We The Animals

WE THE ANIMALS

by Justin Torres

 

Nomination: Carnegie Longlist 2012

 

Date Read: May 11, 2021

 

All families have their own version of dysfunctionality but this family has their own unique challenges. Three boys grow up with relative little oversight as their white mother works the graveyard shift and their Puerto Rican father is in and out of the home due to domestic disputes. These brothers are indeed little animals, living the best and worst childhood has to offer.

 

They make kites out of garbage, make horrific messes with condiments, but also endure their mother being beaten up, surviving on little food and inventing new ways to expend their rambunctious energy as they pull ever forward towards adulthood. The family here is incredibly tight-knit and they each look out for their own, like a club that no one else can join.

 

They are joined together through shared experiences and DNA, as well as the fear, love, deprivations, loyalty and excrement of combined history – a swirling punchbowl of the human experience. They can communicate through a mere look or nod of the head, so familiar are they with each other’s beings. But with this comes expected behavior and an inability to accept any deviation from this path.

 

But with this comes also comes the machismo ethic so prevalent in Latin American cultures. As one of the boys questions his sexuality, he has nowhere to turn for advice or guidance. The ending is brutal and beautiful, if not rushed and a little forced. Had Torres spent more time flushing out the ending, this book would have been superb. As it stands, however, it is a powerful first endeavor.

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