Hello!
This week I have chosen to read ‘The Gifted, the Talented and Me’ by William Sutcliffe from the YA Book Prize Shortlist 2020. Sam is fifteen, happy with his life in Stevenage and happy being ordinary. All this is about to change as Sam’s parents call a family meeting.
Sam, his older brother Ethan (seventeen) and younger sister, Freya (seven) assemble to what they think is the announcement of their parent’s divorce, only to discover their Dad sold his company. As a result, they are rich. Not only are they rich, but his Mum has quit her job and they are moving to London. This inciting incident jettisons the family to Hampstead and Sam and his siblings into the North London Academy for the Gifted and Talented.
Written in the first person, we are privy to Sam’s confusion, angst and search for himself in all its humour, sadness and easily relatable teenage experiences. His initial reaction, ‘Hang on…what do you mean goodbye, Stevenage?’ sets the scene for Sam’s difficult transition to life in Hampstead. Sam’s Mum believes that ‘mainstream education is restrictive and conformist and obsessed with pointless targets and stats.’ By sending them to the North London Academy for the Gifted and Talented, she explains she ‘is going to set you free to find out who you really are!’ While Ethan is musical, and Freya, artistic and draws a ‘puppy, a unicorn and a kitten sitting on a cloud under a double rainbow’, the decision is described ‘like getting out of jail halfway through your sentence’, Sam wants to know why they are ‘sending me to a school for weirdos?’
To further complicate Sam’s life, his Mum is on her own journey of self-discovery. Her workshop shed at the back of their Hampstead house is for throwing pottery and she starts a blog on the theme of ‘motherhood and creative rebirth’ much to Sam’s horror as she describes her children as ‘F__, seven and already a burgeoning artist; E__, seventeen, a highly talented musician; and S__, fifteen, a little stranded between the twin states of childhood and adolescence…’ and further writes ‘For S__, things are not so easy. He’s a very straightforward boy, and the unstructured approach is a great challenge to his rigid male brain.’ The public revelations of their personal family life set the scene for further conflict between Sam and his Mum.
Equally horrifying, Sam discovers at school that ‘Kicking is a violent act.’ and ‘Ball games are fine, up to a point, as long as they’re not competitive, but football is out.’ Talentless, friendless, and ‘feeling…a bit weird’, Sam feels ‘doomed’. But then he meets Jennifer, ‘the ringleader’ of the ‘I’m-beautiful-and-I-know it’ group who was ‘so stunning she didn’t even need to try’ and Sam’s school experience begins to take a turn for the better. He also meets Marina, from the fashion set, ‘the only person who ever greeted me or seemed to actually notice my existence’ who was wearing a ‘reconfigured bath mat’ when they met. The scene is set for Sam to find navigate his way to fitting in and getting a girlfriend.
The internal monologues are highly relatable, realistic and humourous:
‘OPTIMISTIC BRAIN: We have to audition for the school play. That is exactly what Ethan said we should do.
PESSIMISTIC BRAIN: You’re only saying that to get closer to Jennifer, even though you know she’s a snobby, up-herself princess who thinks you’re a total geek. We should stay away from her.’
It is the school production of ‘The Tempest’ where Sam is launched into an unexpected world as he auditions for the part of Caliban and takes his revenge on bully, Felipe (Jennifer’s boyfriend). In a hilarious scene where Sam is paired with Filipe, they are tasked with mirroring the other person in real time. Sam imitates a monkey and begins to ‘pick fleas out of my fur and eat them’ and then begins to ‘groom him, messing up is complicatedly gelled hair, picking imaginary insects off his head and putting them in my mouth.’ Sam realises that ‘onstage, I could be as ridiculous as possible’.
‘The Gifted, the Talented and Me’ is an exploration in finding out who you are. While that sounds serious and philosophical, Sutcliffe skilfully navigates the ups and downs of trying to fit in and remain true to yourself with scenes that are as painful and cringeworthy as they are funny. Will Sam fit in, find his talent and ultimately will Sam find himself?
Themes: coming of age, identity, sexual identity, family, teen years, fitting in, being average, friendship, first love, being yourself
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The Gold Shoe Writer 