Thanks for the Trouble

by Tommy Wallach

Tommy Wallach, the New York Times bestselling author of the stunning debut (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) We All Looked Up, delivers a brilliant new novel about a young man who overcomes a crippling loss and finds the courage to live after meeting an enigmatic girl. Was this story written about me? I shrugged. Yes or no? I shrugged again, finally earning a little scowl, which somehow made the girl even more pretty. It s very rude not to answer simple questions, she said.I gestured for my journal, but she still wouldn t give it to me. So I took out my pen and wrote on my palm. I can t, I wrote. Then, in tiny letters below it: Now don t you feel like a jerk? Parker Sant hasn t spoken a word in five years. While his classmates plan for bright futures, he skips school to hang out in hotels, killing time by watching the guests. But when he meets a silver-haired girl named Zelda Toth, a girl who claims to be quite a bit older than she looks, he ll discover there just might be a few things left worth living for. From the celebrated author of We All Looked Up comes a unique story of first and last loves.

• ISBN10: 1481475452
• ISBN13: 9781481475457
• Publish Date: 23 February 2016
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Imprint: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 288
• Language: English

Reviews

[Bianca]

We all spend our lives as the rope in a game of tug-of-war. On one side, you’ve got the weight of the unchangeable past pulling at you, and on the other, you’ve got the unpredictable future. If you’re lucky, you stay balanced right in the middle. But if you’re unlucky (and I think most of us are, some of the time anyway), you end up falling over one way or the other.

[Kelly]

Thanks For The Trouble is absolutely lovely, cynical and sarcastic, but so wonderfully written and emotional. Written in the same vein as John Green, it tells the story of Parker who hasn't spoken for over five years since his father passed away. He'll do just about anything to avoid school, where he feels misunderstood and his silence is taken as a sign of antisocialism. From the moment they'd first met, Parker and Zelda form an instant attraction. He has segregated himself from his peers, while Zelda has lost her zest for life. Together they'll rediscover that life is truly worth living through one remarkable weekend.

"Young people feel things so deeply, don't they?" she said quietly, almost to herself. "Everything's happening for the first time."

Zelda was an incredible character. Wise beyond her seemingly teen years, she's cultured, intelligent and speaks with an old Hollywood grace that charms those in her presence. Loaded with a bundle of cash and awaiting a phone call that will change her life before she takes her own, she is determined to share in a typical teen experience of shopping, partying and discovering the world again through Parker. Magical and whimsical, Zelda is one of the most selfless characters you'll ever have the pleasure of reading. Although she and Parker are worlds apart, I loved the bizarre yet tentative friendship they shared, which sadly felt a little more like a dependency than a romantic connection. The romance wasn't particularly needed, but nor did it take away from the magic that was Thanks For The Trouble.

There is something incredible realistic about the characters Tommy Wallach creates, they're flawed, often insecure but most importantly, readers can relate to them on some level. Parker chooses not to speak and deals with his own grief internally. He's not looking to be rescued and certainly isn't looking for a whirlwind romance but is enamored by Zelda and her tall tales. It was lovely and woven with a touch of whimsy, completely unexpected but incredible nonetheless.

Beautifully written, honest and enchanting, Thanks For The Trouble was an engaging and immersive read. Buy it, read it and love it.
http://www.divabooknerd.com/2016/03/thanks-for-tommy-wallach.html

[shannonmiz]

You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight
I had heard a lot about this book before I ever picked it up. The Twitterverse was criticizing it left and right, to the point where I was on the fence about reading it. But, then I remembered that Twitter doesn't get to dictate my reading material, and I hopped in, because I had been eagerly anticipating this one, before all of this started. And I am going to address one of the big gripes people had, because I feel like that's only fair.

The biggest thing everyone and their dog was mad about was that they felt that Zelda was a "manic pixie dream girl" trope. And frankly, I completely disagree. Zelda is quirky, and unique, and wise... but there are reasons. She doesn't exist as some magical answer to Parker's prayers. I simply find that the term doesn't fit. Also, Zelda is awesome. There was a point in the book where I thought to myself "this could go a couple ways, and one of them would kind of make Zelda fit the trope", but that never happened. In fact, it was quite the opposite.

I have a lot of love for this book and its characters. Parker is a fabulous- witty, sweet, and amazingly talented. Parker wrote little stories within the book, and they were gorgeous. I was so captivated by them- and how they fit with the story. Parker (and Tommy Wallach, of course) has a real gift for words. During his narration, Parker made me laugh, I adored his sense of humor. The thoughts that Parker had... these are thoughts I know for certain I have had. He's incredibly easy to connect with, because he's so damn human, so damn real. He muses about little things in life, and also the bigger, meatier stuff, but in a way that makes sense.

"But I think life is a little like one of those special memory foam mattresses that they advertise on TV, where you can drop a bowling ball on one side and the person sleeping a few inches away doesn't feel a thing. Our biggest tragedies are still just ours."

And then there's Zelda. It'd be hard not to love her, and I definitely loved her. She's a bit of a mystery at first, but really, Parker is just as much a mystery to her- we just have the benefit of knowing Parker's thoughts. Zelda is just a good person, she's compassionate, and so, so wise. She was a girl who was legitimately nice and friendly to other girls (which is so refreshing to read about), and she's just a lovely person with a lot of insight about life. I was floored by this, because of how accurate it was, and how much it resonated with me:

"'We may get a job and a husband and a house, but the whole adulthood thing is just a charade. We're all pretending to have grown up. You know what the cruelest object ever invented is?' I shook my head. 'The mirror. It breaks the illusion.'"

And even though they are amazing characters, they're still incredibly normal too. The plot is incredibly character driven, but they're doing regular things, wanting the same out of life as anyone else.

There are a lot of really amazing messages in the book, but I am going to let you find them out on your own. I feel like as much as I want to gush about them, I'd be doing you, the reader, a disservice- this is the kind of book you need to really read with the context of your own life in the back of your mind. I don't think there's a person out there who can't relate to at least some of the topics that are touched on in this book.

Bottom Line: With exquisite writing and fabulous characters, Thanks for the Trouble is absolutely a book you need in your life.

*Copy provided by publisher for review
**Quotes taken from uncorrected proof, subject to change.