Thick

Colin Neenan
Brown Barn Books (2006)
ISBN 0974648191
Reviewed by Ian McCurley (age 13) for Reader Views (3/07)

“Thick” is a story of a 17-year old boy named Nick.   He says he’s not a retard, as some call him.  He must be stupid because his father says so. Constantly.  His father’s nickname for him is “Thick.”  Son of an alcoholic father and an abused mother, Nick’s 18-year old sister, Hope, is his only solace at home.  Before she died, his mother told him that only mean people were stupid.  Nick wasn’t mean, so he knew he must not be stupid.

When Nick accidentally gets a job as a dishwasher, he meets Alice and immediately falls in love.  Sam, Alice’s boyfriend, and Sam’s friend, Brad, are bullies with absolutely no compassion for Nick’s disabilities.  Brad ridicules Nick whenever possible, and makes things difficult for him with both Nick’s father and Sam.  As Nick struggles to help his sister escape their father’s wrath for pursuing college, he is also compelled to rescue Alice from the beatings Sam inflicts.  Nick does not know when it is okay to hurt someone until he learns that it is okay in self-defense.  That’s only the beginning of what he learns next.

Colin Neenan used an unusual writing style in “Thick” to portray the simplicity of Nick’s thinking.  The bullying disturbed me since I observe this same type of cruelty in middle school.  My mom read the book and we discussed it.  She pointed out that later in school, kids read books like this and study them to digest the social issues and to broaden our minds.  She loved the book even though it made her cry.  She said she could really relate to Hope.

I think “Thick” is the right book for kids over 16 and adults who are not aware of, or forget to pay attention to, the less fortunate.

Sometimes we watch someone acting unlike we would and ask “What ARE they thinking?”  In “Thick,” Colin Neenan has provided a glimpse into what may be going on inside the mind of someone not blessed with intellect, loving support or, for that matter, anything.  I read the final chapters of “Thick” with my heart pounding.    It haunted me and left me wondering how many like him are out there.

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