Book Review: "The Field Guide to the North American Teenager" by Ben Philippe

This was such a fun, endearing, and thought-provoking book.

Subject: Norris Kaplan, a Black French-Canadian high school student who is forced to move from Canada to Austin, Texas when his mother takes a university job there. Leaving his home, his best friend, hockey fans, etc., is bad enough, but for a teenager with overactive sweat glands, moving to Texas is like hell on earth. (Maybe hotter?)

"Of all the things Norris disliked about leaving his life behind, his mother's paranoid insistence that they become apolitical while living in Texas had provided Norris with the most enjoyment. It's not that you can't have an opinion, she had told him. You just need to have less of them. People won't always know when you're joking."

He’s prepared to hate everything and everyone, and he’s always been the type to keep people at a distance with heavy doses of sarcasm. (I totally feel seen here.) But armed with his knowledge of American movies and television he’s ready to mesh with all of the typical stereotypes.

Sure, he encounters the bitchy cheerleaders, the Neanderthals that are the jocks, the people who like to say "eh" to mock his Canadian accent. But he also finds friends in unlikely places, and is mesmerized by Aarti, the “manic pixie dream girl” whose mercurial nature confuses Norris.

While Norris is busy eviscerating everyone with quips and insults he doesn’t realize he’s just as guilty as his fellow students of making snap judgments about him. And his fervent desires to go back home to Canada leaves him too blind to see the good things and the good people right in front of him.

"We all mess things up. It's what you do with the mess that matters."

I really enjoyed this book. Norris, while he has some flaws, is a great character, and I'd love it if Ben Philippe would bring him and his entourage back for another book sometime in the future. I loved the way Philippe showed the depth of other characters as well.

Even if you've never had trouble fitting in, if you've never been homesick, or if you've never kept people at arm's length with sarcasm and wit, I think you'll enjoy The Field Guide to the North American Teenager. This really was such a fun read.