Laban, Elizabeth. The Tragedy Paper. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2013. 978-0-375-87040-8. 305p. $17.99. Gr. 7-12.

Each year seniors at the elite Irving School complete three rites of passage: “inheritance” of a senior room with a gift from the previous tenant, the senior game, and the tragedy paper, a senior thesis, assigned by English teacher Mr. Simon on the first day of class.  After receiving the news that he was assigned the corner room, Duncan does not have high hopes for his senior year; his room is an omen, or perhaps a punishment, for the mistakes of last year.  Even worse, his “gift” from previous tenant, transfer student Tim Macbeth, is a stack of CDs.  Although Duncan has an idea about what’s on the CDs (the horrible past), he is curious by Tim’s note, especially his last line, “I am giving you the meat of your Tragedy Paper” (9).  As Tim’s story begins, a story of fear, vanity, secret friendships, and love for a girl named Vanessa, readers begin to realize that the “rites of passage” at the Irving School may also be “rites to tragedy” as Tim’s senior year goes from bad to worse and ends in tragedy and the worst senior game in the school’s history solidifying the true tragedy paper.  Laban carefully intertwines Duncan’s story with Tim’s not only through alternating chapter voices and Tim’s “gift” to Duncan, but also through Duncan’s questioning of the past, which ultimately allows the reader to realize the true tragedy at Irving School.

Realistic Fiction            Erin Parkinson, Lincoln JSHS, Ellwood City Area

Although I found The Tragedy Paper interesting, I do not love this novel (but my students do).  It is similar in style to Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher, yet seems to miss the true enormity of and essence of tragedy (which Asher captures well).  I did not find the students’ lives or even the “tragedy” of the senior game truly “tragic”.  Instead, it just seems like bullying and a lack of acceptance and teenage vanity that lead to the “tragedy” at the senior game (the tragedy truly is just vanity and teenage lack of common sense).  Laban’s descriptions of Tim and Vanessa are well developed and accurate portrayals of teenagers.  Tim, due to his albinism, is very vain around his peers because he is different.  He wants to fit in, so he puts his own health at risk often to either fit in or blend in.  Vanessa is also well developed and an authentic teenage character.  She befriends Tim, but not in public.  She acts almost ashamed of him, yet is so kind when they are alone.  This is very teen-like and truly a good description of some friend relationships.  It is the characterization that kept my attention more than the plot itself.  I also really like the idea of a “Tragedy Paper”.