The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen

The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen

Cover of The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen
Author	Susin Nielsen
Cover artist	Jennifer Lum
Country	Canada/United States of America
Language	English
Publisher	Tundra Books
Pages	243
ISBN	978-1-77049-372-8

The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen is a young adult novel by Canadian author Susin Nielsen, first published in 2012. It deals with the effects of a school shooting on the shooter's family.

Inspiration

"I was reading a book by Wally Lamb called The Hour I First Believed. One of his characters was present at a horrific school massacre. There was a line in the book that mentioned that one of the shooters had an older brother. That just punched me in the gut; I realized I had never thought about what it would be like for the surviving sibling of someone who committed a horrific crime. From there, Jesse and Henry were born. Jesse, relentlessly bullied to the point of murder/suicide; Henry, the brother left behind".^[1]

Plot summary

After his older brother takes his dad's gun to school to kill himself and his bully, Henry K. Larsen is thrown into a brand new town and a brand new school in order to escape the anger of his old friends and neighbors. In this new town Henry fights to keep knowledge of the "IT" from tainting his new friends' views of him the way it did back home. Henry begins to understand what it means to grieve for a loved one who has committed suicide, even through your anger. Through his own experience at school Henry starts to realize the desperate position his brother was in and the impact that bullying had not only on his brother, but on his new friends now. Henry never sugarcoats how he feels and explores the emotions he knows he should not have.

Characters

• Henry K. Larsen: Narrator. Henry is Jesse's brother and is learning to cope with his brother's decisions and his own thoughts on the "IT".
• Jesse Larsen: Henry’s brother. He killed himself and his bully, Scott Marlin, with his dad's rifle gun.
• Scott Marlin: Jesse Larsen's bully and Jodie Marlin's older brother.
• Farley Wong: Henry's best friend after he and his dad move, and one of Henry's Reach for the Top teammates.
• Alberta: Henry's friend and maybe girlfriend. She is also one of Henry's Reach for the Top teammates.
• Mom: She is still in Ontario dealing with her own problems in the aftermath of the "IT".
• Dad: He cares for Henry after the move while his wife is in Ontario.
• Mr. Atapattu: Next door neighbor and somewhat friend to Henry. He often brings Henry and his dad food like curry.
• Karen Vargas: Resident in Henry's apartment building. She seems interested in Henry's dad, but soon becomes a help to Henry as he sorts out his feelings.
• Cecil Levine: Henry's psychiatrist.
• Troy Vasic: Bully to Farley and Henry at the new school.
• Jodie Marlin: Scott Marlin's sister and Henry's best friend growing up before "IT" happened.
• Parvana: One of Henry's Reach for the Top teammates
• Shen: One of Henry's Reach for the Top teammates
• Ambrose: One of Henry's Reach for the Top teammates
• Jerome: One of Henry's Reach for the Top teammates
• Koula: One of Henry's Reach for the Top teammates

Awards

Nominations

• Snow Willow Award ^[2]
• TD Canadian Children's Literature Award (Finalist) ^[3]

Awards

• Canadian Council for the Arts Governor General's Literature Awards ^[4]
• Canadian Library Association Book of the Year for Children Award 2013 ^[5]

References

External links

• Review by Giselle at Book Nerd Canada
• CBC Books – TD Nominated Books
• Interview with Susan Nielsen
• AMSO Review
• Works by or about Susin Nielsen-Fernlund in libraries (WorldCat catalog)