Brutal Youth
In literature, coming of age novels, also called a Bildungsroman, focus on the growth of the protagonist with emphasize on personal morals and emotional responses. The reader sees the main character, typically a teenager, transition from immature to mature, or become more experienced than they were before. Anthony Brezican’s debut novel, Brutal Youth, is no different. The best-selling novel follows the lives of three high school freshmen as they discover that the key to survival might not be the same as doing the right thing. Brutal Youth is an exceptional debut that expertly weaves together various character’s stories and uses symbolism to reinforce important ideas while exemplifying the main point of a coming-of-age novel through the transformation of characters, mentally and emotionally.
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Michael's the Archangel High School in a small suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania during the 1990’s. St. Mike's once a respected institution is now literally falling apart. The school is becoming older, its need for repairs beyond the scope of the seven fingered janitor, and the students are becoming more irritable, looking for any chance to give back the torture they received through severe hazing sanctioned as stepping stone to peer bonding. The teachers are no better. The parish embezzling priest is using funds the school does not have to support his gambling and the compromising nun acting as principal is desperate enough to do anything to cover up the school’s consistent failure. Peter Davidek, the boy naive enough to believe someone can save them all, Noah Stein, the mysteriously scarred boy that will not let anyone push him around, and Lorelei Paskal, the girl with weird eyebrows that desperately wants to be saved from her broken home, bond together to survive a school that only has one rule - you cannot hurt anyone that can hurt you