The Chemo Kid

Fred and Mara are dancing at the Junior Prom when she discovers the lump on his neck; barging into the boys' room to find a mirror, he is embroiled in a vicious scene: the school dope dealer is injecting the football team. Lipsyte moves from this gripping opener into Fred's anguished battle with a virulent cancer and seriocomic encounters with other teenage patients, related in a rare blend of sensitivity, boisterous humor, and wry awareness of various political undercurrents. Then the book changes gears. At first, there are alternate explanations for wimpy Fred's sudden extraordinary feats, but by the time he bends down a chain-link fence at the mysterious plant that's polluting the local reservoir while he's on an investigative mission with Mara (a committed environmental activist), it's clear that Fred is a genuine chemo-induced superhero. Lipsyte weaves a lot together with considerable skill; Fred has two friends, representing scientific and verbal prowess, with whom he used to play a computer game: Fred was ``Ranger,'' hero with a conscience, who always died, and they are now reenacting the old game--with a difference. A dishonest coach and mayor, a gruff but honest cop, and a wise buffoon of a doctor--all play thematic roles. Unfortunately, the somber tone of the book's first half is at odds with its concluding fantastical high-jinks, during which some of the more serious ideas are simply abandoned. Still, the end is rousing good fun, and there's much to ponder along the way. (Fiction. 12+) -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Grade 7-9-- This story begins realistically as high school student Fred Bauer discovers he has cancer and ends up in the hospital full of needles and sick from the chemotherapy. As usual, Lipsyte's images here are right on target, and will cause readers to flinch. Equally effective are his portraits of the other young patients, observed in Fred's first-person narration. The story shifts, however, when the boy returns home. First, in a story line straight out of a Frank Capra movie, Fred finds that his girlfriend, Mara, is caught up in an investigation of illegal toxic waste dumping; the entire town has sunk into a pit of corruption and only Fred, Mara, and a few others see the truth. More surprising, though, is the fact that Fred develops superhuman powers, ripping down steel fences, throwing 300 pound weights around, and swimming across the lake in a flash. The point of this is to show that the mind is more powerful than matter, and certainly mightier than Fred's disease, which is ultimately cured. But all the diverse elements don't blend together well, and the New Age message is overdone. --Todd Morning, Schaumburg Township Public Library, IL
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.