You Look Different in Real Life
By Sandie Angulo Chen,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Gripping novel of kids filmed every five years for docu.
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What's the Story?
In YOU LOOK DIFFERENT IN REAL LIFE, Justine is a typical 16-year-old high-schooler in all but one way: She and four classmates are the stars of a documentary film series that chronicled their lives at age 6 and then at 11. Now that the five kids are 16, the husband-and-wife directors Leslie and Lance are back in the Upstate New York college town to film them one more time: smart-aleck Justine; swim team star Nate; history-obsessed Rory; budding musician Felix; and glamorous Keira. At first Justine, worried she'll look uninteresting, wants to refuse to participate, but a mysterious email from one of her friends convinces her that they're all in it together. After the directors fail to capture much that's movie worthy, their producers insist the teens attend a team-building retreat together. Things take a dramatic turn when Keira runs away to look for her long-lost mother in Manhattan and the other four follow, with Justine behind the camera for the first time.
Is It Any Good?
Jennifer Castle doesn't shy away from hard topics, but You Look Different in Real Life is considerably lighter than her debut book, in which a teen girl loses her entire family in a car accident. Using the device of a documentary series (like the famous British 7 Up) to highlight how a group of kids have interacted since kindergarten, Castle is able to explore the dynamics of friendship and school life at ages 6, 11, and 16. Although the action takes place when the five documentary subjects are 16, there are plenty of flashbacks to the other two ages that shed light on why the kids are perceived a particular way. Felix, for example, the only full minority (he's Dominican), feels marginalized and ready for what he believes is his well-earned close-up in the newest documentary. While Nate, the son of the town's leading farming family, has completely changed his reputation from round-face bunny-loving bully victim to gorgeous swim star.
The three girls also have fascinating transformations and backstories. The novel's protagonist, Justine, had the most screen time in the second film, Five at 11, but she no longer feels she has much to contribute. She's worried about interacting with Rory, her former best friend, whom she dropped soon after his autism diagnosis, and she's suspicious of the relationship between Nate (whom she can't help but find attractive) and the beautiful Keira, whose mother abandoned her during the shoot five years earlier. In an age where so many teens engage in reality television and social media, You Look Different in Real Life captures the way leading a semi-public life (even just every five years) has deeply affected these teens who aren't always sure if they're acting for the cameras or being themselves. When everyone thinks they know you, how do you know yourself? In the end, each of the five kids has his or her moment in the spotlight (whether through tragedy, triumph, or both) and ends up the better for it.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the huge difference between being 11 and being 16. In what ways do the characters change in those five pivotal years, and in what ways are they the same?
How do the rumors and half-truths spread about the five documentary subjects affect how the kids act? How does being part of the documentary change each of them?
Felix has trouble coming to terms with being gay, because of how hard it will be for his family to accept. What resources are there for kids who want to come out of the closet? To whom should teens turn if they need to discuss their sexuality without judgment or fear?
Book Details
- Author: Jennifer Castle
- Genre: Contemporary Fiction
- Topics: Friendship, High School
- Book type: Fiction
- Publisher: HarperTeen
- Publication date: June 4, 2013
- Number of pages: 368
- Available on: Nook, Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, iBooks, Kindle
- Last updated: July 2, 2015
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