Please Ignore Vera Dietz, by A.S. King

Title: Please Ignore Vera Dietz
Author: A.S. King
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Year: 2010
# Pages: 326

Category: Award winner
Genre: Mystery

Awards & Honors:
Michael L. Printz Honor Book 2011
An Edgar Allen Poe Award finalist
A Junior Library Guild selection for Fall 2010
YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults pick
Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers 2011 nominee
Indie Next List Pick for Teens
Kirkus Reviews Best Books for Teens 2010
Cooperative Children's Book Center's CCBC Choices 2011
Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award nominee 2011/2012
Capitol Choices: Noteworthy Books for Children and Teens 2011
Michigan Thumbs Up! Award nominee

Edgar Awards

Every spring, the Mystery Writers of America, an organization of mystery writers based in New York, presents The Edgar Awards to honor the best in various forms of mystery fiction and non-fiction produced in print or other media the previous year. Entries for each year must have been published for the first time in the U.S. the previous year and must be submitted by the publisher, author, or agent. Since 1989, there has been a category of “Best Young Adult Mystery” for grades 8-12 or ages 12 to 18. Winners are presented with a small bust of the award’s namesake, Edgar Allan Poe, and this award is considered to be the most prestigious award for the mystery genre.

Young Adult Nominees for 2011 Edgar Awards

I chose to read Please Ignore Vera Dietz, by A.S. King. Although it did not receive the Edgar award for this year, it was in the top 5 novels considered for this award. It was also a Michael L. Printz Honor book for 2011.

My Summary & Critique:

As I looked for award winning books, Please Ignore Vera Dietz caught my attention, partly because of the title and partly because I was intrigued by the reviews I read written by readers of all ages. The story is told by Vera Dietz, a smart, honest, and vulnerable 18-year old “pizza delivery technician” who struggles with the ups and downs of everyday life, school, friends, job, home, dating, and in the process, tries to sort out how to deal with the death of her best friend. Charlie, who has been her best friend since she was 4, died under mysterious circumstances, and it seems that Vera knows all the answers that would end the mystery and clear Charlie’s name. She spends most of the novel coming to grips with this mystery and dealing with the pain he caused her in the months before his death. Vera's life is shaped by a mother who fled the scene years ago, an alcoholic father, an abusive neighbor, a drinking problem, a dead friend, and the trials and tribulations of being unpopular in high school.

Young adult readers will identify with many of the characters and situations in this book, but they will listen to Vera with affection and understanding because her character’s voice is real, honest, funny, forthright, and strong yet she shows all the emotional vulnerability that makes her a human teenager. The story is told in pieces, some from Vera, some from other characters, even from inanimate objects, with vocabulary lessons interspersed, but it all blends together to make an interesting story. The subject matter and language are for more mature teens.