Review 6: Thirsty

Citation: Anderson, M. T.. Thirsty . Cambridge, Mass.: Candlewick Press, 1997. Print.

Annotation: At present, Chris must navigate a teenage crush, the impending divorce of his parents and his own awkwardness- and as if that weren't enough, now he has to resist his growing urges to suck blood and find a way to save the world from the Dark Lord Tch'muchgar.

Justification for Nomination:

     In Thirsty, M.T. Anderson delivers a poignant coming-of-age story, complete with lots of teenage lust... blood-lust that is. When Chris, a typical, gawky teenage boy finds himself growing especially hungry after seeing a vampire before her execution, he begins to question the source of all this leaping anguish. Through Anderson's natural use of first person narrative, authentic voice and clever plot, the reader is pulled into Chris' world. It's not long before the adolescent reader identifies the hungry feeling Chris is experiencing, for it is a familiar one- longing. Chris' thirst turns out to be less conventional, but readers still identify with his feelings of anguish, lust, isolation and confusion. True to its genre, Thirsty provides a plethora of rejection, questioning and self-discovery, all of which add a deeper authenticity to this sometimes playful and humorous vampire novel.

     Throughout my reading of Thirsty I was convinced that the novel was enjoyable at many levels and thus would be an “easy sell”, especially to reluctant adolescent readers but I was not convinced of its award merit until I thoroughly pondered the novel's ending. Thirty's ending is ambiguous, open-ended and most important, authentic. Anderson challenges his readers by offering them a painfully realistic ending to a fantastical fictional narrative. Anderson does not provide a neat, formulaic conclusion. The protagonist makes the right choice. He overcomes his darkest desires. He resists urges that control him mentally and physically. He is a hero, but he is not rewarded. Instead, he is betrayed. He is left desperately questioning- will he be betrayed by the very woman who gave him life? Will he live forever in isolation, accepted by neither world? And finally will he even live? Chris chooses the ultimate sacrifice- forfeiting his life for another. He will not feed on a human. Any human, and as a result- he will die. Anderson leaves his readers a very real message within the pages of an impossible fiction, “the decision to be human is not one single instant, but a thousand choices made every day. It is choices we make every second and requires constant vigilance. We fight to remain human”. For adolescent readers the visceral longing in Thirsty reflects their own tumultuous thoughts and feelings. Anderson validates these desires, but does not simply excuse them. Ultimately, Anderson admonishes readers to take responsibility for themselves, even when the decision is difficult. In the end, the right choice may not be rewarded, but it is still the right choice.

Genre: Coming-of-Age, Fantasy, Humor, Vampire fiction