Reif Larsen's debut novel, The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet, is a doozy. After reading quite a few reviews and most of the book, I'm sure I'm not the intended audience, but I'm not sure who is. Penguin spent plenty to produce and promote the book - 370+ pages of it - and ultimately, labeled it for middle grade readers.
But is it for middle grade readers? An unfortunately small number of them, I think.
Larsen's wildly imaginative story introduces 12-year-old genius TS Spivet who is, according to his 16-year-old sister, a total spaz. (And I think she's right.) Just pages into the story, TS faces a dilemma: he's won an award from the Smithsonian, but he can't bring himself to share the news with mom, affectionately (or not?) known as Dr. Claire. TS is the kind of kid who diagrams everything, from beetles to books to his sister shucking corn. IMHO, the corn schucking sort of throws the whole setting into a twisted knot; it takes place in the present day. Anyway, the award dilemma serves as framework for the plot, as TS takes off cross-country (from Divide, Montana to Washington, DC) to accept the award, meeting some interesting characters along the way.
The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet is well written enough to make those characters interesting and the very, very quirky main character endearing, and the story - which occupies a gray area between fantasy and reality - entertaining. In short, it's worth reading. But for whom?
TS might appeal to the same middle school students who liked Artemis Fowl, but the fact that TS is only 12 will preclude some older kids from reading the book. And while the book would certainly appeal to smart MG students (3rd-6th grade) the sepia-toned diagrams in the margins of most pages are not exactly eye candy.
And then there's another little problem: parents. By page 36 the word "shit" appears, and it's spoken quite a few times afterward by both TS's older sister and their father. Also in the first chapter, there's a reference to AIDs. So the question remains, who will read The Selected Works?
Well, as usual, I'm late to the party. TSWTSS was published in 2009 and is now available in paperback. I doubt it has performed as well as Penguin had hoped. But TS is quite a character. If Larsen has been dreaming up and writing down others, we'll hear from him (and perhaps TS?) again.
See a more complete review and additional background on the book and author from The New York Times.
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