Nelson, Blake. Paranoid Park. New York: Penguin Group, 2006. 180 pages. (Realistic Fiction)The main character in Paranoid Park is an unnamed sixteen year old prep skater. He lived with his mom and his little brother, Henry, since his parents had a confusing divorce. He was friends with a few other skater preps; one of them is named Jared Fitch, a sixteen year old senior at his school who taught the main character most of what he knows about skateboarding. At first they weren’t close friends but then during the summer, they hung out a lot and by the end of summer they were best friends. Another main character is named Macy McLaughlin who is also one of the main characters; she’s known the main character since he was in sixth grade. The setting is in Seaside, Oregon, mostly at Paranoid Park, and at the high school.
The problem the main character faces is that he accidently kills a security guard at a train station and has to find a way to live through it. He has to find out what to do and if he can tell anyone about it. For several days he struggles with his past, remembering the day of the horrible accident. The main character’s friend, Macy, tells him to write a letter saying what he had done and to do whatever he wanted with it, save it, send it, burn it, do whatever with it. What will he do with the letter? One of the interesting events that happened in the novel that I like is when the main character goes to Paranoid Park for the first time. Another thing that I liked was when the security guard died because the way the author described it seemed very real and it was very graphic.
The character that was most like me was the main character because he always thinks about the past and his mistakes, and he also thinks about what could happen in the future. Another reason why I’m most like the main character is because we both are just learning how to skateboard and we’re both always paranoid. The character that was most like my friend K- was Jared because he knows a lot about skateboarding and so does K-. Another reason K- is like Jared is because K- is teaching me how to skateboard just like Jared taught the main character. The character that I loath in the story is Jennifer because of the way she acts and what she wants. If Jennifer was a student at my school, I wouldn’t hang out with her at all. I would recommend this novel for students in Junior High or older because of the main topics and events that happen throughout the novel. I would read another book by this author, and plan on it, because it had such great detail and I never wanted to – and never did – put the book down.
Reviewed by: Kirby
