The Silent Summer of Kyle McGinley
David Wu
Third post. Characters and voice.
Part 3: Characters
A few of this year’s White Pine books have the idea of the imperfect protagonist, and this is one of the primary examples. Many books in the teen romance area that is so commonly explored have an idea of a perfect character, seemingly flawless and always superior. However, this book has none of that.
Kyle McGinley is a curious person to put as a story’s man protagonist as he has a fair share of psychological problems following him and a queer attitude. Kyle has been rejected from so many foster homes that he has decided to never talk anymore. Because of this, his mind has constructed separate personalities to keep himself occupied. The first of his alternate personalities you meet is his father. Like in real life, his dad acts very rudely, throwing out insults and swearing every chance he’s got. He also has the Scientist, later on named The Lord of Ingenuity, or simply Ingen. Ingen serves as a father figure Kyle never had, giving him moral support, amusement, and a careful analysis of his choices. Kyle himself has a rather pessimistic attitude and quite cold to other people. However, later on you do get to see his more caring side as he helps an injured crow to regain its health and strength.
However, despite his rather unusual personality and the fact he has ot 2 other people in his head, this does not mean he is a bad main character, just one less commonly explored by teen book authors. Jan Andrews does a wonderful job of putting real depth into Kyle, giving him a rich backstory and a personality and mindset you can easily understand. She really does elaborate upon how Kyle came to be the way he is. The only flaw I found in Kyle is not in the character itself, but in the text. It can get confusing about who is talking, particularly when Kyle is talking with his foster parents (I say talking with, but more like being talked to). The font for each person talking was different, but it still can get a bit baffling. Kyle has a very prominent voice in this story, as the story is told in third person from his perspective. He is quite a likable character with his unusual quirks and is very realistic in his actions.
However, Kyle is not the only character that gets such deep development; that would be boring. Both of Kyle’s current foster parents Scott and Jill, and even the injured crow get well developed characters. Each of them is given a distinct personality and a backstory, Scott is the typical caring husband, and is very compassionate and very caring for his wife and Kyle. Jill is a sort of perfectionist, aiming for Scot and herself to try to be the perfect parents for Kyle after her past of being thrown away by her dad. Even the crow, Lady C, has a very distinct personality and prominent role in the story. After a brutal past of being caught and abused, it is afraid of people and avoids practically everything. The crow is almost like a representation of Kyle himself, secluded and alone, and by helping the crow overcome its fears he overcomes his own weaknesses as well.
In all, the characters were very well done and incredibly well developed, even some of the more minor characters getting great detail. The protagonists and antagonists of the book both get complex and intricate designs for characters, preventing any boring or predictable characters from forming. Brilliant job, Jan Andrews!
9 out of 10 stars
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