I (book)talked our employee reading club into Underdogs this month, because I am in the mood for an author study. This book combines Markus Zusak’s three tales of the Wolfe brothers into one seamless omnibus, and Underdogs showcases the development of an author who, at 30, wrote a book which has pretty much been admitted to the canon.
Talk about a sleeper hit… When I started as a teen librarian at the public library in Rio Rancho all of the adults were in love with The Book Thief, but the teens were caught up in the Twilight phenomenon. I straddled the fence, staying up at night with Meyer’s page turners while listening to audiobooks in the car to and from work. The Book Thief was, in fact, was my first – as I mentioned during audio book month. Allan Corduner’s accent transported me to WWII Germany for 90 minutes a day, sometimes longer because I would sit in the car after arriving at my destination in order to hear the end of a chapter. We were surprised The Book Thief didn’t win the Printz Award that year, but eight years later the incredible momentum of Zusak’s body of work has led to not only a movie, but the Edwards Award from the Young Adult Library Services Association.
So, what of these other books that contributed towards receiving the Edwards, which “honors an author, as well as a specific body of his or her work, for significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature”? Zusak’s other Printz honor title, I am the Messenger, was the only other work of his that I had read when I met him at the ALA convention in 2007. Yes, I stood on line for him to sign both books. When I got to the front of the line: 1) he said my name out loud with an Australian accent, 2) I asked him how he went from telling the story of a 19 year old guy driving cabs in the present day to telling the story of a 14 year old girl hiding a Jew in her basement during World War II, 3) Markus Zusak told me you have to write a different book every time.
That being said, one might argue that Underdogs is a trilogy, so, isn’t it like 3 of the same book? I would counter that it’s close, but no cigar. Unlike the dystopian apocalypse fantasy trilogies that we all know and love, the main characters don’t narrowly save the world at the end of each volume – only to discover their nemesis has survived to doom another day. Ruben and Cameron Wolfe are the central characters for each story, but the sibling love/rivalry story changes and matures as you read forward. Being an English teacher, here is how I would break the trilogy down, with quotes to corroborate my argument:
Underdog – Man/Person vs. Self
- “My mouth opened. It happened. Yes, with my head thrown into the sky, I started howling. Arms stretched out next to me, I howled and everything came out of me. Visions poured up my throat and past voices surrounded me. The sky listened. The city didn’t. I didn’t care. All I cared about was that I was howling so that I could hear my voice and so I would remember that the boy had intensity and something to offer. I howled, oh so loud and desperate, telling a world that I was here and I wouldn’t lie down.”
Fighting Ruben Wolfe – Man/Person vs. Society
- “Now I feel naked, in just my dark blue shorts, my gymmies, and with the gloves on my hands. I feel too skinny, too bare. Like you can read the fear on me. The warm room filters across my back. The cigarette smoke breathes onto my skin. It smells like cancer. Light is on us. Blinding. The crowd is dark. Hidden. They’re just voices now. No names, no blondes, no beers or anything else. Just voices drawn towards the light, and there’s no way to liken them to anything else. They sound like people gathered around a fight. That’s all. That’s what they are and they like what they are.”
Getting the Girl – Man/Person vs. Man
- “Defeat opened the kitchen floor at my feet, raising its hands up to pull me down. Stay calm, I told myself as I watched Sarah pull the photo back from Rube’s hands. A wounded look scattered slowly and painfully across her face, and when she looked back at me, I felt my anger gathering itself together. When it was all there, I climbed up from the defeat and stood before my brother, face-to-face. I read his expression. It shaped up to me.”
The only conflict Markus Zusak doesn’t put Cameron Wolfe, the narrator, through is Man/Person vs. Nature, although there is a scene where he is drenched by rain… so Cameron pretty much goes through all of the basic types of conflict in literature. I think it is obvious – I am fan of this Markus Zusak, and I am looking forward to the book he is writing now, Bridge of Clay. I’m also really looking forward to book club this month; so much so that I have broken rule #1 – again!
