THE REVELATION OF SAINT BRUCE

From Seymour (We Played Marbles, p. 118, etc.), a subtle, smart novel that encourages analytical thinking with its combination of an effective narrative and perceptive characterizations. Bruce, 17, earns the title “Saint Bruce” from his friends at Carthage North High because he doesn’t drink, smoke, curse, or do anything wrong, but soon he’s forced to reflect on his saintly behavior. When a teacher solicits Bruce to rat on his four best friends for drinking in a classroom, the consequences spiral out of control, turning this outwardly plain novel into a cleverly affecting study of morality. Bruce is shunned by his smart yet supercilious pals, and they are suspended and will not graduate with the rest of the class. The reverberations continue when one friend has to suffer his father’s terrible temper and the delay of college, which his father will no longer be financing. Seymour crafts Bruce as a both alluring and repulsive figure (his frequent questioning of everything from convertibles to jukebox selections can be simultaneously trenchant and tiresome), while introducing other characters and their persuasive points of view without thrusting judgments upon readers. Bruce’s dilemma, his moral choices, and his wish to be an individual are sure to spark lively debates. (Fiction. 12-14)