Chris Lynch's "Inexcusable"

Lynch, C. (2005). Inexcusable. Simon & Schuster Children.

Annotation

A senior football player defends his actions on a fateful night between him and his best friend, claiming he's the “good guy” that would never hurt anyone. However, as he recounts the events leading up to that night, he soon discovers his actions were truly inexcusable. 

Nomination

The book uses expert foreshadowing to allude to the narrator’s rape of his female best friend.  The narrator, Keir, professes his innocence of this horrendous act from the beginning, stating he has good character and is a good guy.  This is a classic defense used by the jocks, the good students and the popular ones, all of which Keir is.  His father goes through life with blinders, allowing his baby boy to drink with him, stay up late, skip school and call him by his first name.  His sisters went to college and didn’t look back, leaving their little brother to their father’s misdirected love and the idolatry that his classmates have given him.  Given the free reign he’s given and the lack of parental direction, Keir was used to getting everything he wanted.  While Keir started off as a “nice guy” and did end up as one by taking responsibility for his actions once he realized what he had done, the author demonstrates a teen’s tendency to let his freedom go to his head and it ruined his life.

Telling the story through Keir’s eyes allows the reader to learn the truth as soon as Keir does and to be “on Keir’s side” until the truth is finally revealed in the last two pages of the novel.  The ambiguity leaves the reader interested and elevates the book into a page-turner that many would read in one sitting.  The author ensures the reader is with Keir through his self-discovery journey and places the reader in a classic position of judging yourself against what others say.  While many times young adults are told to judge themselves and to not let others negatively effect their self-image, young adults are also taught the valuable lesson in this book that we should listen to others that point out flaws so we can learn from them.  

Genre: Edgy Fiction