15 September 2011 DIVERGENT by Veronica Roth, Katherine Tegen Books/HarperCollins, May 2011, 496p., ISBN: 978-0-06-202402-2

"What is unique about the stage of Identity is that it is a special sort of synthesis of earlier stages and a special sort of anticipation of later ones. Youth has a certain unique quality in a person's life; it is a bridge between childhood and adulthood. Youth is a time of radical change--the great body changes accompanying puberty, the ability of the mind to search one's own intentions and the intentions of others, the suddenly sharpened awareness of the roles society has offered for later life."-- Francis L. Gross. Introducing Erik Erikson: An invitation to his thinking. (1987).

"Rivers belong where they can ramble

Eagles belong where they can fly

I've got to be where my spirit can run free

Gotta find my corner of the sky."

-- Stephen Schwartz, from Pippin

"Marcus stands at the podium between the Erudite and the Dauntless and clears his throat into the microphone. 'Welcome,' he says. 'Welcome to the Choosing ceremony. Welcome to the day we honor the democratic philosophy of our ancestors, which tells us that every man has the right to choose his own way in this world.'"

"Or, it occurs to me, one of five predetermined ways."

Brave

Selfless

Knowledgeable

Kind

Honest

If you were forced to make a choice to be guided the remainder of your life by one of these five qualities -- and to thereafter live within a closed, tight-knit faction of like-minded (like-choosing?) people, which of the five would be your choice? 

Amidst a post-apocalyptic Chicago, sixteen year old Beatrice Prior and her brother Caleb must each undergo an aptitude test administered to all residents their age as a tool of guidance.  Then, the next day at the Choosing ceremony, they and each of the sixteen year-olds must announce their intent to remain part of the faction into which they have been born, or choose to become a member of one of the other four factions. 

DIVERGENT, by newbie author Veronica Roth, is a red-hot read filled with danger, adventure, deception, betrayal, and hormones.  These qualities, and the quality of the writing, make it a book well-deserving of all of the buzz it has been receiving.

But the reasons I am so taken with DIVERGENT are threefold:

First, I love the choosing.  I have now spent a week trying to decide whether I, myself, would choose bravery (the Dauntless faction); selflessness (Abnegation); knowledge (Erudite); kindness (Amity); or honesty (Candor).  In the story, Beatrice learns through her aptitude test that she has qualities that make her suitable for three of the factions.  This makes her a divergent -- which is seen as being dangerous and defective and makes her an endangered species in her world.  She seriously needs to keep this information to herself.  I'd like to think that I, too, would be divergent.

Second, I love how it is revealed that these pseudo-societies (factions) each based upon an admirable quality, have veered away from the ideals.  This is a great reality lesson for teens about group dynamics and certainly relates to religion, politics,and other organizational groups.

Most importantly, this is a story about identity, and it brings me back to a program about young adult literature I attended fifteen years ago, back when I didn't know beans about YA lit.

The program, part of a Northern California Independent Bookseller's Association conference, was presented by two guys I'd then never heard of (but would later come to know well): editor Dick Jackson and librarian Michael Cart. 

In extolling the importance of young adult literature, this dynamic duo explained how teens wake up every day to try on a new identity.  It was a presentation that had the intended impact upon me: the next day I ceased being the Children's Buyer for six bookstores and began being the Children's and YA Buyer for six bookstores.  The inventory system gained a new section number overnight, and each store suddenly had a YA section to browse. 

"He shrugs. He doesn't seem to care about his talent, or his status among the Dauntless, and that is what I would expect from the Abnegation.  I am not sure what to make of that.

"He says, 'I have a theory that selflessness and bravery aren't all that different.  All your life you've been training to forget yourself, so when you're in danger, it becomes your first instinct.  I could belong in Abnegation just as easily.'

"Suddenly I feel heavy.  A lifetime of training wasn't enough for me.  My first instinct is still self-preservation.

"'Yeah, well,' I say.  'I left Abnegation because I wasn't selfless enough, no matter how hard I tried to be.'

"'That's not entirely true.'  He smiles at me.  'That girl who let someone throw knives at her to spare a friend, who hit my father with a belt to protect me -- that selfless girl, that's not you?'

"He's figured out more about me than I have.  And even though it seems impossible that he could feel something for me, given all that I'm not...maybe it isn't.  I frown at him.  'You've been paying close attention, haven't you?'

"'I like to observe people.'

"'Maybe you were cut out for Candor, Four, because you're a terrible liar.'"

Not a mere guilty pleasure of a read -- even though it is an exceptionally exciting and pleasurable read -- DIVERGENT has so much to say about the development of identity.  

Bring on the second book in this trilogy.      

Richie Partington, MLIS
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