Anger is a Gift

by Mark Oshiro

A Tom Doherty Associates Book, TOR Teen, Macmillan Publishing Co.

2018

Halfway through reading, I didn’t want to finish this book except, I needed to know that Moss, our main character, turned out okay. So here you have a perfect example of why the reader needs to care about your character. 

My thoughts then were to rate the novel a B. An A for story, diversity, LGBTQ, telling a story that doesn’t get shared often enough…if at all. But I averaged that with a C for writing style. I’ve changed my mind, so read on.

Moss, our 16-year-old protagonist, lost his dad to a San Francisco police officer in a case of mistaken identity, several years earlier. Now in High School, Moss is confronted with police brutality toward himself and his high school friends. The teens know they have to do something to speak out. Here I must applaud Oshiro. He breaks a YA ‘no parents’ rule and engages them as I believe would and should happen in the real-life of any 16-year-old. With parental support, they organize peaceful protests, which, unfortunately, but of course, turn tragic. Moss’ anger builds throughout the narrative. He learns to channel that to create change for his neighborhood and school. As was stated earlier, A for story.

This is Oshiro’s debut novel. His characters are genuine, unique, and empathizable (is that a word?) The final third of the book, packed with dynamic and engaging action, but the first two/thirds were too predictable: 

•    Moss encounters something
•    his anxiety rises
•    he tries his coping mechanisms 
•    ultimately Mama (a solid mom any kid would adore), Esperanza (the best friend), or Javier (the boyfriend) rubs his back or head 
•    Moss can cope again. 

Too repetitive for my taste.

The problem, in my opinion, is that Oshiro never made me feel Moss’ angst. He told me about it, a few too many times. In the last third, Oshiro truly engaged this reader in the mental and physical abuse at the hands of the police but not the anguish inspired by Moss’ own demons.

Having completed the novel, I moved my rating up to a B+/A-. This story did eventually grab me and something more. It enlightened me,(as it did for Esperanza), to a situation I thankfully have never witnessed and wish did not exist. However, according to the author’s notes, it does – and it shouldn’t.