MY LIFE TAKE TWO
Paul Many
Walker & Company
Young Adult
ISBN: 0802787088

MY LIFE, TAKE TWO by Paul Many is a story about misunderstandings. The narrator, Neal Thackeray, learns about all kinds of misunderstandings and discovers that it is even possible to misunderstand yourself.

Neal is a high school student looking for direction in his life. His father died when he was quite young, and neither he nor his mother have ever really recovered. Neal is troubled by strange memories of his father as well as by his own inability to focus on anything. His steady girlfriend Emily works hard to get his head out of the clouds so that he will learn to work hard, keep a job and have a "future." Trouble is, Neal can't seem to imagine that sort of future for himself.

Instead, he is a dreamer --- like his dad. A chance encounter with Claire, who lives on the estate where Neal's father used to be the caretaker, gives Neal the opportunity to explore his childhood and his memories of his dad. Claire and Neal have to put some unfinished business behind them, but once they do, they join forces to create a documentary film about the estate --- which Claire's artist mother is on the verge of selling --- and Neal discovers some remarkable things about his father and himself.

Although Neal tells his own story well, Many does occasionally get a little too clever with the narration. Many tries to capture the way a teenager talks, ending many sentences with a question mark to indicate the upward inflection in many teens' speech, for example. But in a couple of spots, Many goes too far, leaving a blank in the text for the reader to try to come up with a snappy retort to something that has been said to Neal or otherwise breaking the flow of the story by calling attention to the reader. Neal also switches tenses a lot, telling his story as if it is happening right now at some points and in the past at others. It's difficult to tell if Many did this on purpose or if it's a tad sloppy.

Still, MY LIFE, TAKE TWO is an engaging book about an outsider who first tries to fit in and then learns to be comfortable with himself as he is. Readers with an artistic bent --- especially those with an interest in painting or film-making --- should find it particularly enjoyable.

   --- Reviewed by Rob Cline (RJBCline@aol.com)


(c) Copyright 2003, Teenreads.com. All rights reserved.

Back to top.