BETTER NATE THAN EVER, by Tim Federle

Quick Facts:
- 304 pages
- 2014 Odyssey Honor Book
- 2014 Lambda Literary Award Nominee for LGBT Children's/Young Adult
- this review is based on the audiobook
   + read by author Tim Federle
   + 5 hr, 55 min

There are books you read, both as a child and as an adult, that you enjoy because the characters inspire you in all the ways that they are different from you. They are braver and wittier and stronger, and you take from them lessons about how you can be all those things.

And then there are books you love because the characters are so like you, so awkwardly and painfully and hilariously real, that there are times it's as if the author jumped inside your head and used your thoughts.

In Nate Foster, the droll hero of Better Nate than Ever, author Tim Federle has created a character with whom it's nearly impossible not to empathize. The book chronicles Nate's attempt to crash an open audition in New York for a new Broadway show: E.T.: The Musical. The obstacles Nate encounters along the way, and his reactions to them, are just so perfectly authentic and treated with such humor, that you find yourself rooting for Nate even when you know something isn't going to go as he plans.

Which is not to say that Better Nate than Ever is a pure exercise in comedy. In a video for the New York Times "Culture" section, Federle discusses his awareness of the "gatekeepers" in children's literature. His goal when writing, he says, is to write something authentic that will entertain the adults as much as the children (he refers to it, appropriately, as the "Pixar Model".) Two major influences on his comedic style have been Ellen Degeneres and Bill Cosby, specifically for the way in which they addressed real topics with humor and without resorting to the "low hanging fruit" of "being mean or swearing."

I mention all of this because Better Nate than Ever deals with some very real issues. Nate is an exceptional child, and that makes him a flashing target for people's crueler impulses- even those of his own family. There are some really painful scenes, particularly involving Nate's brother and the way that Nate is treated in school. Federle never allows these scenes to become too heavy, primarily through Nate's humor about them, but it is clear nonetheless that the very humor that gets Nate through it is also a coping mechanism for survival.

Better Nate than Ever was nominated for the Lambda Literary Award, which recognizes books addressing the LGBT experience. However, it is not at all an LGBT issues book. Federle makes the wise and effective choice to place Nate as an individual at the center of his novel, so that everything else is secondary to Nate's own unique experience. Regarding his sexuality, Nate says only:

"My sexuality, by the way, is off-topic and unrelated. I am undecided. I am a freshman at the College of Sexuality and I have undecided my major, and frankly don't want to declare anything other than "Hey, jerks, I'm thirteen, leave me alone. Macaroni and cheese is still my favorite food- how would I know who I want to hook up with?"
- Better Nate than Ever

This refusal to label his thirteen-year old protagonist allows Federle to truly explore all the uncertainty, self-questioning, and confusion that comes with puberty in a way that is accessible for all young adults. Will young boys like Nate relate more closely to the character? Of course. But Nate's determination not to fit in to any box or allow himself to be labeled sends a much needed message to these kids (and to all kids): it's ok to be confused. It's ok to be unsure of yourself. You're still a kid, and you don't have to decide or announce anything to anyone.

The audiobook for Better Nate than Ever was a 2014 Odyssey Honor book, and I strongly recommend listening to it, even if you have already read the print version. Federle's reading of his novel brings Nate to life in all of his awkwardly hilarious glory and when it was over I felt strangely bereft of a friend.

Fortunately for me and for the world, Federle has already written a sequel to Better Nate than Ever: Five, Six, Seven, Nate!. I've already downloaded the audiobook to my phone.