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The Field Guide to the North American Teenager by Ben Philippe Fiction Book Club Blog

By Kyle Schmitt

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Author Background Information

The author of the novel "The Field Guide to the North American Teenager" is Ben Philippe. Ben is a Haitian-born Canadian who draws from his experiences as a new citizen to a country to write this book. Many of the experiences in the novel by the main character Norris are the same as the experiences by Ben. For example, Ben and Norris are both new immigrants, have newly divorced parents, experience ignorance upon coming to a new country, and many more comparisons. Ben states in an interview with NPR that "his life is reflected in a lot of Norris' experiences"(6. NPR). and that he does this because he is writing this novel to inform readers on struggles people like him might go through and how it affects real people, not just the fictional character Norris.

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Synopsis of the Text

in Summary, our main character Norris' parents get divorced and he moves to America with his mom. Norris is introduced to new Archetypes through his loner/outcast character, his journey-like quest through the new concept of an American high school, villains, and good guys like jocks, nerds, popular girls. The story shows how these themes force Norris to grow into a new person and change with these experiences. Ben Philippe's target audience is teenagers in high school and the reason it is so effective is that Norris is very relatable with various witty remarks that make up his likable character and the use of 3rd person omniscient to hear Norris's thoughts. All these factors provide for a very interesting perspective on America that is shown to be necessary for today's Americans to understand.

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Author's Craft

Ben Philippe uses many different strategies to craft this novel. Firstly, he uses a 3rd person omniscient point of view to access all characters' thoughts throughout the book. This use of point of view creates a sense that we know the characters. Secondly, the relatable and likable main character Norris creates relevance of the character to the audience of teens that are targeted to read this book. Thirdly, his connection of Norris' situation of not feeling welcome or fitting into a new country as an immigrant is a present problem in today's society. "New immigrants from Canada have a hard time finding a sense of country in the United States due to the vastly different cultures” (Levin. 5) writes Bob Levin, an immigrant who writes about the modern-day struggles of Canadians to relate to America. The author writes this novel for the cause of informing about this discrepancy in modern-day America and should be taught to people because it is better that immigrants feel welcome in America as to make their experience in the United States pleasant.

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Themes

The main setting of the novel is the North American high school. This setting creates a theme of good and bad tendencies such as excitement, wonder, experience, unfairness, difficulty, and unaccommodating. The book explores both the good and bad of high school and especially high school as a newcomer. Children of today's high schools experience the exact same difficulties and or positivities of a modern-day high school which keeps the audience's attention due to the theme's relevancy and the reader's everyday life. But perhaps the main theme is the author's to-the-reader emotional appeals of how not to treat a newcomer to the United States. This pathos the author uses can be obtained through the character's thoughts(like sad or happy statements of what is going on around him) or his situation (divorced parents, not fitting in, loner).

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Critical Perspectives

The most critical observation the author makes is in the ending he creates. Norris' story ends quite abruptly with Ben stating "fairy tales are not real, lessons learned ''(Philippe. 347) after Norris' cliché ending of getting with the girl of his dreams doesn't come true. The author critiques the use of clique ending as a means of creating a satisfying ending to a book because it is not accurate to the reality of life. Ben throughout the novel is very critical of Americans through making fun of their ignorance and treatment of him (rightfully so). but perhaps the most brutal critique is of Americans' love of fairytale endings. so by bait and switching the audience into a not-so fairytale ending he creates the ultimate critique of the novel.

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Works Cited

"Philippe, Ben: CHARMING AS A VERB." Kirkus Reviews, 1 July 2020, p. NA. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A627920264/AONE?u=j101913002&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=8f01f040. Accessed 7 Dec. 2021.

"'Field Guide To The North American Teenager' Taps Into The Raw Anxiety Of Adolescence." All Things Considered, 21 Jan. 2019. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A570580891/AONE?u=j101913002&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=05f73022. Accessed 7 Dec. 2021.

Levin, Bob. "A sense of country." Maclean's, vol. 102, no. 27, 3 July 1989, pp. 52+. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A7734529/AONE?u=j101913002&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=21441198. Accessed 7 Dec. 2021.