Hero-Type

"Young people speaking their minds, getting so much resistance from behind." -- Stephen Stills with Buffalo Springfield, 1967 Kevin Ross, known as Kross wears a double yoke. He wears the yokes of hero and good example because he saved a classmate's life when she was being attacked in an alley. His town of Brookdale, Maryland goes wild honoring him and local businesses promote his heroic act. One greasy spoon offers him free meals for life. His classmate Leah, whom he saved makes a cameo appearance in "Goth Girl Rising." Kevin lives with his divorced father, a Gulf War veteran who won't discuss his military past. Equally taboo are the topics of Kevin's mother, who left with Kevin's younger brother for her partner in California. Kevin was given the option of who he wanted to live with and he chose to stay in Brookdale. Hard times and a financial downturn forced Kevin and his father to move from their comfortable brownstone into a modest apartment with one bedroom. Kevin's father, a sanitation worker spends most of his hours on the job and leaves for work in the wee hours of the morning. Indeed, Kevin's father is so adamant about his military past that he makes Kevin remove two magnetic ribbons from his car. The car, which was a gift from the mayor/town used car dealer came adorned with two ribbons emblazoned with "Support the Troops." Apoplectic with rage, the boy's father makes him remove the ribbons. Kevin was caught on film and sadly, many of the townspeople turn against him. Instead of reporters jockeying to interview him for his heroism, they are determined to bring him down for "hating America." One reporter even threatens to expose Kevin's father in the local paper and makes good on his threat. Going from hero to zero is a hard and long fall for Kevin. His friends, the Council of Fools (a motley crew of fun loving kids who go to bat for each other and throw in some pranks along the way) come through for him. An interesting assortment of characters, the 5 boys (including Kevin) and one girl make a good story even better. Had this story taken place in 1967, they might have been the Merry Pranksters. Kevin is a very reluctant hero. He does not like the fanfare and public display. He also knows that his secret crush on Leah, whom he later describes as "not the hottest," as she is "too plump" with "a crooked face" and boy, she can at the very least, do something about her hair. Even so, he is attracted to her like a moth to a flame. In fact, so great is his feeling of guilt that he feels he can never disclose why he was in the alley when the killer nicknamed the Surgeon attacked her at syringe point. Kevin's ribbon removal causes a maelestrom of Archie Bunker patriotism of the "America, love it or leave it" ilk. In an interesting twist, South Brook High's principal Dr. Goethe, whom readers of Barry Lyga's works are familar with in other books arrange for Kevin to debate another student with whom he clashed. Two

Kevin Ross doesn't think he's a hero. He just happened to be in an alley near the library when Leah was almost raped and murdered by a notorious serial killer, The Surgeon. True, Kevin did attack the assailant from behind and hold him until the police came. Sure, his life is forever changed, with the media camped out everywhere and reporters looking to interview him. But he doesn't want anyone to know what he was doing in that alley in the first place. To say that Kevin is unpopular is putting it mildly. His friends call themselves the Council of Fools, complete with their own Charter, and have nicknames like Jedi, Tit and Speedo. Flip and his girlfriend Fam are the ringleaders, and all meet in the janitor's office with a secret key when they're cutting classes. They do mischief around the school, like breaking into the grades database and improving athletes' marks --- things that make no sense. Life at home is not much better. Kevin's parents divorced, and his mother took his brother Jesse to California to live with her new girlfriend. His father has a secret military past from the first Gulf War that no one can ever talk about, and as he works most nights, there is not much chance to talk to him anyway. Notoriety gets to Kevin at school. It's great that Leah is noticing him and inviting him to her party, but he's still uncomfortable in the spotlight. It's not just his severe acne, or the fact that none of Leah's friends have ever spoken to him before. It's that he no longer knows who he is. The Mayor gives Kevin a "key" to the town, and with it, a used car from his lot. He puts magnetic ribbons on the vehicle supporting the military, but Kevin's father demands that he take them off, saying they are useless symbols that do not help the troops in any way. That act gets photographed and put in the paper, and suddenly Kevin goes from hero to loser. Everyone wants to know why he doesn't support the military, or why he is "un-American." Kevin knows that supporting the military is about more than putting magnets on cars, and he starts asking teachers, the administration and other students to think about the meaning of rituals. He begins to research how people really support the troops, and when a popular, handsome student debates back, Kevin sees how image can gloss over words and meaning. Similar to the plot in Avi's NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH, Kevin's ideas and debate ignite huge reaction in the school and town. The Council of Fools intends to pull some large-scale pranks to make points, but that grows beyond Kevin's plan and control. Just as he begins to question rituals that no one else does, Kevin explores who he is and why he does things. For the first time, he asks his father about his past and his mother about her move. Then he asks himself who he was and who he wants to be in the future. HERO-TYPE takes an unpopular boy from instant popularity to maturity. This is a great book for discussion and consideration, which is just what Kevin wou

