The Back Cover
Hannah Stephenson
Stickboy, Shane L. Koyczan
Shane L. Koyczan’s Stickboy, a novel in verse,is dedicated to “Them:” “those who bore witness” to the nameless narrator being brutally and publicly beaten by bullies. Koyczan’s novel follows the constantly bullied main character from ages 10 to 14 and explores the cyclical nature of adolescent torment.
The narrator is devastatingly observant, and Koyczan’s descriptions through him are poignant, sharp, and surprising. “Chris had been left behind,/ like the skin of some reptile that had been shed,” he comments about one of his bullies. Depictions of physical violence are equally vivid and littered with comparison: “He was knuckles wrapped in meat … An elbow came thundering down on my jaw/ like prize-winning, turnip-sized hail.”
When the narrator changes schools, the torment begins again, and he responds by lashing out at his attackers: “Something blazed out of me like a backdraft … my fingers were sticks of dynamite.” The narrator’s rage eventually turns inward, which astutely reveals bullying to be a self-destructive impulse.
Koyczan importantly identifies bullying as both excruciating and ordinary. The imperfect, believable characters frequently do nothing to stop the violent attacks. The adults in Stickboy (except for the protagonist’s patient, loving grandmother) seem especially culpable, as teachers, principals, and janitors allow and perpetuate the bullying. Readers of Stickboy will indeed be frustrated with their inability to help the narrator, but thanks to Koyczan’s clever, clear writing, the book isn’t focused on pity and victimization. Full of unexpected humour and razor-sharp wit, Stickboy delves into the humiliation and humanity of bullying. |
