07. Skud

Foon, Dennis. Skud. Toronto: Groundwood Books / House of Anansi Press, 2003. Kindle File.

Annotation: Three seniors in high school think they have their lives figured out. Can they find a new path when everything crumbles around them?

Justification for rejection:
Skud showcases three high school seniors who are certain they know what life has in store for them. One plans to be an actor, one will enter the air force, and one is going to be a pro hockey player. One by one, their plans unravel. Two of the characters have a fall from grace, and the third, Andy, is shown the harshness of the real world.

Though the story is told from many vantage points, Andy is clearly the protagonist of the book. He is an aspiring actor, who gets a shot at his big break. To make it, though, he must sell himself as a drug dealer. He befriends Shane, a very notorious gang member, to teach him how to have "It", the air of intimidation that Andy feels is required for the part. Andy's journey involves him seeing that the world is not as straightforward as he thought. He is able to gain "It", but ironically realizes how childish his initial goals were. In gaining "It", he loses the excitement in getting his acting job.

Skud is a very good novel, with a few key flaws. Like all great YA works, it is told from the adolescent perspective. Much of the book takes place in and around a high school, which is something that a YA reader will definitely identify with. It is an adventure novel, with Andy having a very clear quest that he is on, and this aspect of the story is very well done. The characters begin highly optimistic and naive, but by the end of the novel have matured and realized that the world is not as black and white as they thought. This journey is definitely relatable to the YA reader, and is well done in this work. The book is fast-paced, and reads much faster than it's page-count would imply.

Where Skud falls short is in emotionality, which is a requirement of excellent YA literature. Terrible things happen to the characters, but the reader does not have the sense of loss. The characterization is simply too black and white for the characters to feel like fully fleshed-out human beings, and thus the emotional impact is less than it should be.

While Skud is a very good YA novel, it does not rise to the level of recommendation.

Genre: Romance, Sports or Adventure