The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
Little, Brown and Company, Boston: 1951
ISBN: 0-316-76948-7

Plot Summary:
There is not much plot to this novel--it's more about what Holden Caulfield, the 17-year-old narrator, thinks than what he does. His story starts after he has learned he has been kicked out of Pencey, the prep school he attends. This is just another school is a long list of schools he has been kicked out of. He has failed all of his classes except English, and has no plans for doing anything about it. He gets in a fight with his roommate, Stradlater, and ends up going back to New York city three days before he is expected home for Christmas break.

He spends most of his time wandering around the city, going to bars, meeting old friends and girl friends. He makes a lot of plans, but never follows through on anything, such as calling his old friend Jane Gallagher or hitch-hiking out West. He sneaks into his parents apartment to see his younger sister Phoebe, who is about the only person he can tolerate, and she calls him out on all of issues. He runs away from her and ends up at a former teacher's house, who ends up trying some funny business on Holden while he's asleep. This sends him to Grand Central station, and eventually he makes up with Phoebe and returns home.

Critical Evaluation:
This has to be one of the most simultaneously hilarious and heartbreaking stories of all time. Holden pretty much hates everything (though he would disagree with that statement), phony-ness being on the top of his list. Though that doesn't sound funny, it's just very amusing the situations Holden finds himself in and his take on everything. I think most of us have gone through such a period of angst, maybe not as extreme as Holden's, but we can understand where he's coming from. After about a third of the way through the book, I started agreeing with him more and more vigorously, thinking that the world really was just full of phonies. We all know his quest for something real is not going to end well. Towards the middle of the book, Holden explains why he loves the history museum so much-- it's because things never change there. He's always going to know where the Eskimos and Native Americans and mummies are. What is so heartbreaking at the end is when he finally goes back to see the mummies and feels such a sense of peace, and then looks over to see someone had written "fuck you" on the wall. When he goes to the bathroom and passes out after that, we're given another clue that maybe something more than just teen angst is wrong with Holden. He's told us over and over again that he's depressed, but perhaps there is something physically wrong with him as well. Of course, he rarely eats or sleeps, and smokes like a chimney, so it might just be fatigue.

Holden's relationship with Phoebe is very special, and it seems as though he likes children because they haven't had time to become phonies yet. When Phoebe forces him to tell her one thing that he would actually want to be, he says he wants to just hang out in a field of rye, catching children that are in danger of falling off a cliff. When he wakes up to find his former teacher patting him on the head, Holden says that he's had to deal with perverts like that at least twenty times in the past. Of course, he exaggerates like that to comic effect throughout the novel, but it also might point to some serious underlying psychological issues, and why he feels the need to protect children. He's a very complex character, and we are left wanting to know much much more about him.

Reader’s Annotation:
Holden Caulfield is on a seemingly impossible quest--to find something real in a world full of phonies. He just might kill himself first.

Information about the Author:
J.D. Salinger was born and raised in Manhattan. He is a notorious recluse who has not published anything since 1965, but he recently made headlines when he filed a lawsuit against another author for using one of his characters from The Catcher in the Rye. He has published many short stories, and the novella Franny and Zooey.

Genre: realistic fiction

Curriculum Ties: none

Booktalking Ideas:
I would introduce Holden Caulfield and the situation he finds himself in--being kicked out of yet another school and afraid to go back home. Then I might read a few characteristically funny and sad passages, perhaps his fight with his roommate Stradlater, his conversation with a classmate's mother on the way to New York, or his date with Sally Hayes.

Reading Level/Interest Age:
This book would be appropriate for ages 16 and up. I'm not sure if younger teens would understand the alienation and impotence that Holden feels.

Challenge Issues:
This book would most certainly be challenged for its language and some of the situations Holden finds himself in, such as inadvertently hiring a prostitute, and under aged drinking and smoking. I would explain the library's selection policy and give the challenger a complaint form to fill out.

Why I chose this book:
It would be a crime to have a blog about materials for young adults and not include The Catcher in the Rye. I read this in high school and loved it, and I think I got even more out of it this time around. Most teens will be able to relate to Holden's angst and indecision on one level or another.