I Is Someone Else

Children's Literature

The worst imaginable thing happened to 15-year-old Patrick as he boarded a van and headed in the general direction of his missing brother, Rob. It did not happen at the border into Turkey when one of their passengers was taken aside and left. It did not happen when Patrick's friend, Jeffrey, was arrested in a hotel and almost brought the law into Patrick's room where a dangerous stash was hidden in his suitcase. Now Patrick has to take his belongings and find a different path to his brother. The unmentionable thing continued to travel with him as he followed the cookie crumbs scattered by his brother. It was not even the worst part when the bus crashed outside of Afghanistan and left him without many of his possessions. After he traveled across most of Europe and Asia, Patrick found life harder and harder to live through in his mind. What finally saved him almost cost him his life. The author, Patrick Cooper, captured and sickened me at the same time; his dark novel took me into a world where I was not prepared to go. There were times where the pit of my stomach felt nauseated, but I continued to read. I would not recommend this book to any reader who wants to view the world as a loving and harmless place. 2003, Delacorte Press/Random House, and Ages 15 up.
—Julia Beiker

VOYA

A chance encounter with a free-thinking couple on the ferry from England to France launches fifteen-year-old Stephen on a cross-continent journey, transferring him through habitats of the poorest of the poor. His quest finds the questioning young man roaming throughout the Middle East, crossing through Teheran, Istanbul, and Pakistan before finally settling in an Indian temple. In 1966, an era during which many teens hit the road to find themselves, Stephen rationalizes his trek on the single hope that he will find his brother who left home eighteen months earlier. There is danger in a foreign country that has strict rules about carrying or using hashish, and it finds Stephen. A carousel of events leads the English youth to suspect everyone, and he ultimately can only trust himself. His journey is also a mission of self-discovery. A homosexual encounter with a teacher from Stephen's recent past is revealed when an opportunity to have sex with a fellow female traveler is interrupted. The book's odd title and cover art showing a VW bus plastered with 1960s artwork make this title one that will not fly off the shelves. The book addresses cultural differences between the Middle East and Western societies, however, covering a topic with few offerings in young adult literature. Today's tech-savvy teens may view Stephen's dilemma of contacting his parents something from ancient history. What? No cell phone? With a librarian's nudge, this title might find an audience of teens attempting to discover themselves by escaping society's confinements. VOYA CODES: 3Q 2P S (Readable without serious defects; For the YA with a special interest in the subject; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2006,Delacorte, 304p., and PLB Ages 15 to 18.
—Rollie Welch

School Library Journal

Gr 9 Up-On his way to France as an exchange student, 15-year-old Stephen meets a young couple who seem to recognize him. As the three begin talking, he discovers that they are friends of his older brother, Rob, who disappeared 18 months earlier. When Jerry mentions that Rob was planning to travel to Istanbul and that he and Astrid are headed in that direction, Stephen decides to join them with the hope of finding his brother. A map on the frontispiece shows Stephen's trek through two continents while the novel loosely fills in the rest. Set in 1966, the story makes little of the historical setting beyond casual mentions of hippies and hashish and references to Hermann Hesse's Journey to the East and Allen Ginsberg. The writing lacks description of the changing landscape, of the various cultures, or of Stephen's fellow travelers; in fact, the most vividly related passages are those in which Stephen is plagued by dysentery. Gradually, readers learn that he is running not only toward his brother, but also away from a memory of sexual abuse suffered at the hands of a trusted teacher. Ultimately, few real conclusions are reached and, throughout the course of the novel, Stephen seems to grow very little. The author does not establish the mood of an effective quest or bring to life the chaotic setting of Europe and Asia in the mid-1960s.-Amy S. Pattee, Simmons College, Boston Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

A boy takes a spontaneous trip across hashish-soaked Europe and Asia in this harsh, vivid chronicle of coping with half-buried trauma. It's 1966 and 15-year-old Stephen is sent on an exchange from England to France. On the ferry, he meets glamorous hippie strangers who've seen his missing older brother Rob in Turkey. Stephen makes a sudden decision to ditch France and go to Istanbul in hopes of finding his brother. The journey stretches through Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan before ending in India. Stephen changes companions several times along the way, negotiating betrayal, confusion and the drugs that are everywhere. As he wrestles with memories of having been molested by his favorite teacher, his reasons for finding Rob shift. Literary references (Rimbaud, Hesse, Yeats) and changing cultures color the atmosphere as Stephen descends into a dissociated hallucination of emotional pain. Cooper's spot-on portrayal of sexual abuse and confrontation is unusually realistic and nuanced. The ray of hope at the end is deeply relieving. Hard and well done. (map) (Fiction. YA)