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From Amazon
In Tribes, Arthur Slade's engaging young adult novel, 12th-grader Percival Montmount Jr. has decided to dedicate his life to studying anthropology like his father, who died from a tsetse bite while working in the Congo. Living in Saskatoon with his mother, Percy attends Groverly High, where he spends his days observing and recording the actions of everyone around him. His only real friend, Elissa, helps with his anthropological studies. Percy writes constantly in his field journal as he classifies everyone at his school into tribes--the logo tribe, the lipstick tribe, the hockey tribe--based on their everyday rituals. But what started as a simple hobby becomes an obsession, and Elissa begins to worry. Percy sees everything from an anthropological point of view, which causes him to begin losing touch with reality and his emotions. He has shut everyone out, including Elissa and his mother, and has repressed certain painful memories. Eventually, Elissa starts to avoid him, and after a shocking personal discovery, Percy realizes that he must begin to live in the real world. Slade writes with real verve and energy--as in this description of a football player beating on Percy: "The color of his large gray eyes resembled that of an atomic mushroom cloud"--making Tribes a thought-provoking yet fast-paced read. (Ages 13 and older) --Mark Frutkin
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