The Kid Who Never Slept and Never Had To: By D. C. Pierson

The Boy Who Couldn't Sleep and Never Had To

SUMMARY

When Darren Bennett meets Eric Lederer, there's an instant connection. They share a love of drawing, the bottom rung on the cruel high school social ladder, and a pathological fear of girls. Soon they're collaborating on a comic book that becomes a series of graphic novels that becomes a movie trilogy before they've actually put pen to paper. Then Eric reveals a secret: He doesn't sleep. Ever. When word leaks out about Eric's condition, he and Darren suddenly find themselves on the run from mysterious forces. Is it the government trying to tap into Eric's mind, or is there something else Eric hasn't told Darren? It could be that not sleeping is only part of what he's capable of, and the truth is both better and worse than they could ever imagine.

REVIEW

The Boy Who Couldn't Sleep and Never Had To was a much different book than I thought it was going to be. I thought this book was going to be a funny and poignant coming of age story with the possibility of some zany adventure, something along the lines of I Love You, Beth Cooper. And while it is a coming of age story and there are strange and mysterious adventures that occur in the story, the book really isn’t about that.

Instead The Boy Who Couldn't Sleep and Never Had To is the sad and heartbreaking story of a kid who, in the midst of teenage hormones and anger, revealed his best friends secret, exposing his friend forever to a life of pain and suffering. This is the story of their journey from friend, to enemy, to greatest regret. And how years later one boys actions changed the world.

The Boy Who Couldn't Sleep and Never Had To is a young adult science fiction novel that contains an incredibly strong and moving story. The characters are interesting and the story moves at a pretty good pace, but what stuck me the most was the genuine sadness and strong emotions that emanated from the narrative. This emotion really strikes home with the reader making the short novel into so much more than it appears.

Of course The Boy Who Couldn't Sleep and Never Had To didn’t escape without a few faults. It has moments that are just plain boring, the brother and friend characters are poorly written, and the issue of materializing objects comes much to late in the story.

And yet this book was still a good read. While it may not win any awards, it certainly was emotionally charged and had its share of fun adventurous moments. And because of these I would recommend The Boy Who Couldn't Sleep and Never Had To to teenagers who want to read a good book with a sad ending.

RATING

6 out of 10

INFO

PUBLISHER: Vintage

PUBLISHED: January 26, 2010

PRICE: $14.00