SOME KIND OF HATE

A lifelong friendship is threatened by White nationalism.

Teens Declan Taylor, a talented pitcher, and his best friend, Jake Lehrer, are both White—like most in their small, rural New York town—but Jake is Jewish, and Dec is not. When Dec’s severely injured while trying to impress his crush, he finds himself playing video games all summer instead of baseball with Jake. His working-class parents worry about the medical bills more than his misery. Resentful and bored, he’s primed for the MMORPG Imperialist Empires, which takes him down a rabbit hole of hatred. Soon he’s hanging out IRL with local players, spewing invective, repeating beliefs that “globalists want to dilute the purity of the white race”—and putting that hate into action. Opening with a note about the difficult content, which includes slurs, Littman tackles an important topic. Jake’s feelings of differentness within the larger community are poignantly realized, from casual microaggressions to active-shooter drills at the synagogue. Unfortunately, Declan’s characterization is paper thin. A bundle of toxic masculinity from the get-go, he gives readers little insight into what Jake gets from their friendship, while his leaden, present-tense narration (alternating with Jake’s) tends to lines like “fury bubbles in my belly like molten lava.” Frequent infodumps further weigh the tale down.

Worthy concept; inadequate execution.