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    The Namesake
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    The Namesake
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    The Namesake
    Ebook399 pages9 hours

    The Namesake

    By Steven Parlato

    4/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    Gifted artist? Standout student? All his teachers are sure certain that Evan Galloway can be the graduate who brings glory to small, ordinary St. Sebastian's School. As for Evan, however, he can't be bothered anymore. Since the shock of his young father's suicide last spring, Evan no longer cares about the future. In fact, he believes that he spent the first fifteen years of his life living a lie. Despite his mother's encouragement and the steadfast companionship of his best friend, Alexis, Evan is mired in rage and bitterness. Good memories seem ludicrous when the present holds no hope. Then Evan's grandmother hands him the key--literally, a key--to a locked trunk that his father hid when he was the same age as Evan is now. Digging into the trunk and the small-town secrets it uncovers, Evan can begin to face who his father really was, and why even the love of his son could not save him.

    In a voice that resonates with the authenticity of grief, Steven Parlato tells a different kind of coming-of-age story, about a boy thrust into adulthood too soon, through the corridor of shame, disbelief, and finally...compassion.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
    Release dateDec 18, 2012
    ISBN9781440554582
    Unavailable
    The Namesake
    Author

    Steven Parlato

    Award-winning author and poet, Steven Parlato, has work in Freshwater, Peregrine, and other journals. Upon the release of his YA debut, The Namesake, by Merit Press in 2013, Publishers Weekly called Parlato “a name to watch.” A college English professor (with a giraffe-filled office), illustrator, and actor, Steven has played roles including the Scarecrow, Macbeth, and the Munchie Mania Guy in a Friendly’s training film. He lives in Connecticut with his wife, two teens, and a Binks-like cockapoo. Follow Steven online at StevenParlato.com and on Twitter @ParlatoWrites.

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    Reviews for The Namesake

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    • 3/5
      the main character of this book seems to have it all, a talented artist and an academically geed student. He is haunted by his father's suicide and he tries to find out why his father would do such a thing. He finds a diary that his father had kept and he begins to find out why along with some other secrets his family had kept from him.
    • 3/5
      Due to copy and paste, formatting has been lost.Oh God. This book is something else-- and honestly, it was fantastic, but it deals with some very, very dark and taboo subjects. It honestly gets more and more graphic as you read, until you're at the point where you honestly don't want to hear anymore, but you still have to know what happens. You have to know why he did it. Why Evan's dad committed suicide. And the results WILL surprise you.I think that my only real issue with this book WAS that it was unbelievably graphic. It was pretty insane, and I can honestly tell you that there are some things that I never really wanted to know...ick. But as icky as some of those subjects were, they are what made the story so unforgettable.Evan was a good character-- I'll give him that. But I do have some gripes that are similar to another blogger's. Evan is supposed to be CRAZY SMART. Genius level, even. But it seems like he's just a regular kind of guy. He doesn't act like the guy from An Abundance of Katherines (who's always making up a mathematical equation for everything), nor is he really all that groundbreaking. We see very little mention of his "geniusishness". He just seems like a normal kind of guy.Another thing that kinda made this book a tad weird was that it was all Catholic. (Not that I'm against catholicism, but it seemed used a lot for a guy who was quite a cusser, if you catch my drift). It just seemed like he wasn't really Catholic-- all we see is that he goes to a Catholic school. I wish that his actual religion had been used as a key part of the character development, because that would have been super cool.All in all, I enjoyed The Namesake, but it disturbed me so much that I had to knock a star off of the rating. It was so graphic that I often found myself not wanting to read more, but dying to find out what had happened. Is this a bad thing, or a good thing? You decide.
    • 4/5
      The NamesakebySteven Parlato and Jaquelyn MitchardMy summary...short and sweet...Evan deals with the aftermath of his father's suicide. My thoughts after reading this book...Evan is 15 and Catholic school educated. He has a best friend...Alexis...a sort of distant mother and the heavy duty mystery of why his father committed suicide in the attic of his childhood home. Evan is bright, talented and perhaps a bit of a loner. He is given a box that contains his father things...posters, music, and a journal. Evan begins to read the journal and when he does enters his father's nightmare of sexual abuse by a beloved priest.Sounds simple but it is a long a winding road that Evan follows to uncover this truth. He attends the same school that his father attended. Some of Evan's teachers went to school with his father but as I read this book I didn't think that everyone was keeping a secret from Evan. Oh...there were secrets but rather these secrets were the things that people didn't really discuss in those days. Charlie's Angels ruled, Farrah Fawcett posters were in every boy's room and the Carpenters sang their sweet love songs all over the place. And no one wanted to face the fact that some priests took advantage of young innocent boys. What I loved most about this book...The direction this book took literally "took me by surprise". Evan is kind of quirky, kind of snarky, kind of interesting...his best friend is a girl...he is really smart and loves hanging out in the library. His father and mother are separated...his mom kind of withdrawn. I loved the way Evan tackled his dad's journal and pressed on...questioning his grandparents...and at some point even questioning his own existence. He uncovers lots of secrets but ultimately finds what he needs to know.What I did not love...This book...again...surprised me when I found out what led to the suicide of Evan's father. I had no clue that it was going to be about a priest who molested young boys. I wasn't sure that I could finish the book...not because it was awful but because it made me sad and uncomfortable. The trust placed in this priest by everyone and this priest was so unworthy. I finished it, however, and I am extremely glad that I did.Final thoughts...I loved the authors writing style and I was caught up in the story. I found it to be both enlightening and hopeful. It was sad but not cry out loud sad...it was more a son's story and perhaps even Evan's final gift to his father.
    • 4/5
      Steven Parlato’s The Namesake totally knocked me off my feet. I can't honestly say that it was an easy read. It is emotionally draining and as gritty as they come. Parlato delves into the topic of abuse in a way that is original and thought provoking.

      At first glance this book seems like any other coming-of-age book. Evan is a protagonist who has recently lost his father to suicide. He is still trying to deal with everything that comes after, especially with the emotional basket case his mother has become. Evan is smart, witty and sarcastic. It was easy to fall into the quirky writing style and into his life.

      Then, things get dark. Evan discovers his father's journal, and enters the world of a man who he only thought he actually knew. The writing style turns from quirky to mysterious and sad, and it's hard not to follow him into the darkness. Religion plays a huge part in this novel as Evan searches for the meaning behind everything that has happened. In fact, the character growth in The Namesake is really what drew me in. Instead of falling into depression, Evan fights backs and looks for answers.

      I realize that this review is probably fairly close to rambling, but that is how conflicted my feelings were after finishing. The Namesake is full of heartbreaking and real life issues. It reminds the reader that no matter how pristine people are on the surface, the darkness can always lie within. This is the type of book that keeps you reading, especially if you enjoy dark humor. It's jarring to be sure, but well worth your time.
    • 5/5
      Wow! I love this book! It’s so intense and soul touching. It’s a page turner full of secrets to discover. My attention was kept from beginning till the last page. I found myself crying, laughing, praying, thinking & wanting to read more.This story is about suicide, molestation, sins, forgiveness, discovering hurting ugly secrets, everything through the vision of a fifteen years boy whose father killed himself apparently without a reason. For Evan it’s not easy to face his father’s past, nor to read his old journal. He is searching for answers and discovers old family secrets.I like the way the sensitive secrets are revealed and I appreciate the author’s work. Thank you!