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Published: September 24, 2013 by Greenwillow
Length: 272 pages
Source: Greenwillow (ARC)
“What happens when you put a suicidal eighteen-year-old philosophy student, his ex-girlfriend, his best friend, and his newborn baby in a truck and send them to Grandma’s house? This debut novel by Emil Ostrovski will appeal to fans of John Green, Chris Crutcher, and Jay Asher.
On the morning of his eighteenth birthday, philosophy student and high school senior Jack Polovsky is somewhat seriously thinking of suicide when his cell phone rings. Jack’s ex-girlfriend, Jess, has given birth, and Jack is the father. Jack hasn’t spoken with Jess in about nine months—and she wants him to see the baby before he is adopted. The new teenage father kidnaps the baby, names him Socrates, stocks up on baby supplies at Wal-Mart, and hits the road with his best friend, Tommy, and the ex-girlfriend. As they head to Grandma’s house (eluding the police at every turn), Jack tells baby Socrates about Homer, Troy, Aristotle, the real Socrates, and the Greek myths—because all stories spring from those stories, really. Even this one. Funny, heart-wrenching, and wholly original, this debut novel by Emil Ostrovski explores the nature of family, love, friendship, fate, fatherhood, and myth.“
Wow. This book is very unique in a good way! I knew from the start that this book is special. The Paradox of Vertical Flight is about Jack, an 18 year old, who could not believe that his ex-girlfriend, Jess, is giving birth and that he is the father. He decides to kidnap the baby, and they go through all of this adventures. It is told from Jack’s point of view and it is written in 1st person. What I love about this book is the author’s writing style. It flowed smoothly, and I felt like I was with the main characters throughout the novel. I also like how the story was realisitc yet it wasn’t. I hope that made sense lol. There were a lot of scenes where you could see it in real life, but the book as a whole was a metaphor for me which I thought was really cool. The author delivered his message very clear. What is the message? You would have to read the book to know. The same thing goes for the title.
The characters are just awesome. They are very witty especially Tommy, Jack’s best friend. The story revolves around Jack, Jess (his ex-girlfriend), Socrates (Jack and Jess’s newborn baby) and Tommy. While they go on this journey, they share to each other their beliefs and stories which I found very interesting. The person I can relate the most with was Jack. We have some similarities especially the way we think. In the book, he thinks a lot about the world, time, and a lot of philosophical ideas. Like Jack, I also think about how the world is etc. I won’t go into any details because that would be a spoiler. I think Jack is a very open minded person, but at times, he could really be immature which is okay! While Jack and Tommy are kind of like the goofballs in this book, Jess is the responsible and mature one. I picture her as Jack and Tommy’s alarm clock; she wakes them up to reality.
Overall I highly recommend you read this wonderful, and exciting novel. If you have those friends who literally thinks nothing but parties and boys, I suggest you shove this book up to this face because it has a lot of life lessons especially about family, friends, and responsibilities with a touch of humor. Just kidding, don’t shove it to their face, but recommend it to them
