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Résumé
Résumé
After fathering a baby, a teenager moves in with his karate-loving uncle and tries to come to terms with his guilt - and find a way to forgive.
This isn't how Josh expected to spend senior year. He thought he'd be hanging out with his best friends, Dave and Caleb, driving around, partying, just like always. But here he is, miles from home - new school, new life, living with his Jackie-Chan-obsessed uncle, Larry, and trying to forget. But Josh can't forget. So many things bring back memories of last year and the night that changed everything. Every day the pain, the shame, and the just not knowing are never far from his thoughts. Why is he such a loser? How could he have done what he did? He finds some moments of peace when he practices karate with Stella, the girl upstairs and his one real friend. As they move together through the katas, Josh feels connected in a way he has never felt before. He wonders if they could be more than friends, but Stella's jealous boyfriend will make sure that doesn't happen. And maybe it doesn't matter. If Stella knew the truth, would she still think he was a True Karate Man? Readers first met Josh in Jumping Off Swings which told the story of four high school students and how one pregnancy changed all of their lives. In thiscompanion book, they follow Josh as he tries to come to terms with what happened, and find a way to forgive.
Critiques (6)
Critique de School Library Journal
Gr 9 Up-Seventeen-year-old Josh expected to be hanging out with his friends and going to parties during his senior year, but all that changed after a one-night stand ended in an unexpected pregnancy. Afraid to face the girl whose life he believes he ruined, Josh moves in with his Jackie Chan-loving Uncle Larry and begins a new life at a new school. Yet no matter how hard he tries, he can't escape his past. Overcome with guilt and regret, Josh concentrates on helping his uncle with his karate class. His growing friendship with his neighbor, Stella, forces Josh to face his past in an attempt to find forgiveness, especially from his own worst enemy: himself. In this companion to Jumping Off Swings (Candlewick, 2009), Knowles provides readers with an intimate look at Josh a year after the events of the first book. Tormented by his past actions, Josh is constantly at war with his feelings, denying himself any happiness as penance. As the emotional core of the book, Josh is a complex yet incredibly likable character with whom readers will empathize. Similarly, both Larry and Stella possess dynamic, well-developed personalities, making it easy to believe how crucial a role they play in Josh's recovery. Divided into four parts, the compelling narrative offers an honest and frank look at teen pregnancy from the male's perspective, and while the book could have been a depressing read in another author's hands, Knowles succeeds in writing a character-driven story that is as uplifting as it is heartbreaking.-Audrey Sumser, Cuyahoga County Public Library, Mayfield, OH (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Critique du Publishers Weekly
In an afterword, Knowles writes that this companion to Jumping Off Swings (2009) sprang from readers asking what happened to Josh, whose one-night stand with Ellie led to a baby given up for adoption. Teen pregnancy stories from a male perspective are few and far between, and this one deals with regrets rather than responsibility, since Josh bails completely, never speaking to Ellie about their encounter and changing high schools to avoid seeing her after she gives birth. He moves in with his uber-energetic Uncle Larry and agrees to help him teach karate summer camp at the Y, where he's paired up with Stella, a pretty classmate who lives in their building. This is an especially well-crafted sequel-readers need not have read the first book to get caught up in Josh's agony-but there isn't a lot of plot. It follows Josh's interior journey from self-hatred to self-forgiveness, as he slowly accepts that he's a good person who made a bad choice, and takes the first step toward moving forward from it. Ages 14-up. Agent: Barry Goldblatt, Barry Goldblatt Literary. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Critique de Horn Book
Overcome with guilt after getting Ellie pregnant (Jumping Off Swings), Josh moves in with his karate-obsessed, incessantly cheerful uncle. He starts senior year at a new school, attends his uncle's karate classes, and makes a new friend-who-might-be-more. Josh is a sensitive guy whose pain is palpable; readers will root for him as he--slowly--conquers the demons of his past. (c) Copyright 2014. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Critique de Kirkus
In this delightful and moving follow-up to Jumping Off Swings (2009), 17-year-old Josh moves away from his hometown and in with his ever-sanguine uncle to avoid confronting a crisis of his own making. He's been tormented by immeasurable guilt after a one-night stand resulted in a teen girl's pregnancy and, ultimately, the delivery of his baby. Uncle Larry, corny and sentimental, opens his arms to his troubled nephew, hoping to give him both guidance and room. As an avid Jackie Chan fan and a sensei, Larry spouts daily tenets about what makes a "true karate man"--which in its simplest terms means being a kind, decent person who unflinchingly helps those in need. But Josh's escape to the city isn't without frequent reminders of his indiscretion, and every time he passes a stroller or hears a baby wailing, he experiences severe anxiety attacks--which makes it especially difficult when Stella, a girl of intrigue for Josh, turns out to be the nanny for his upstairs neighbor's baby. As their friendship grows, Josh struggles to keep his moral transgression under wraps, but he soon discovers that Stella has baggage of her own. Josh's first-person, present-tense narration brings readers into his anguish and incrementally charts his recovery. Knowles' knack for developing relationships and creating authentic and memorable characters is truly superior, and the story positively brims with intelligence, sensitivity and humor. Readers will be behind Josh all the way. (Fiction. 14 up)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Critique de Booklist
