Debut author Matt Blackstone’s A Scary Scene in a Scary Movie is the second 2011 new release I’ve read dealing with an obsessive compulsive teen. Released in April, Compuls1on was an unsettling, tension-filled onslaught that made me tired. A Scary Scene in a Scary Movie approaches this disorder and its effect on sufferers in a more well-rounded, thoughtful, and humane way. Blackstone’s protagonist, freshman Rene Fowler, is portrayed with a candid, humorous honesty that makes the reader connect with him and his struggles on a deep level, eliciting our compassion at the same time as it brings out the exasperating challenges living with this condition brings.
Rene is consumed with doing everything right: not stepping on cracks, washing his hands constantly, not picking up face-down coins, not moving if the numbers on the clock add up to 13 (4:36 = 4+3+6 = 13), because he knows that if he makes a mistake something terrible will happen to him or someone close to him. Rene has no friends at school and is bullied on a regular basis because of his awkwardness and social ineptitude. His life is a constraining, continuously repeating routine that’s annoying to say the least but it keeps him “safe” and that’s all that matters to him, especially now that he’s started high school. Then Rene makes friends with a unconventional new kid, Gio, and this friendship shakes up Rene’s world: it propels him to stand up to his bullies and his neglectful, mean-spirited father; run away from home for an anxious adventure in New York City; talk to the girl Rene’s loved from afar; and even see himself as the superhero in his own story. Even though Rene spends most of his waking time and energy trying to avoid the kinds of terrible things that happen in scary scenes in scary movies, ultimately he discovers that life can have some good scenes in it too.
- Posted by Cori