"Because of Mr. Terupt" by Rob Buyea

I picked this up from a library display on a whim. About one-third of books I pick up like that are good, one-third are terrible, and one-third are kind of okay. Happily, this one was in the "good" camp. There are two reasons for me sticking this in my library bag after reading the blurb instead of just putting it back on the shelf: my having heard that it was good, and the titular teacher seeming like one of those reasonable fictional adults of which I am so fond.

Right on both counts. Mr. Terupt (I could never quite figure out how you're supposed to pronounce his name) is extremely reasonable and manages to get (mostly) everyone to be nice to each other; I'm looking at you, Alexia.

There are seven main characters. We have Alexia, the jerkface; Anna, the tragic backstory; Danielle, kind of a doormat but also one of the absolute best fictional Christians I've ever encountered; Jeffrey, the guy who doesn't want to be there and makes it quite clear; Jessica, the bookworm new girl; Luke, the inveterate mathematician; and Peter, the class clown. They rotate perspectives throughout the book, and I didn't mind. (Well, except for Alexia's POV with about 1900% more instances of the word "like" than were necessary.)

Also, Danielle. As I previously stated, she's a Christian. The author never goes into what denomination she is, which I appreciated; her faith never felt shoehorned in, either, just very natural "oh, bad thing happened? Pray about it." Now, her grandmother, on the other hand? I just kept wanting to send her a booklet explaining the concept of forgiveness. Not great.

I'm not 100% sure if any other characters are practicing Christians, but at least one of them |does request to pray with Danielle eventually, which... doesn't seem like a thing people who don't believe it helps would do|. So, probably.

Gets four stars. It's a good book, and I can see why it gets recommended on lists; it managed to be and/or imitate Literature without being boring. Character arcs, !DRAMA!, it actually making you think |the title character is going to die| (seriously, that was masterfully done), et cetera. I didn't personally like it enough to warrant giving it five stars.

Were this a videogame, I'd rate it: Probably T15+ (like E10+ but for people 15 and up). This is mostly for (I'M SERIOUS DON'T HIGHLIGHT THIS ONE IF YOU'RE YOUNGER THAN LIKE A TEENAGER OR HAVE READ THE BOOK ALREADY) |discussion of a teenage pregnancy, resulting in the main character Anna|. Other than that plot point, which is handled about as tastefully as one can handle such a thing, it's mostly fine; if a kid knows about such things, it would be more E10+. Because of Mr. Terupt would make a fairly fun videogame of the visual novel variety.

 

Because, etc. isn't a book that really provides me with favorite lines.