Reality Boy

King, A. (2013). Reality Boy : a novel. New York Boston: Little, Brown and Company.

Summary:

Don’t believe everything you see on TV.

When Gerald was a kid, his family was featured on a nanny reality show. His anger issues were documented for the world to see. But they didn’t know the whole story. They didn’t know about his mother. They didn’t know about Tasha.

Now, years later, he is still known as the kid from that nanny show. Years later, he is trying to contain the rage that seethes within him. Nothing has changed in his life.

Until he meets Hannah.

Reaction:

At the beginning of the novel, Gerald will scare you a little bit. “But no matter how much anger management coaching I’ve had, I know that if I had a gun, I’d shoot Nichols in the back as he walks away with his beer. I know that’s murder and I know what that means. It means I’d go to jail. And the older I get, the more I think maybe I belong in jail.” (pg 5) However, despite this introduction to his murderous rage, there isn’t really another example this severe within the rest of the book. The closest would be when he wants to punch his own face in and ends up in the boxing ring with Jacko the Jamaican.

The fights between Gerald and Hannah are realistic. Their first fight, Gerald takes a comment she says personally. Hannah then takes something he said out of context, twisting it around to fit her needs. He constantly defends himself. Eventually, they apologize, sorting out what caused the fight and why they were hurt. It felt like an actual couple.

One positive aspect about the character of Hannah is that she isn’t a manic pixie dream girl. John Green’s potential love interest characters are often of the manic pixie dream girl variety, and Hannah could have easily fit into the mold. She breaks Gerald out of his shell. But she’s a real character and slowly her own home issues are revealed over the course of time. Honestly, she could have gotten her own book. A sort of pairing.

There is a multitude of similarities between this novel and A.S. King’s novel from the previous year Ask the Passengers. The main character in that novel, Astrid, also has a mother that doesn’t seem to love her. Her parents' marriage may as well no longer exist. Her dad just deals with her mother. Instead of self-medicating with alcohol like Gerald’s dad, Astrid’s dad prefers marijuana. Astrid also hallucinates a person. She has more control than Gerald does with Snow White, but Frank Socrates tends to show up at important moments in her life just like Snow White did. A strange, nameless woman helps them develop - the hockey lady for Gerald and the biker chick at the gay bar for Astrid. Both Gerald and Astrid just want to leave their small town.

Gerald refuses to watch television after his experience on Network Nanny. So it’s interesting to read his observation of Joe Jr.’s family discussing Dance On, America! “I think: Wow. And I thought I was the only one who was allowed to base my faith in the whole world on reality TV.” (pg 328) The conversation might remind the reader of actual conversations they had had with family members while watching American Idol or Dancing with the Stars.

Gerald and Hannah have different ideas of freedom. Hannah is obsessed with the fish in her friend's fish tank. She believes them to be free. Gerald cannot understand it. They’re cooped up in the tank. They have nowhere to go. Whereas Gerald becomes obsessed with a video about trapeze artists from Monaco. The thought of flying. And he’s able to experience it with the help of his new friend, Joe.

It was agonizing to hear (if you’re listening to the audiobook) how much Gerald’s mother doted on Tasha and refused to believe the worst of her. Even when she incessantly humped the furniture, when she brought a boy home for a sexual encounter at the age of 12, and when she assaulted her; her own mother. Throughout it all, Gerald’s mother stood by Tasha. She refused to believe that her first born daughter could cause such grief within the family. Instead, she chose to make her own son believe he wasn’t good enough, smart enough, just plain enough.

This novel examines a lot of themes. Abandonment by family, even from an early age - his mother doting on Tasha, Lisi leaving for college, his father drinking. Learning to love yourself, learning to advocate for yourself - when Gerald takes the initiative to move out of SPED classes. The effect of childhood fame and how the camera doesn’t give the whole story.

The ending of this novel is utterly satisfying. It’s a time of transition for everyone involved. It might be rocky. But the thought of Gerald moving on is a nice one. “I have no idea why we ever stayed in that other house for so long after Network Nanny. It’s like no one ever thought about how freeing it would be to get the hell out and start over. OR maybe some of us didn’t want to.” (pg 346)

Connections:

Activities:

• Write a list of demands you have for yourself and your life.
• Describe your morning routine (Chapter 10).
• Have students list reality television shows they’ve seen or heard about. Ask students why people enjoy watching reality television. What makes a “good” reality show?
• If you were to ever take part in a reality show, what sort would it be?  
• Show a clip from the television show, Super Nanny. Have students respond to the clip or full episode. What are some things they noticed about the family?
• Have students write from the point of view of one of the children in the episode of Super Nanny. What do the students imagine going on in their minds?
• Compare this novel to another of A.S. King’s, Ask the Passengers. There are many common themes. King, A. (2012). Ask the passengers : a novel. New York: Little, Brown.
• Prompt: You’ve run away to the circus. What sort of performer are you?
• Hannah’s home life is just as tough as Gerald’s. Write a scene from Hannah’s perspective.

Article:

Questioning 'Reality': A.S. King. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/authors/profiles/article/58222-questioning-a-s-king.html

Book

Larbalestier, J. (2016). My sister Rosa. New York, NY: Soho Teen.

There are many similarities to Reality Boy in this novel. Che also has a sister who is psychotic. Che also gets his rage out at a boxing gym. Che is trying to be normal in his family home.