The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner Book Review

 

Written by: Jeff Zentner

Published by: Ember in 2017

ISBN: 978-0553524055

Plot Summary: Dillard, Lydia, and Travis are very close friends who live in a small town in Tennessee. They each have a different past that affects their choices in life and where they see themselves going. Dillard's father was a pastor and a snake handler but is disgraced when he gets caught with child pornography. Lydia is a budding influencer and Travis works in the family business in the lumberyard. Dillard is a talent musician and Lydia convinces him to record his music. Travis has a homelife that is quite explosive so he spends time over at Dillard's house. Travis has a side gig of selling firewood and gets shot and killed by two drug addicts looking for money. This impacts Dillard tremendously and he spirals into suicidal thoughts. Lydia helps pull him out of the depression and he applies to college and is accepted. Lydia ends up leaving for New York to be an influencer and Dillard meets with his dad in prison one last time before leaving. 

Critical Analysis: This book deals with generational issues and the sins of the father being passed onto the kids as each of the kids has an issue or another with their families either doing things wrong in the eyes of the law or not being supportive of their futures. The power of friendship shines through in this story as something that can overcome the families lack of support. The plot is simple and everyone can find a bit of themselves in it as we all dream and strive for a better life. The balance of darker themes in the beginning and throughout the story is canceled out as the story ends with a light hearted finish. 

Reviews: 

A touching debut chronicles the coming-of-age of three high school seniors, misfits and best friends.

Neither Dill, Travis, nor Lydia feels at home in Forrestville, a small Tennessee town named after the founder of the Klu Klux Klan. Lydia's loving, prosperous parents have given her the tools to create a popular blog and the glittering prospect of college life in New York City. Travis, on the other hand, escapes his father's drunken brutality and his own heartbreak over his soldier brother's death by retreating into a fictional fantasy world. And Dillard Early Jr. can't escape his name: his snake-handling preacher father became notorious in these parts when he was incarcerated for child porn. Some—Dill's mother among them—blame Dill for his father's conviction. Lydia is determined to realize her dreams, and she is equally determined that the boys dream, too. Dill just wants Lydia to stay. Writing in third-person chapters that alternate among the three characters, Zentner covers the whole of their senior year, with heartbreak and a hopeful conclusion. Characters, incidents, dialogue, the poverty of the rural South, enduring friendship, a desperate clinging to strange faiths, fear of the unknown, and an awareness of the courage it takes to survive, let alone thrive, are among this fine novel's strengths.


Zentner writes with understanding and grace—a new voice to savor. (Fiction. 14 & up)

Connections: Students can research the revival and charismatic branches of Christianity and see how they have evolved throughout time. Students can also look at job prospects and how the economy works in smaller towns versus how things work in larger areas. 

https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2022/06/the-rise-of-pentecostal-charismatic-christianity


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