Playing it Cool

June 19, 2006
Sebastian Montero, 18, is the go-to guy when there's trouble. On the first day Dorfman's (Burning City
) story takes place, Sebastian sets up a date for a lonely friend, delivers another to and from her appointment at an abortion clinic and talks a jumper down from a rooftop. His major project is reuniting best friend Jeremy with his long-lost father, Dromio, who abandoned him years earlier. Sebastian, also fatherless, has called in favors to track down and assemble a dossier on Dromio, a Robin Hood–style do-gooder (like Sebastian?) who runs a restaurant where anybody can eat for 25 cents, but most people vastly overpay in order to distinguish themselves from those who can't. In a cockamamy scheme, the two buddies switch identities before meeting Dromio, just in case he turns out to be a cad. If all this sound a tad implausible, it is. Like his main character, Dorfman's narrative has too much going on. Everybody speaks in clever repartée (at one point, Sebastian asks, "Is there anyone in this town who can't
quote Ambrose Bierce?" and the answer is, apparently, no). Still, there's a hipster cadence to Sebastian's present-tense narration, and a window into the adulterated world of grown-ups that might appeal to teen voyeurs willing to ignore the abundance of coincidences that fuels the plot. Ages 12-up.

Starred review from June 1, 2006
Gr 9 Up -Hot on the heels of "Burning City" (Random, 2005), which Dorfman coauthored with his father, Ariel Dorfman, comes this first solo effort, a sophisticated, mystery/romance/coming-of-age story full of red herrings and elaborate schemes. Eighteen-year-old Sebastian is a solver of problems. Friends and friends of friends confide in him, adults as often as peers, and he finesses, bribes, deals, and conspires to help them through everything from abortion to attempted suicide. Like a superhero, he can be available at a moment -s notice; like the main character in a noir novel, he drinks coffee and alcohol and smokes until he comes up with the information or resources needed to carry out his scheme. His latest case involves tracking down his friend Jeremy -s birth father, who has a checkered past, and then planning a visit to meet him. The teens agree to switch identities, allowing Jeremy an emotional distance from which to better assess the man. The plan is elaborate and full of danger, and as Sebastian gets to know Jeremy -s mysterious father, Dromio, he begins to find himself trapped by his own deceptions. Sebastian is a memorable character -cocky, clever, and very mature at times. The story is filled with adult language and behavior, including blackmail and violence, but not all that much sex. Sebastian is still a needy boy, though this only becomes evident slowly, in his insecurity with girls, and as his desperate need for a father of his own begins to surface. The adult characters are complex and often fascinating, especially Dromio. While the tension abates toward the end, this fast-paced novel will grip mature young adults." -Susan Oliver, Tampa-Hillsborough Public Library System, FL"

Copyright 2006 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2006
Gr. 10-12. Eighteen-year-old Sebastian can solve any problem without getting too involved, from arranging an abortion to stopping someone's brother from committing suicide. All he asks is that you do him a favor someday. Things change, however, when Sebastian swaps identities with his friend Jeremy before the boys go to stay with Jeremy's newly found biological father, Dromio. Caught up in charismatic Dromio's wake, the boys feel the strain of their switched identities, but Sebastian cannot seem to let go of the lie--until it's apparent that he's put too much of himself at stake. Sebastian is appealing as the untouchably cool savior-manipulator who helps, not because he cares, but because it stops him from facing his own vulnerability. His downfall is heart wrenching, and his response to it is entirely believable; he doesn't change overnight. Though Dorfman's overabundance of fragmentary sentences wears thin, he writes with a compassion and an energy that will propel readers along. Recommend this to teens who like poignant psychological drama.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2006
Manipulating a network of favors, cool-headed Sebastian has accumulated money, respect, and considerable resentment, until, while impersonating a classmate, he becomes convinced that hes found his absentee father and his rigidly ordered life begins to unravel. Restless, pointed prose perfectly defines Bastians fragmented perspective as he sifts through clues, plays angles, and constantly reevaluates his ultimate objectives and their human cost.

(Copyright 2006 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)