the bully in their proper place in the end; not only defeating the bully, but reforming them.
Probably some good teaching opportunities for grade six through high school or at least a good read aloud for discussion purposes. Some mild swearing: kiss my ass was the worst of it. 9780545541312 I can breathe again, now that I have finished this book. T- is a remarkable character, and the author has crafted his story with great care. At first I thought this was going to be just another book about bullying. I was wrong.
9780545541312 While I did appreciate the photos in the book - I thought many of them were really fascinating to look at - I thought the deepness felt forced and the violence was awful. 9780545541312
I want to say that Young Man With Camera packs a powerful punch because my heart is heavily bruised; but that cliché is actually inaccurate. Instead, it is like a snake bite. A shocking, searing-hot flash of pain first, followed by a false sense of ease, into the stinging sensation of venom in your veins. And I mean this as an unequivocally enthusiastic endorsement.
T— is clearly strong, resilient and courageous…yet I immediately experience an inexplicable urge to protect him. Deftly dealing with diverse people, in completely different ways, displays his early-onset maturity and a kindness that cannot be contained. His sincere interest in Ruby, the quiet little girl with the chalk drawings, is as genuine and open as his affection towards the homeless woman with the witty signs.
When repugnant Ryan and his herd of hooligans antagonize T—, he tends to tolerate it; but the minute they set their sights on someone else, T— is quick to defend. Already “damaged”, his scars speak of suffering, while simultaneously showing survival. He has a best bud, Sean, who comes with a faithful and friendly pooch; but it was photography that saved T—. The very pictures he shares are worth way more than a thousand of the wisest words.
Although it is absolutely appropriate for the Middle Grade reader, I will be passing this copy on to “my” High School seniors, where I believe it will appeal to both ends of the reading spectrum. Reluctant readers will appreciate the photography as well as the short-not-so-sweet writing style and avid readers will dig the “something different”. T—’s tale takes you where you definitely do not want to go, and you can’t even cover your eyes along the way. Creating conflict by making you fully understand the why, even when it is so clearly wrong, in a real, raw and absolutely riveting way.
This review was written for Buried Under Books by jv poore. 9780545541312 I am still processing this amazing book. It made me angry, it made me think, it made me smile. Every middle-school student should read this. Themes of justice, bullying and friendship are handled sensitively without being preachy. The language is beautiful and I found myself wanting to highlight several phrases as I was reading. 9780545541312 If you like to read a book that makes you think and feel, read Young Man with Camera. It's not an easy story. I was angry at the protagonist because he didn't react as I wanted him to, but he reacted in a way that isn't entirely unexplainable. I was viewing the story through my adult eyes and processing it with my adult mind. The protagonist, though, isn't an adult. He's a terrified kid in a horrible situation. He does what he thinks is best, even if the reader doesn't agree. Upon finishing, I had to put myself in his young shoes. While I still didn't like his way, I got it.
The story is told in words and photographs. The words are powerful and the photographs add to the power of the story. What you read and see makes you confront uncomfortable issues in varying degrees (including bullying, homelessness, mental illness). If you can handle a book that makes you think about things that aren't pretty and if you like a book that may evoke difficult emotions, please read this book. 9780545541312 See more of my reviews on The YA Kitten! My copy was an ARC I got from the publisher for review.
*T–‘s best friend Sean is Black
*one character is maybe-gay
*Homeless woman Lucy is mentally ill
*Lucy is mentally ill and homeless; T–‘s got facial burn scars
Damn. I’m normally not one to lecture about inappropriate content in books for children because MG and YA readers aren’t that easily corrupted by books, but what the hell is this? Who is this book intended for? Middle-grade characters (all of them are thirteen and in middle school), YA material, and pseudo-literary writing from a bad adult novel combine to create the kind of book you would only give to someone you hate. Spoilers abound because there’s no way to discuss all the ways Young Man with Camera fails without it.
T– is probably the most passive main character I’ve ever seen. Having been a victim of bullying like most people, I understand to an extent why he does nothing about it. What he fails to do is convince me he ever tried to do something about it the way most victims will try to do before the lack of results leaves them disillusioned. Passive acceptance of bullying is usually the result of a failed attempt to stop it, but T–has apparently never tried to do anything to convince someone Ryan and co. were torturing him day in and day out. Where’s the fun in reading about a character who never acts? If someone read this because they were being bullied and/or wanted to learn about it, they wouldn’t get anything out of the experience.
Sher goes with a very unorthodox style by writing dialogue in bold instead of the standard of putting it in quotation marks, but there’s no reason for it and it ends up being distracting more than anything else. Exaggerated turns of phrase like “he looked at me for five years” are enough to make you want to roll your eyes. They’re so over-the-top that they miss the target entirely. For the book being so heavy in its subject matter, it’s written very childishly.
The characters are just as over-the-top and childish. T–and Ryan and co. are thirteen, which explains some of the childishness, but then again, they’re thirteen. Ryan murders a homeless woman and a dog but still has the world convinced he’s the golden boy and T–is the real troublemaker. Nothing about T–, including his burn scars, tells me why every single adult listened to Ryan over him. Thirteen-year-olds are vicious and I have the hypothesis of “everyone loses their soul in middle school” for a good reason. There have been murderers even younger than thirteen. Still, Ryan is too Pure Evil to convince me he’s a Mary Bell or Jon Venables type. Writing such a dark novel with characters this simple is a recipe for disaster.
Fair warning: this is where the spoilers really kick in.
After T–gets photos of Ryan murdering a homeless woman, Ryan starts a painful campaign of intimidating T– so he’ll hand over the photos and make sure the murder remains a secret. His acts include killing T–‘s best friend’s dog, destroying T–‘s secret photo room in an abandoned building, and framing T–when he sets that same building on fire. Due to a fireman’s grievous injury or death (I can’t remember which right now) in fighting that fire, T–is charged with a crime and ends up in juvenile detention because he never protested any of the charges in more than a half-hearted way. So yeah, the novel ends with T–in juvie for a crime he didn’t commit and Ryan ends up there later for stabbing someone.
So what, the novel is saying karma always comes around? Not that uplifting when T– is still going to have the arson and the fireman’s injury/death on his record forever thanks to being framed and never handing over the photographs to anyone. The entire novel feels meaningless thanks to the ending and makes me feel like I wasted my time.
Spoilers over!
The photographs spread throughout the book and how they tie into the story is nice, but I can’t recommend Young Man with Camera to anyone because it’s so meaningless and doesn’t seem to know who its audience is. There aren’t many novels like this either, so I can’t come up with any recommendations of what to read instead. Maybe Courtney Summers’ novels. They’re as dark as Young Man with Camera, but her books know her audience and her bleak endings have plenty of meaning to them unlike this book. 9780545541312 This is not a bad book. It is either a one-star or a five-star book. If you give it anything in between, well, I don't know what you're thinking.
I decided on one star. Too much figurative language (from a kid narrator!), too many staggeringly stupid adults, too much raw evil. Too little gained by characters or the reader by the end. Too few answers.
Was that a flicker of growth or redemption I just saw? Too late. Book's over. Missed it.
The role of the photos in the storytelling was interesting, but the novelty (a very integral and creative novelty, to be fair) was not enough to save the book. 9780545541312
