Book #98

Dope Sick
by Walter Dean Myers

This is my second Walter Dean Myers book; the first one, Sunrise Over Fallujah, was not a book I enjoyed, and it made me question, a little bit, whether this author should have gotten all the accolades he has received over his writing career or if he, like many authors I don't like but the critics do, has managed to write popular fiction but not good fiction. But now that I have read Dope Sick, I can see that I was wrong to doubt Mr. Myers's writing ability or whether he deserves his awards; he is an excellent writer, and he does. I may even owe him an apology, though it feels arrogant to think Mr. Myers cares one whit what I think. But I will tender the apology anyway. On the other hand, my opinion of Sunrise was also confirmed: that book was a clunker, even if it came from a good author.

This was a good book: it was perfect for its audience, well-written, intriguing and thought-provoking without being too preachy or overly complex. It had a science fiction flair in a realistic story, and I love when authors do that well. One of my largest complaints about Sunrise was that the characters and the dialogue seemed contrived and false; this book does just the opposite. The main character, Lil J, was perfectly rendered, and the narration in his voice seemed spot on to me, though I admit some ignorance as to popular street slang of today -- I live in a small town in Oregon, which is not exactly the 'hood. I know that it sounded genuine, and I think it would seem the same to young men who read the book, so I will be recommending this book to them.

The story was interesting, though I know the ending will not satisfy many readers -- the lady or the tiger? I thought it was great, as the book's theme is about how hard it is to pinpoint the moment when things start to go wrong in one's life. The story picks up as Lil J is running from the police, having been involved in a drug deal that went bad and ended up with the shooting of an undercover cop; J (whose full name is Jeremy Dance, and after reading a book by an author who can't think up good character names [Robin Hobb], that name almost gave me goosebumps, it was so good) runs into a building that seems abandoned but isn't. On an upper story, J finds a mysterious figure named Kelly, watching TV. This TV can show J's life, past, present, and possible future, and Kelly shows J exactly where he is headed and what awaits him there -- and J doesn't like what he sees.

The rest of the book is a series of flashbacks, laced into J's conversation with Kelly, which (very nicely) never loses sight of J's current situation and its seriousness, as the police are searching for J and he is already being tried and convicted by the popular media. Through the flashbacks, we see what has happened to J to make him the way he is, as Kelly keeps asking him what he would like to change about his life, what single event or single day he would like to change in order to get out of the situation he finds himself in now. And several possibilities occur to J, and are described as he and Kelly watch them on the strange TV; most of them seem reasonable choices for the turning point, the watershed moment when everything started to go wrong, and the overall impression is sadness, because a lot in this young man's life has gone wrong. But the climax of the book comes, I think, when J tells Kelly, "Everything that's me ain't all my fault," and Kelly responds, "That's the deal. You got to find a way to make your life all your fault." That, I thought, was a brilliant line, and a brilliant message very well realized in this book.