The Living by Matt de la Pena

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Bibliographic Information:

The Living by Matt de la Pena

ISBN: 978-0385741217

2013 Delacort Press New York, NY

Plot Summary:

Shy Espinoza is spending his summer vacation working on a luxury cruise liner off the coast of California. In his first trip he takes a large tip from a man right before the man jumps from the ship, committing suicide right in front of him.

On Shy’s second excursion he deals with being followed by a private investigator, taunted by some spoiled rich kids, and coping with a romantic encounter with a friend who already has a fiancée. This all comes to a head when a devastating storm preceeds a massive earthquake on the west coast and then a tidal wave that destroys the ship.

After surviving shipwreck, Shy is relegated to a lifeboat with one wealthy man and the snobby girl who had previously taunted him. By the time they reach a safe haven, it is just Shy and snobby Addy left alive in their life raft.

The island they arrive on has more secrets and disaster in store for Shy, as he uncovers a terrible plot to give a pharmaceutical company a corner on the market for curing a deadly disease.

Critical Evaluation:

Matt de la Pena writes a fast paced thriller. The dialogue is believable for a teen boy and the inner thoughts about girls and sexuality are definitely believable.

The separate portions of this novel are connected only in the tone of de la Pena’s writing, as the obstacles just keep piling on for Shy. De la Pena does not stop the action for Shy to recover from one problem before he writes another problem in. Shy deals with a suicide, but then has to deal with a snooping spook. Shy is coping with the spy when storms and disasters hit. Then Shy deals with dying customers while fighting off sharks and hunger.

The pace and tone never quits, but the foreshadowing is also relentless.

Shy deals with his grandmother dying of a mysterious illness. The man who commits suicide is a scientist. It does not take much of a leap to see there is a connection when the scientist apologized to Shy before he jumped ship.

When Shoeshine administers shots of “vitamins” to Shy and Addy, but has them hide the shots and tells them not to tell anyone about them, conspiracy theories quickly form.

The fact that the sick people are kept out of sight in the penthouse and no one is allowed to see them is downright ominous. A cloud of foreshadowing follows Shy to the fast paced end of this installment in de la Pena’s series.

Reader’s Annotation:

Shy battles natural and man made disaster to remain one of The Living.

Author Information:

Matt de la Peña is the New York Times Bestselling author of five critically-acclaimed young adult novels: Ball Don’t Lie, Mexican WhiteBoy, We Were Here, I Will Save You and The Living. He’s also the author of the award-winning picture book A Nation’s Hope: The Story of Boxing Legend Joe Louis (illustrated by Kadir Nelson). Matt received his MFA in creative writing from San Diego State University and his BA from the University of the Pacific where he attended school on a full basketball scholarship. de la Peña currently lives in Brooklyn NY. He teaches creative writing and visits high schools and colleges throughout the country.

retrieved from http://mattdelapena.com/bio/ on 8/5/2015

Genre(s):

Action/Adventure, Thriller

Curriculum Ties: N/A

Booktalk Ideas: This book belongs in booktalks about conspiracies, dystopias, and classism.

Reading level: Grade 9+

Interest age: 13+

Challenge Issues: Challenge issues might include brief use of swear words. Challenge Defense File

Why I chose this book:

This exciting book adds a thriller to our collection and was recommended for young adults through audiobooksync.com