Common Sense Media Review
By Lucinda Dyer
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Haunting, surreal tale explores cost of family dysfunction.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 14+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
What's the Story?
The title of the novel, DIG, references the origin of the Hemmings family fortune: potato farming. Marla and Gottfried Hemmings took the profits from that farm and invested in real estate, and now they are millionaires. Wanting their children "to thrive," they've cut off all contact with them, and the consequences of that decision have had an impact on both their adult children and, now, their grandchildren. The Shoveler, fearing that the father he's never met might suddenly appear and do him terrible harm, carries a shovel with him everywhere. The Freak seems to be constantly traveling through time and space -- to Berlin, a tropical beach, Russia, a college lecture hall. Can I Help You? works the drive-through window at Arby's, where she also sells pot to very special customers. Her parents are unrepentant homophobes and racists and furious she's dating a biracial boy. Loretta spends her free time tending her flea circus (honest) and trying to give herself at least four orgasms every day. Malcolm is the steadiest of the cousins, despite losing his mother and now his father, who's suffering from terminal cancer. Through chance, the cousins begin to meet, and as their lives and those of their grandparents start to intertwine, there's a mystery solved and a shocking twist.
Is It Any Good?
This novel offers a surreal, often chaotic, and haunting look at the terrible price teens pay when the adults in their lives are drowning in bigotry, alcohol, abusive behavior, and secrets. Dig is not an easy read. It's rather like a literary puzzle that readers must try to piece together by sorting out what's real and what's imagined and how the characters will ultimately relate to one another. As the story unfolds and the puzzle comes together, readers may think they've solved it, only to find unexpected revelations.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about all the family dysfunction in Dig. Is it realistic or over the top? How does the issue of money affect the drama that unfolds?
Do you know any teens who've created unusual personas (like The Shoveler) for themselves? How do other students react to them?
Which character (or characters) do you think will be able to turn their lives around, and who do you think might have a tragic end?
Book Details
- Author :
- Genre : Contemporary Fiction
- Topics : Book Characters , Friendship , School ( High School )
- Book type : Fiction
- Publisher : Dutton Books for Young Readers
- Publication date : March 26, 2019
- Publisher's recommended age(s) : 14 - 18
- Number of pages : 416
- Available on : Nook, Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, Apple Books, Kindle
- Award : ALA Best and Notable Books
- Last updated : September 30, 2025
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