Book Review: "Fruit: A Novel About a Boy and His Nipples"

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Brian Francis

Fruit

A Novel About a Boy and His Nipples

Toronto: ECW Press, 2004

278pp. $18.95

978-1-55022-620-1

In writing book reviews, it is suggested that the opening sentence is critical; it should capture the reader’s attention. However, reviewing this book has made my job considerably easier, as the title of the book is certainly a hook in and of itself. Francis’ novel, a Canada Reads 2009 Selection, is a precious coming of age story about a 13-year-old boy named Peter who is struggling to find his place in his family, at school, in the world, and with himself. The book chronicles his many struggles with growing up, including his preoccupation with his puffy nipples that he tapes down and “boobs,” the “I need to lose weight kind.” Dramatic irony plays a huge role in engaging the reader to be invested in his story, as it is painfully obvious to the audience that Peter is gay, yet it seems to escape him. 

In a fresh voice, Brian Francis manages to capture and balance the horrifyingly embarrassing and awkward moments of adolescence with the brutally funny parts of it; the parts we look back on and cringe about while laughing so violently that we cry, partially because it is so damn ridiculous and also because it deeply hurt. What is particularly heartbreaking to read is how easily any shred of attention and kindness shown to Peter excites him, and how he never uses this absence as an excuse to feel sorry for himself for too long. He is proactive to change his life, whether that is dieting, following boys around school to find a new friend, or trying to be a better person by helping his profane friend, Daniela.

This novel is definitely worth a read if we want to remember how hard it is to be a kid, and how even as adults, we share Peter’s moments of self-consciousness and uncertainty. What we can learn from him is the importance of moving on from the painful moments, and seeking out the hopeful ones.

Inspiration for blog post: 

http://library.queensu.ca/research/guide/book-reviews/how-write

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We all had never really drank before, so when we entered our first high school dance, feeling a little sauced, and dangerous as hell, buzzed in our tube tops and low jeans, none of us knew just how badly we had screwed ourselves. Within twenty minutes, the Much Music Video dance screens began to blur and shake. Then we were swaying. I remember hearing Macklemore’s “Thrift Shop,” but it sounded far away, and there was a low whistling sound.

Mel was the first to make a dash for the bathroom, and, being the good girlfriends that we were, plus adhering to the age-old rule that girls always go together, we followed her. Zigzagging all the way, we giggled and apologized for stepping on freshly painted toes and focused on looking sober enough to emerge into the bright hallway where our teachers had congregated, sipping Tim Horton’s under the florescent hallway lighting, and made our way undetected.

We all clustered in the largest stall, and parked there for the rest of the night, taking turns puking and crying, puking, crying, and helping Rachel pee at one point. It took both Mel and I to hold her on the toilet, and I remember wedging myself between the toilet and the wall of the stall to keep myself up as well as her. There were many tears, a solemn swear to never drink again, and lot’s of “I love you so much…no, I love YOU…no, you…” What felt worse than the hangover the next morning was wondering if Nell, a girl in a wheelchair in our grade, had had to pee that night. 

Experimenting with Blackout Poetry

For the past few days, I have been struggling to begin this blog. With my students, I try to come up with fun, non-threatening writing activities to ease them in. Usually, poetry seems to cause them the most grief so I decided to try out one of my own opening poetry activities as a way to begin this assignment. I feel sheepish to admit that although I’ve had my students try writing this type of poetry many times, I’ve never attempted it myself.

Below are my first feeble efforts at writing ‘newspaper blackout poetry.’

Austin Kleon created blackout poetry one day when he had a bad case of writer’s block. In his struggle to find his own words, he realized that words are always around us. He grabbed a newspaper, a sharpie, and began ‘blacking out’ all of the words he didn’t want. I find so many of his pieces to be quite powerful, and a selection of them can be found at his website at http://austinkleon.com. 

In the beginning, I found this a bit nerve-wracking; I was even fussing about whether the newspaper that I was using was ‘good enough’- whatever that means. I finally just picked a Calgary Metro from the recycling bin and began ‘blacking out,’ while also trying to silence my inner critic. Writing these poems reminded me of a Frank O’Conner line from the Leigh & Cramer (2011) article where he said, “’cause we don’t know what we/ know until we write it” (O’Conner in Leigh & Cramer, p. 84), which is an aspect of this poetry that I really enjoyed. Once I had blacked something out, I had committed to the deletion and the surviving words seemed to (hopefully) come together as a poem. The next time I run this activity, I will sit down with my students and write and share with them. And really, if theirs are better than mine, I should really be pleased about it. In the forum, I mentioned my goal to consistently write with the students, and so think that this is a good opportunity.  

Reference List: 

Leigh. S., & Cramer, R. (2011). Two voice poem: A conversation with writers on

writing. English Journal, 100(5), 82-89.