2008's Freeze Frame by Heidi Ayarbe

Freeze Frame by Heidi Ayarbe. Published by HarperTeen in 2008.
4/4 Stars

At first glance, Freeze Frame may seem trite and recycled to many readers. The idea of a young boy dealing with the emotional, social, and societal consequences of an accidental shooting could easily be fodder for an after-school special with a "Don't mess with guns, now, kiddos!" message. In addition, the concept for this first novel by expat Ayarbe is hardly new--it has been dealt with in classics like A Separate Peace and "The White Circle". Ayarbe even has her protagonist, Kyle, read Knowles' novel at one point, so she is hardly unaware of the connection.

In spite of these surface problems, Ayarbe deftly takes this novel into much deeper-- and much darker-- territory than I expected. Kyle's grief over the loss of his friend Jason, both before and after Jason's death, is presented in a realistic and believable way. His path from disbelief to anger to an attempted suicide and eventual redemption could easily become boring, but Ayarbe truly treats Kyle as an individual, not just a stereotype going through the stages of grieving. Kyle's re-telling of Jason's death scene through the lens of various film directors allows Ayarbe to gradually reveal more and more of the event and more and more of Kyle's reaction to it, keeping a healthy sense of suspense and preventing the narrative from becoming stolid and predictable.

In addition to her grasp of what makes an interesting narrative, Ayarbe also demonstrates a healthy grasp on character development. She again takes what could be an overdone idea and makes it her own. For example, Kyle's parole officer, Mark, is a hard-nosed bald man with tattoos-- no shocking originality there. However, as we learn more about Mark we see that he truly cares about Kyle and isn't simply a motorcycle riding PO. My two favorite characters were the high-school librarian who takes Kyle under his wing, "Scarface" Cordoba, and Jason's mother, Mrs. Bishop. Since Ayarbe uses Kyle as her narrator, the reader has to look beyond what Kyle understands about these two adults to see the truth of their pasts and their feelings toward Kyle. I won't give away too much of the story, but I do recommend paying close attention to these two fascinating portraits.

What tipped me over the edge from giving this novel three stars to a full four stars is Ayarbe's convincing voice. Many young adult novelists suffer from an inability to capture the way that teenagers speak, especially when using interior monologues. Kyle is consistently true to form as a 10th grade boy. He questions himself, gives himself a hard time, but is also bizarrely confident despite his status as a social outcast during most of the novel. Ayarbe doesn't shy away from having her characters use profanity, which may offend some parents buying this novel for their child. However, it is necessary and realistic for this novel to contain words like "shit", especially considering the context.

Classroom Applications

This novel would make an excellent individual reading or book club/literature circle selection. I would say that anyone grades 6-12 could handle the writing style and content, but teachers do need to consider the maturity level of their particular students as well as the moral and political climate in which they teach.

Literary devices to teach using this novel: dramatic irony, allusion, metaphor, characterization (especially using what characters say about themselves versus what others say about them to judge a character).

Concepts/Topics: grief, the nature of friendship, family relationships, redemption

Extension Questions:
1) If the accident had never occurred, would Jase and Kyle still be friends by the end of high school? Explain.
2) Do you agree with the judge's decision to let Kyle off without any prison time? Why/why not?
3) Should Kyle's parents suffer some kind of punishment for keeping the gun loaded? Explain your answer.
4) Why do you think Mr. Cordoba is so interested in helping Kyle? Explain your answer.
5) Evaluate Dr. Matthews's performance as a counselor for Kyle. Explain your evaluation.
6) How do you think Mrs. Bishop will react to the documentary that Kyle made? Why do you think she will react this way?
7) Different people in this novel handle their grief in different ways. List some of the ways that Jason and Kyle's families and friends handled their grief. Which way do you think is best? Why?
8) Other than being his bodyguard, in what ways did Kyle help Chase? How did Chase help Kyle? Explain.