Book: Destroy All Cars by Blake Nelson
Rating: 3 Stars
Release Date: May 1
Summary:
James Hoff likes to rant against America’s consumerist culture. He also likes to rant against his ex-girlfriend, Sadie, who he feels isn’t doing enough to change the world. But just like he can’t avoid buying things, he also can’t avoid Sadie for long. This is a fantastic, funny, sexy, cool masterpiece from one of the best YA writers at work today, an anti-consumerist love story that’s all about idealism, in both James’s relationship with the world and his relationships with the people around him.
Overall:
James Hoff is not an average teenage boy. He likes it that way. James is a bit of a radical whose main goal is to destroy all cars. He believes that cars are what are ruining the earth and that consumer Americans are the cause.
James is one of the few people in his school who worries about the environment. One of the other people is his ex-girlfriend, Sadie Kinnell. Sadie is very goal oriented. She does everything she can to help the environment, the school, and anybody else she can think of. When James first met her he couldn’t believe his luck. And when they started dating, he was speechless.
Unfortunately, all good things come to an end and their relationship didn’t last. Now Sadie has just broken up with her latest boyfriend and things between her and James are looking up. James will do anything to get back with Sadie and if it involves helping the environment at the same time, all the better.
While the story to this book was both humorous and realistic, the writing style put me off. The whole book is told in essays and journal entries written by James. The idea is good but some of the entries didn’t feel complete to me. I felt like I was left hanging at points.
The essays were my favorite part. James’ viewpoints are hilarious. All his essays were very radical and involved quite a bit of profanity. It was also quite funny to read what his teacher’s comments were about each essay.
While James is definitely a standout among normal high school boys in his environmental views, he is also very normal in many ways. One of his main goals of the year is to finally have sex and it was always funny to read about his many encounters with different females. The mind of a teenage boy is very clear in this book and I loved that about it.
Blake Nelson did a wonderful job portraying a teenage boy who doesn’t really want to fit in, if it means he can’t be himself. Overall, I liked the story and James as a character and I would still recommend this book, especially if you are an environmentalist of any sort.
Destroy All Cars can be ordered here.
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