Yuletide Blues

Laurence Steven is Chairman of the English Department at Laurentian
University and author of Dissociation and Wholeness in Patrick White’s
Fiction.

Lanny Reich is a 15-year-old boy just trying to survive the holiday
season. In an array of comical episodes, MacIntyre describes how Lanny
deals with typical teenage problems involving friends, girls, and (of
course) parents. These humorous anecdotes leave the reader poorly
prepared for the topic of suicide to enter the book. Yet just as Mr. and
Mrs. Reich are finally about the leave for their long-awaited romantic
holiday, the plot takes an unexpected twist. Lanny’s favorite and most
eccentric aunt, “Day-Glo,” with whom he was to stay in his
parents’ absence, attempts suicide. Lanny is then forced to stay with
his least favorite great-aunt and her unpredictable cat. Moreover, he
must endure this indignity while also suffering from the pain of a
broken leg.

The story starts rather slowly; it isn’t until the last few chapters
that MacIntyre reaches full speed. But once there he holds the
reader’s interest effectively to the last page. There is really only
one questionable element in Yuletide Blues: MacIntyre’s attempt to
deal with suicide seems too subtle. He barely touches on the subject;
after one brief appearance, it is dropped never to be mentioned again.
More attention could have been paid to this serious topic.

Everything from the cover illustration to Lanny’s first-person
narration suggests that this is an ideal book for boys in the 12-15 age
group. However, MacIntyre’s rendering of a teenage male’s thoughts
is so uncannily right that young women would probably enjoy it too. All
in all, the humor makes this a novel that all young teenagers can relate
to, but that anyone can enjoy—even those aliens from the 1960s called
parents.