Anywhere but Here

Gr 10 Up—In the year since his mother died of cancer, high school junior Cole and his father have been struggling to concentrate on the future and "pretend the past never happened." Despite their efforts, her death continues to haunt and unravel both men's lives, and they spend a good portion of the novel drowning their grief in alcohol. Cole soon breaks up with his longtime girlfriend, Lauren, and decides to apply to film school. He films a documentary about his small hometown, nicknamed "The Web," for his application. Initially, his documentary focuses on people getting trapped in "The Web". In Cole's words, "the more they try to leave, the more they get pulled back," but as the story progresses, Cole comes to realize that the town is more of a safety net than an entanglement. In a bizarre set of circumstances, he finds out that Lauren is pregnant with his child (she later loses the baby) while at the same time his father has gotten a transient stripper pregnant. Seeing how his friends, family, and others in the community come through and support him when he needs it the most, Cole starts to understand his life in firm terms-he "isn't the main character but the guy behind the camera." Kyi seems to have touched upon anything and everything considered controversial in a young adult novel-sexuality, pregnancy, discussion of abortion, and use of alcohol and marijuana. Some of these explorations feel natural and believable in the context of the story line, while others seem unnecessary and included more for their shock value than contribution to progressing plot or character development. Many teens will connect with feeling trapped by their hometown, but few will relate to the soap operalike drama in Cole's life.—Nicole Knott, Watertown High School, CT