The Paradox of Vertical Flight

September 23, 2013
An odd combination of navel-gazing, existential pondering, and twee zaniness characterizes Ostrovski’s debut, an entertaining if sometimes muddled story about teen parenting, love, and philosophy. Periodically suicidal student Jack is contemplating swallowing pills on his 18th birthday when his ex-girlfriend, Jess, calls him to say that she’s going into labor. Jack isn’t ready to give the baby up for adoption (Jess’s plan), and his spontaneous decision to leave the hospital with the baby leads to a series of road-trip shenanigans that eventually have the two new parents, Jack’s friend Tommy, and baby Socrates packed into a truck heading toward Jack’s grandmother’s house. Ostrovski has fun casually intermixing flashbacks into the story, as well as not-quite-Socratic monologues from Jack to his son (“What we do, how we act—it’s just a response to how we’ve been shaped throughout our lives. It’s just us responding to momentum”). The occasional serious moments—mostly surrounding Jack’s grandmother, who has Alzheimer’s disease—help anchor the story, but it’s a long, meandering journey for Jack to emerge from his self-involved fog. Ages 14–up. Agent: Laura Langlie.

October 15, 2013
Grades 8-12 Jack's eighteenth birthday is a downer, made more so when he receives the call from Jess, his ex-girlfriend: their son has been born, and Jack needs to come immediately if he wants to see him before she gives the baby to his adoptive parents. Thus begins an epic journey across Maine and into New York as Jack kidnaps the baby whom he names Socrates, and convinces his best friend and Jess to go with him. Debut author Ostrovski shares a sense of humor and philosophical bent with such YA authors as John Green and Chris Crutcher, as well as a penchant for unique older adult characters in the vein of Joan Bauer and Richard Peck. But the story and likable characters are Ostrovski's own, a delightful mix of quirky, intelligent, naive, well-intentioned, and just plain dumb teens. Readers will receive an education in the Greek philosophers while being privy to Jack's imaginary conversations with his son as he tries valiantly to share the philosophical underpinnings of the world. The plot is its own paradox of vertical flight, but its landing is a delightful success.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)

August 1, 2013
Alone and angst-ridden in his boarding school dorm on his 18th birthday, Jack is contemplating suicide by painkiller when he learns his ex-girlfriend is giving birth. Though she listed the father as "unknown," Jess, 20, invites Jack to meet his son before relinquishing him to adoptive parents. Overwhelmed, Jack scoops the baby up and runs, naming him Socrates. Vehicularly challenged, Jack persuades his best friend to drive them. Stopping for Jess, they embark on an eccentric road trip from Bangor, Maine, to upstate New York. Along the way--when not shopping for formula, changing diapers, arguing over trivia with Tommy and bickering with Jess--Jack conducts a funny, heartfelt imaginary dialogue on the meaning of life with little Socrates. These amiable meanderings through ancient Greek philosophy are the novel's heart and soul. Channeled by a talented, millennial author, these age-old conundrums of good and evil, fate and free will feel fresh and urgent. Readers seeking to decode the generational genome will find plenty to ponder here. Bromance trumps romance; Jess is more scold than soul mate. Socrates is a remarkably obliging newborn. (Margaret Bechard's Hanging on to Max, 2001, and Angela Johnson's First Part Last, 2003, present far more realistic views of teen fatherhood.) Inconsistent temporal markers (dates aren't specified) are briefly distracting, but Jack's quest for meaning holds reader attention all the way. (Fiction. 14 & up)

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September 1, 2013

Gr 9 Up-On Jack's 17th birthday, two major events occur: he considers attempting suicide and he learns that his ex-girlfriend Jess has just given birth to his baby. What follows is a philosophical journey of self-discovery. During his visit to the hospital, Jack undergoes an existential crisis and kidnaps his own son in a moment of panic. Along the way, he involves his best friend, Tommy, and Jess and they all find themselves on the lam from the police as well as from reality. With his ailing grandma's house as the destination, Jack begins to contemplate what it means to be a father and introduce another human being into the world. He dubs his son Socrates and proceeds to hold a bevy of complex, one-sided conversations with him. They wax theoretical on topics ranging from the limitless universe to the possibilities of good and evil. Sometimes the story meanders too long in its philosophical ramblings, which may discourage more casual teen readers. Overall, though, this is a moving and quirky tale that raises many questions about humanity's existence and what it means to grow up. It's sure to find a fan base with teens who are introspective and contemplative. A whip-smart debut.-Kimberly Castle-Alberts, Hudson Library & Historical Society, OH

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2014
After his ex-girlfriend Jess gives birth to their son, Jack kidnaps the newborn (nicknamed Socrates) in a moment of panic over giving the baby to its adoptive parents, then takes off on an ill-advised road trip with the baby, Jess, and his best friend. The cerebral story goes from profound to self-indulgent as Jack ruminates on the philosophical implications of existence rather than facing real-life consequences.

(Copyright 2014 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)