Barry Lyga’s latest YA novel, Hero-Type, is an interesting examination of human behavior. His sense of character and his astute window into a teen guy’s soul come through brilliantly in this book. Lyga captures the struggles and feelings that define Kross and his friends and makes the reader agonize and cheer right along with them.
Kross was in the right place at the right time and he saved a beautiful girl from being attacked and murdered. Thrust into the national spotlight for stopping the attacks of a serial-killer, Kross is now the focus of everyone’s attention, which is almost more than he can bear. Then, he makes a seemingly harmless decision that fuels the overarching conflict of the rest of the book. What does it mean to be a hero? Do people want to create heroes and celebrities only so they can tear them down again? How do you exist in a society that only wants to see you as one thing (or another)? How do we express ourselves and our beliefs in the face of the majority?
Lyga poses some interesting questions about modern society in this book. At times I felt like the characters and the story came in second to the larger social points he is trying to make, and some of the situations seem a bit stretched from reality and I wish that the backstory about Kross’ “secret” had been able to stand more on its own. Nevertheless, it’s quick, sharp, witty and right on target in so many ways; another score for Lyga, that’s for sure.
- Posted by Cori