Twisted (Tyler Hersom)

· Twisted written by Laurie Halse Anderson.·
Published by the Penguin Group.·
250 pages.
The book that I read is called Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson. I found it in my old teacher, Ms. Deponde, who recommended it to me.

The main character in this book, Tyler Miller, starts of as an average kid, and kind of a loser. He lived a simple life with a dysfunctional family, and then his life was changed when he decided to draw graffiti on the school wall. The way this changed him is because he got arrested and sent to jail. While he was in jail, he worked out everyday. He changed from the average kid to a very muscular, fit kid. Once he got out of jail, the girl he has been crushing on for so long starts to notice him and they begin to date. The problem with this is that it is his worst enemy’s sister, and this creates more drama with him than he already has dealing with his family. Throughout this book Tyler goes through ups and downs in his life, but mostly downs. Who knows if he will even make it through his high school career?

I think that the audience for this book is teenagers in high school, because they can relate somewhat to the book, and they are interested in the things that the main character goes through.

The writing style of Laurie Halse Anderson, the author, is very descriptive. She is very good at putting a picture in your head. “The tip of my tongue did a drive-by. The gun tasted like bicycle handles and earrings and cheap scotch. I wasn’t going to do it, I know, but it was here, in my hand, so easy, so close.” (210).

There were a couple passages in this book, Twisted, that really struck me in some way. For example, “A massive swimming pool, complete with a hot tub and waterfall, took up a third of the yard and was ringed with a broad patio and burning tiki torches. A jazz quartet was playing at the far end, close to the bar. Right in front of us were two tented pavilions, one for food and one filled with tables and chairs.” (11). this passage struck me because of how descriptive it was. It gave me the perfect image of this beautiful house and really helped me create a setting in my mind.

Another passage that struck me was when Tyler was in the arm wrestling match against his dad’s boss’s son, about to win. “And then I made the mistake of looking at Dad. He shook his head, just a little bit from side to side. I closed my eyes and let the enemy win.” (17). this struck me because he easily could have won, but he didn’t for the benefit of his father. Also the fact that his dad cared more about what the boss was going to think if his son lost, than what his son feels really made me think about how much he doesn’t care about his son. The final passage that struck me was when he was contemplating killing himself. He said “I liked the barrel and closed my eyes” (211). This stuck to me because it opened my eyes and made me think that some people really feel this way, and how really easy it is for someone to do something, like killing themselves, so easy.

In some ways I could connect to this book just because of the fact that he went through high school. But other than that I couldn’t really relate to the main character. Overall this book was very good, and an easy read. Something from this book that really spoke to me is the fact that just because of his life at home, this teenaged kid contemplated suicide very seriously. And thinking about how that actually happens is a scary thought.