My Most Excellent Year

Auggie is a complex character as he is very intelligent but rather shy at the same time. As the story progresses we find that he is gay, which is rather seemingly looked over in this book which I find is fantastic. The fact that the book is not centered around the child coming out to the world is a strong point, it shows how the other characters react to the situation and how they are so welcoming of it. They are friend with Auggie because of who he is, not his sexual preference. With all the diversity we face today it is refreshing to have a book who doesn’t exploit those who are different, but one who welcomes them in with open arms. TC Keller is a character who is revealed as a sort of drawn back and hurt character. We find out that his mother has died and he lives with his father. The subject of his mother and her death is one which is VERY off limits. Not even Auggie is allowed to discuss this with TC as he is still very heartbroken and saddened over the whole ordeal. He carries so much pain from her death that is makes it hard for him to open up to people and trust that they too will not leave him or hurt him in any way. I think that the reason that he is so close to Auggie is that he poses no threat to TC, he likes men not girls, there will be no competition for women, no battling it out over who likes who, not disputes over dates or anything. Being friends with Auggie is safe, something comfortable and reliable. On to the final major character in this book the lovely Alejandra. She defines the girl who is idolized throughout high school. She is elegant, beautiful, witty and extremely smart. She has been raised in a house of royalty yet she does not carry that mentality that she is omnisciently better than everyone. She has been raised in a position to respect everyone even though her fiery temper and question asking can get in the way of her charming demeanor. She is in quite a culture shock when she transfers to this little Massachusetts town and begins school. She has grown up in a place where everyone shares the same experiences of entertaining famous guests and sharing in the stories weekend get a-ways that her new classmates only dream of. She comes from a life of privilege but her parents have done a good job of also making her humble.

Overall I really LOVE this book! I think that EVERYONE should read it, it deals with so much diversity, it shines light on it but does not make a big deal of it. It deals with diversity like eveyone should and I believe it's a great example of how we all should act, even if we don't agree with what's going on you can still act adult about it and treat people like true human beings. it's an excellent book!