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The Haters | April 20, 2016

by Jesse Andrews (Abrams, April 2016)

Fresh off of the critical success of the Me and Earl and the Dying Girl movie, Jesse Andrews is back with a sophomore novel that’s got just as much heart and wit—and twice the shredding. Wes and Corey, best friends, music enthusiasts, and reluctant jazz band members, are disillusioned with jazz camp the moment they arrive. They can’t see a world in which they have any fun at all this summer. But when they meet Ash, who sucks at jazz but has this mystical quality when you let her loose with a guitar, the next few weeks seem to unfold in front of them with a million different possibilities.

As in Me and Earl, the characters here are deeply flawed and painfully aware of it. Their fumblings and fights make for a hilarious and too-true picture of trying to find something—anything—you’re good at and claiming it as your own. The dialogue-formatted conversations throughout let Wes and Corey’s unfiltered voices shine through and make for a quick, fast-paced read. The nuanced and thoughtful teen boy perspective is a welcome addition to the world of contemporary YA.

I’d been waiting for this one for a long time, and—unlike the protagonists, who struggle to keep anything they love pure and free from their own criticism—I could not find one thing to hate about it.

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