Hoodie [Paperback]

About:
Reading Hoodie was both entertaining and difficult. Taking place in West London the summer after school lets out, the story centers on a group of boys, Ben, Mo, Luca and Dave. The boys call themselves the "Shady Boys" after Eminem's release of "The Real Slim Shady".
These kids hang out, drink and smoke pot; sometimes by themselves, sometimes with females. Ben a.k.a. Hoodie is just sixteen years old and is being raised by his mother. The Shady Boys attend Paddington Comprehensive school and unlike the rest of the group, Ben doesn't want to move onto sixth form, he wants to get a job now that school is out. He's never known his father who left when he was just three years old, but Ben keeps a worn photo of him in his bedside drawer.

In the midst of the drugs, booze and street fighting, are of course teenage hormones running rampant. Ben struggles with understanding girls and their mysterious behavior.
As the story flows, local homeless man Old Joe tries to give Ben sound advice but Ben and the boys seem to spiral further and further downhill. They even make the poor decision to steal and sell dope.

Ben finds a sort of comfort in wearing his hoodie and "hiding" underneath it.
"He pulled his hood over his head on the way out. He liked the sense of security it gave him, and the feel of its fleecy lining rubbing against the sides of his head. Even when the weather was warm, he preferred it up. It closed him off from the outside world and gave him the anonymity he sought, reflecting the detachment he so often felt from it. Just as he had grown up with Bayswater as his neighbourhood comfort zone, his hood had started to become his very own personal comfort zone within a comfort zone. Somewhere he could retreat to and from where he could safely and privately view the world."
p.46, Hoodie

My thoughts:
I like gritty type stories about street life like Trainspotting and Green Street Hooligans and the book Hoodie was reminiscent of those kinds of stories.
There's guns, drugs and fighting within the lives of this group of teenage boys. They are all in need of guidance, desperately.
As I read about some of their behavior and decision making, I wondered what the heck they were thinking.
Sometimes Ben's thought process made more sense. He'd find insights on life as he'd try to figure things out.

There's plenty of shocking moments within the story and I found myself immersed in Brendon Lancaster's storytelling. I just had to know if Ben would be alright. I also enjoyed the West London setting and the jargon the characters use.
Aside from Ben, my second favorite Shady Boy was Mo. He was always there for Ben, always a good friend to him, as much as he could be. Mo is the character that shocked me with his confession towards the end of the book.

Being a mother of a sixteen year old boy myself, reading YA books such as Hoodie inevitably strike a chord. It's uncomfortable to read stories like this where the young protagonist is involved in self destructive behavior.
Ben was really trying to make amends and make a better life for himself, and I hoped for his happy ending as he really is a good kid. His not knowing who his father was tugged at my heartstrings. And when he discovers his father's identity, it really was an awful moment for him.

Deep down Ben knows something great will happen for him, if only he can wait for it. He wants to find love so badly with a girl named Isabelle, yet she is distant and aloof. His other friend Dave, is up to no good. As I read I hoped Ben would break away from these bad influences. I kept thinking he so desperately needs a father or a father figure to guide him.

I recommend Hoodie if you're in the mood for a gritty coming of age story with glimpses of hope here and there. Overall this is a starkly realistic, shocking and sad tale about a boy who just wants to find the light at the end of the tunnel.

I find it hard to articulate my thoughts for Hoodie because it is such a realistic portrayal of youths of today. Reviewing this story is like commenting on someone's life choices, you can say all you want but would you have done so differently if you were in his shoes? Hoodie may not suit everyone's tastes but it is a poignant story offering deep insights into the hardships that modern teenagers face.

Hoodie is essentially a coming of age story about a young man, Ben or better known as Hoodie and his misspent summer. Ben like most boys at the age of 15 turning 16 likes to hang out with his mates, have a few drinks and maybe smoke a little weed. He has just finished his GCSEs and thinks he is now ready to enter into a world filled with opportunities and achieve anything he sets his mind to, be it a job or a girl. Sadly the real world doesn't work like that and he faces one disappointment after another as the story progresses.

To make matters worse, a divide is appearing among his mates now that everyone has different goals in their lives. One wants to continue with his education while another wants to continue their business in wheeling and dealing drugs. What can Ben do to keep the group together?

Ben is not a bad kid, he is smart and sensitive. He is just missing a figure to guide him in the right direction. Coming from a broken family and lacking a father figure means he had to grow up much quicker than he was ready for.

Hoodie is an interesting story that I find a lot of resonance with. The writing is spot on for describing emotions such as the loneliness inside, where you can be in a room full of people you care the most yet still feel so alienated.

I think it's this frightening sense of vivid realness that put some people off this book. It is a book that deals with real life issues, and not a rose-tinted version of it. Everyday many people are going through the things described in this book. I think more adults should read this to get a better understanding of what is happening to their children.

There are some scenes that I feel are over the top, but I believe they are needed and suited the nature of the book. They offer a fitting finish to a story that I could not imagine ending any other way.

While reading this book, I can't help but draw comparison to Kes or A Kestrel for a Knave. Both books deal with a young working class boy and the very real troubles that they face. I feel Hoodie is an updated version depicting what life is like in the early twenty first century. I hope this story will make its way into more young adults' hands. Maybe one day the examination board will assign this book as one of the reading books for GCSE.

I honestly don't even know where to begin. There are so many aspects of Hoodie that I could talk about, but I really, really don't want to give a single detail away because it will ultimately subtract from the readers experience.

So, what can I say? Well, for one, Hoodie is a book that I found highly enjoyable. There are so many different things occurring that it's hard to point out just one tiny detail to focus on. We get to delve into Ben's inner psyche which is often philosophical, borderline looney, but completely insightful. Ben aka Hoodie is a lost sixteen year old boy who quite honestly has no idea what he wants from life or what to expect. He believes that he is ready to grow up and become his own man, but in reality, he is so not ready. His maturity fluctuates, he is intouch with his emotions, and he's lonely(even when he surrounds himself with the Shady Boys). I loved Ben as a character, he is the type of character that will constantly surprise and is surprisingly deep. I felt that Ben was adequately portrayed as a sixteen year old, his language, mannerisms and his deemed "superiority".

I found Hoodie to be profoundly realistic with issues that everyone, one time or another, experiences in their lives. Some issues are hard to ignore and others are more subtle, requiring a deeper look. Brendon Lancaster doesn't down-play any of them, as most are in your face demanding attention. As Ben's mind whirls around, the readers will as well.

Brendon Lancaster's writing had an easy flow that captivated my mind and attention. I felt completely immersed in London culture as the scenery was described with crystal clear precision and riddled with slang that may throw some American readers through a loop, but it adds to the authenticity, to the overall feel of the book. The sub-plots all entwine evenly with the main, adding more juicy meat to be dissected. The perspective is third-person, but for a brief stint it slips into first-person. I found this to transfer without a hitch, not disrupting the flow, but adding an insight that both perspective's had to offer. I found that Brendon Lancaster's writing allowed me to become impartial yet still invested.

Hoodie will not appeal to everyone, but that shouldn't stop you from reading it. If my kids were in their teens I would pass Hoodie along to them, but since they aren't I will simply recommend it to readers of all ages and both genders. Hoodie might appeal more to males because of Ben's character, but females will find some aspect to relate to because the issues are not gender specific. I don't think that my simple words could ever do justice to this book, so I urge you to pick it up and read it yourself.