Carolee Dean - Take Me There

I thought this book was going to be so easy to introduce because the initial thoughts I had on it from the cover were it was going to be the same as Amy & Roger's Epic Detour; this is because Goodreads recommended this book to me when I had finished Amy & Roger.  However, it was completely different which was amazing from my point of view.

Take Me There is a young adult book by Carolee Dean about Dylan Dawson, a young man with an established background as a bad boy, combined with a criminal record, a jailbird father, and an alcoholic mother who is trying to forget her own past through the bottle.

Rating: 10

Recommended To: Anyone - some violence and gore but not horrific

Favourite Characters: Dylan - he's amazing; DJ Dawson - helps Dylan come to terms with his past

Favourite Part: I hear my father's voice faintly, over the telephone, answering for me in a soft drawl.  "He's my son."  He reaches out his hand, pressing it against the glass, as if trying to touch me.  He smiles, and I see a tear making its way down his cheek.
[...]

I press my hand up against my father's and I'm suddenly close enough to the glass to see my reflection, blurred by the tears now filling my eyes.  I wipe them away with my fist and take a good look at my father. - Page 167-168

Good Points: The opening; the poetry; DJ's writing; male perspective

Bad Points: Wade's sudden turn around

The opening was amazing in my opinion as it really drew me in as Dylan is slap-bang in the middle of his and Wade's road trip to Texas to go his father, to find out if it's because of his genes that he's got a criminal record or if it is something else.  This really drew me in because I immediately wanted to know what had happened to Dylan that made him run away to Texas; there are brief mentions but my curiosity needs to be satisfied with answers or I will keep reading until I drop.

I found the various pieces of writing that were inserted between the chapters really interesting and I especially loved the poetry written from the point of view of Dylan.  Though he is voiced well through the prose, the poetry goes further into how Dylan is feeling, adding another dimension to his psyche as poetry can be interpreted a number of different ways, depending on the reader's way of thinking, meaning someone can see something that someone else wouldn't.  Dylan's emotions are conveyed in a smaller amount of words, and for me, this makes his emotions seem more intense.  Though the poems are short, I find them amazing and if the book was just full of poems written by Dylan, I would still love it.

The other pieces of writing that are entwined in this book are extracts from DJ Dawson's book that he wrote while he was in prison.  Initially, I thought these pieces were from Dylan, under a pseudo name because it's mentioned he's named after his father (in the first poem) but then it all clicked when it was revealed that Dylan's dad went by DJ rather than Dylan.  These pieces allowed another perspective to the book and the reader is able to get to know Dylan's dad more, just like how Dylan develops a relationship with his estranged convict father.

What I found really amazing was that this book was completely from a male perspective from a female author.  I have read others, such as the Perfect Chemistry series, which flit between the female and male protagonists and it's refreshing to just hear a male voice alone.  While I've read books from male authors that have a male protagonist (like the Alex Rider series), I've not connected so much with them as well as I have Dylan because Dean seems to express more of what Dylan is feeling and thinking in her writing rather than focussing on action, providing a more feminine touh allowing emotional connections to be formed.

I have fallen for Dylan, every time I picked up this book, he became even more embedded in my heart.  He's just so sweet and caring despite having a criminal record and a troubled past; he could have been an atrocious young man, being part of a gang like other characters in this book and taking lives on behalf of his gang, but he isn't.  What's great about him for me is that he is trying to better himself for him alone from the very beginning by getting a job, not smoking or drinking, and trying not to associate with other known criminals (such as gang members), and then when he meets Jess and they start to develop a relationship, he continues to better himself for her sake too.  This implies to me that this isn't something he is doing on a whim for a girl, he truly wants to escape his troubled past.  His struggling to overcome his ability to read and write makes him even more endearing as well as interesting and inspiring because he is trying to conquer this alone which is phenomenal and using his dad's book to do so is so sweet; to me, this is just like his dad is sat there with him, helping him learn, like when you're a kid which Dylan didn't have, not even from his mum really.

DJ Dawson, though he is only in the book for brief parts, is a great character too, making him a close second to Dylan as my favourite character.  I love how he is protective of his family, both physically and emotionally; he protects Dylan by trying to keep the truth from him about the crime he has been imprisoned for while trying to help Dylan come to terms with his (Dylan's) own past by setting an example through his book and encouraging him to better himself by learning to read and write (as he knows first-hand that not knowing these vital life skills can damage your potential).

If I had to pick something that I didn't like about this book, it would be Wade's sudden change in character.  At the beginning of the book, he's more of the instigator when it comes to getting him and Dylan in trouble as he defies the terms of his probation and is partially the cause why Dylan runs away to Texas.  When he tags along with Dylan and he meets the daughter of the local preacher, he changes and becomes a better man extremely quickly and without anyone noticing, it just seems ridiculous to me.

I hear my father's voice faintly, over the telephone, answering for me in a soft drawl.  "He's my son."  He reaches out his hand, pressing it against the glass, as if trying to touch me.  He smiles, and I see a tear making its way down his cheek.

[...]

I press my hand up against my father's and I'm suddenly close enough to the glass to see my reflection, blurred by the tears now filling my eyes.  I wipe them away with my fist and take a good look at my father. - Page 167-168

I adore this part because it shows a level of paternal love between Dylan and one of his parents that isn't seen previously. It's heart-warming to see him have someone care for him greatly; I know his mum loves him but she seems distant because she's constantly drunk or ill.  There is also a great level of emotion shown on Dylan's behalf in this part between Dylan and DJ and is a great way to introduce Dylan's father.

After I read this book, I knew I wanted to read more by Carolee Dean and intend to read some more of her books after I've read some of the books on my shelf.