Last seen in Jumping Off Swings (2009), Josh, who accidentally got Ellie pregnant when he was 16, is struggling deeply with the aftermath of his actions. Trying to escape his guilt, Josh moves in with his Jackie Chan-obsessed, karate-instructor uncle, Larry, hoping to just keep his head down, finish high school, get into college, and forget his mistakes. Larry has other plans, though, and quickly recruits him to assist his karate classes. As he spends his days with his irrepressibly cheerful Zen master of an uncle eating healthy food; not drinking; practicing karate; and befriending Stella, the beautiful girl upstairs he learns how to be a true karate man, epitomizing the values of leadership, strength, and honor, all of which help him accept his past and take responsibility for his mistakes. Knowles compassionately depicts the consequences of teen pregnancy from the boy's perspective, and Josh's journey aided in no small part by the kind (and perky) wisdom of his uncle is touching and honest. Josh's anger, sadness, and regret are palpable, but his ultimate steps forward are quietly triumphant.--Hunter, Sarah Copyright 2010 Booklist
Critique du New York Review of Books
for teenage boys, sports can be a kind of emotional centerboard, helping to keep them from capsizing during the turbulence of adolescence. Or they can be an anchor, holding them too close to a familiar shore, preventing them from venturing into unknown waters, from finding out who they really are. In these two young adult novels, we see both sides. Ezra Faulkner, the blue-eyed, cleft-chinned, wisecracking protagonist of "The Beginning of Everything," was the captain of his high school tennis team before he totaled his BMW and was left barely able to walk. His sports career is over, and with it the easy identity of the jock. "Eastwood High used to be mine, the one place where everyone knew who I was and it felt as though I could do no wrong," Ezra reflects, alone on the school's tennis courts with his recently acquired cane, the night before the start of his senior year. His new life begins the next day, as he hobbles into the school gym for the welcome-back pep rally, for the first time taking a seat in the bleachers instead of streaming onto the basketball court with the rest of the varsity athletes. Josh, the brooding hero of "Living With Jackie Chan," is dragged into sports - specifically, karate - by the slightly annoying uncle he's living with for the year. Josh is nursing the wounds of his own crisis (the events in Knowles's 2009 novel "Jumping Off Swings"): He impregnated a girl he'd hooked up with at a party, who had the baby and gave it up for adoption. Progressing through his belts at the local Y.M.C.A., Josh unexpectedly discovers an inner peace in his rhythmic katas and learns that his uncle's cheesy talk about what it means to be a "true karate man" - "one with a godlike capacity to think and feel for others, irrespective of their rank or position" - has a particular relevance to his situation. On the surface, these are very similar books. At the center of each is a vulnerable high school senior struggling to move forward after a life-changing event, "a single encounter after which everything that really matters will happen," as Ezra puts it. They know they will never be the same; they're just not sure who they will be. Both meet unlikely love interests who help them see themselves with fresh eyes. In Ezra's case, it's Cassidy, the smart, ironic, unconventionally pretty "new girl" who dresses as if she's just stepped out of "an old-fashioned movie." In Josh's, it's his uncle's upstairs neighbor and karate partner, Stella. Tonally, though, the books are very different. Set in the suburban Eden of Southern California, "The Beginning of Everything" is all bright colors and rich detail, from Ezra's gated community of six-bedroom Spanish-style homes to the fireworks exploding over Disneyland when he finally kisses Cassidy on the roof of his car. The architecture and archetypes of "The Beginning of Everything" are a little too familiar, right down to the lunch tables that separate Eastwood High's popular kids from Ezra's new crew, misfits who have their own private film club, are on the debate team and participate in flash mobs. Fortunately, Robyn Schneider can write. The flash mob scene is vividly rendered, with Ezra moving awkwardly to a song by the Clash, then, at Cassidy's urging, taking off his headphones to watch hundreds of strangers dancing in utter silence. It's an endearing book filled with similarly touching little moments and plenty of snappy dialogue that may not be quite credible - Cassidy drops in casual references to Shakespeare and Foucault - but makes for entertaining reading, anyway. "Living With Jackie Chan" is darker and more spare, a little less absorbing but ultimately just as affecting. In the aftermath of his own life-changing encounter, Josh leaves everything behind - not just his parents and friends, but all of his photographs of them. "All I really know is that I need to get away, and this is the only chance I have," he says to himself shortly after arriving at his uncle's. In his emotionally broken state, Josh remains a loner. When he's not at the Y, he's usually in the library or in the guest room of his uncle's apartment, punching a Jackie Chan poster after being awakened by the baby upstairs - a persistent reminder of the part of his past that he most wants to leave behind but of course cannot. The whole "karate man" motif is heavy-handed, almost to the point of parody. (It's hard to read the phrase and not think of Eddie Murphy in "Trading Places": "Karate man bruise on the inside!") But there's something undeniably powerful about the stripped-down world that Jo Knowles has created, and the shut-down state in which Josh moves through it, unable to process what he has done and the shame it has made him feel, let alone talk to his nerdy uncle about it. What do our heroes learn from their crises? In a sense, opposite lessons. Josh realizes that he can't run from who he is, that he has to find a way to take responsibility for his actions. Ezra discovers that he can start over, or maybe that he'd been sitting at the wrong table his whole life. "Oscar Wilde once said that to live is the rarest thing in the world, because most people just exist, and that's all," he reflects at the end of "The Beginning of Everything." "I don't know if he's right, but I do know that I spent a long time existing, and now, I intend to live." JONATHAN MAHLER is a columnist for Bloomberg View and a contributing writer at The New York Times Magazine.
