You Killed Wesley Payne

by Sean Beaudoin

This book has been available at Barns & Noble for a while now. It's also been a very long while since I read this book, but I'm a veteran procrastinator so I hope I'm forgiven. Anyway, this book is set in a world much like our own (but not quite) in a small-town high school. Dalton Rev, a teenage private investigator looking to earn some quick cash, came here to investigate the mysterious murder of Wesley Payne. This book ended up being one of my favorite books of the year. It is truly worthy of the YA category; it was sprinkled with humor and pop-culture phrases only widely known in the teenage realm. As it turns out, the entire school in the setting is seperated into distinct cliques and their followers, some being the 'Foxxes', 'Lee Harvies', and 'Populahs'. The superintendent is bribed frequently for late slips, and in the hallways, it's practically a jungle; bring your wits with you. The element of cliques and the casual, urban, teenage world of the school and writing style made it a memorable read and in a few ways close to my real teenage life. Some books I read are like they are written by my principal: adult-like, brimming with obvious metaphors and similes, and sometimes boring. This books was like it was written by a friend: they have a similar life to me, and uses these similar elements in their writing. It's quite chummy. Simply put, adults seem to have a hard time pinning down the exact elements that can relate to a teenager and make teen-oriented writing especially enjoyable. Well, Mr. Beaudoin, you did it pretty well. Being a damn good writer, of course, was nice too. This book was like a good batch of french fries: full of flavor, not over or under salted, pleasingly crispy edges, filling, and with a dollop of good ketchup to balance the flavor; a tasty high-calorie snack food. I give this a 4 out of 5.