First and foremost, if you're reading this little write-up before you read the others that are on here, do me this small favor: PLEASE don't read the other reviews! I know it's human nature to go right where we're told not to (Adam, Eve, that whole apple issue), but the previously posted reviews are LADEN WITH SELFISH SPOILERS, and they could take away some of the pleasure, inspiration, and pure fun that comes from loving a truly great book. This is a story about personal enpowerment. About taking responsibility, about taking control of your destiny. I've read all of Mr. Lyga's books so far, and I truly do believe that this is his best yet (although "Boy Toy" was 5AM-and-won't-get-to-bed-before-work brilliant, and "Fanboy and Goth Girl" was also wonderful). If you're a kid (lucky you), or if you've ever BEEN a kid (lucky you, too), then you could do a whole lot worse with your time than going on a small-town adventure with a cast of pitch-perfect characters who are learning who they are, why they're here, and how they may shape the future. If you're looking for inspiration, this is better than even the best self-help texts. Because this is a story of someone DOING it, rather than just instructions on how to get it done (I say this as something of a recovering self-help "junky," having read hundreds of books in that particular genre). Give this book to a kid, give this book to a friend. Give this book to yourself, and figure out how you're going to help shape the world that's fast coming next. This review was written on Election Day, November 4, 2008. No coincidence.

Kevin Ross, known as Kross to his friends, has been called a hero in his hometown and beyond. But can the seemingly innocent decision to remove a couple of magnetic ribbons from the back of his ugly, brown used car catapult his hero status to that of hated enemy? You bet it can! Kevin happened to be at the right place at the wrong time for a serial killer called The Surgeon. For potential teen victim and classmate Leah, it was a case of the right place at the right time. Since saving Leah from certain death, Kevin can't look anywhere in town without seeing his name and hers linked on "thank you" signs and congratulations of all kinds. People can't seem to be able to do enough for Kevin, and they watch anxiously as he appears on TV and waits to collect a reward for his heroism. All this praise and excitement is confusing for Kevin. He has long had a crush on Leah and relishes the attention she is now giving him; however, there are several secrets in Kevin's life that cast a shadow on all this positive attention. One secret is his father's mysterious military history in the Gulf War. Even when Kevin's mother still lived with them, the subject of his father's military service was off limits. The other secret is Kevin's own guilt for some event that actually placed him with Leah in the alley at the time of the killer's attack. On the day Kevin pulled into the driveway with his new, used car, his father angrily demanded that the "support our troops" ribbons be removed immediately. When Kevin innocently explains that the local car dealer had slapped them on as he drove out of the used car lot, his father still insists they need to go. Unfortunately for Kevin, a news reporter still following the local hero witnesses the removal of the ribbons. This news is interpreted as "un-patriotic" behavior, and it unleashes the fury of a town proud of its patriot values. As Kevin battles the public, who days before spoke of his heroic deed, he learns more about his parents' divorce, his mother's decision to move to California, and his father's struggles in the Gulf War. Readers can watch as Kevin learns the true meaning of patriotism and the freedoms we all take for granted. His story is especially intriguing in this time of political turmoil and tension. Author Barry Lyga clearly demonstrates the division that can be created by different interpretations of what it means to support one's patriot beliefs. Reviewed by: Sally Kruger, aka "Readingjunky"

Kevin Ross, Kross to his friends, is all over the news these days. It started when he saved Leah Muldoon, his secret crush of two years, from a serial rapist and murderer. Kross plays it cool by telling everyone he was just in the right place at the right time, but everyone in Brookdale is so proud of him. Signs all over town rave about his courage. The mayor has given him both the key to the city and a sweet deal on his first car, complete with two Support Our Troops magnetic ribbons. And that's when it all falls apart. Kevin's Dad, a former military man himself, tells Kevin to get rid of the ribbons, but unfortunately a photographer catches Kevin throwing the ribbons away. Kross is still getting lots of media attention, but this time it's not for being a hero. If ever there was a literary character that deserved to go postal, it's Kevin Ross. He truly is the poster child for dysfunctional teens everywhere. For starters, when he tells people he was in the right place at the right time to save Leah, it's true, but that's because he's basically been stalking her for two years. And sure, it's his Dad who tells him to get rid of the ribbons, but Kevin is too nervous to ask his father about his own time in the military. He knows that his father's discharge from the army seems to have made him a bit mental, but he'd rather tip toe around the subject than talk to his Dad about it. Oh, and Kevin's parents are divorced because of his father's fragile mental state, and now his mother lives thousands of miles away in California with her partner, Rita, and Kevin's younger brother. Add to all of this that Kevin is kind of short and skinny, has major pizza face, has very few friends, and lives in a basement apartment cluttered with all the junk his Pop picks up along his garbage route, and a rampage would certainly not be out of the question. With so many issues swirling around Kevin's persona, Kevin could easily become the creepy guy you hope you don't have to sit by on the bus or get stuck with as a lab partner. He could easily become a serial killer himself, but Kevin is smart, funny, and about as all-American as you can get. Life in Brookdale, Maryland is not easy for Kevin, but each day he gets up, goes to school, faces his opponents, and along the way learns to accept a little help from a few friends. I'd say that's pretty heroic, wouldn't you? For additional reviews and reading suggestions, visit my site.