SATA
ENTRY TYPE:
WORK TITLE: UNCONVENTIONAL WARFARE
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BIRTHDATE: 7/2/1962
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NATIONALITY: American
LAST VOLUME: SATA 310
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PERSONAL
Born July 2, 1962, in Boston, MA; son of Edward J. (a bus driver) and Dorothy (a receptionist) Lynch; married Tina Coviello (a technical support manager), August 5, 1989 (marriage ended) partner’s name Jules; children: Sophia, Walker.
EDUCATION:Suffolk University, B.A. (journalism), 1983; Emerson University, M.A. (professional writing and publishing), 1991; attended Boston University.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer and educator. Proofreader of financial reports, 1985-89. Teacher of writing at Emerson University, 1995, and Vermont College, beginning 1997; Lesley University, Cambridge, MA, instructor in low-residency M.F.A program. Conducted a writing workshop at Boston Public Library, summer, 1994. Previously, worked as a furniture mover, truck driver, and house painter.
AVOCATIONS:Running.
MEMBER:Authors Guild, Author’s League of America.
AWARDS:American Library Association (ALA) Best Books for Young Adults and Quick Picks for Reluctant Young-Adult Readers citations, both 1993, for Shadow Boxer, both 1994, for both Iceman and Gypsy Davey, and both 1996, for Slot Machine; Best Books of the Year designation, School Library Journal, 1993, for Shadow Boxer; Blue Ribbon Award, Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, 1994, for both Iceman and Gypsy Davey; Editors’ Choice award, Booklist, 1994, for Gypsy Davey; Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award finalist, Book of the Year selection, Hungry Mind Review, and Young Adults’ Choice citation, International Reading Association, all 1997, all for Slot Machine; Michael L. Printz Honor Book designation and ALA Best Book for Young Adults designation, both 2002, both for Freewill; National Book Award nomination, 2005, and ALA Best Book for Young Adults designation, 2006, both for Inexcusable; ALA Best Fiction for Young Adults designation, 2011, for Hothouse, and 2014, for Pieces; numerous honors from state reading associations.
WRITINGS
Short stories represented in anthologies, including Ultimate Sports, edited by Donald Gallo, Delacorte, 1995; Night Terrors, edited by Lois Duncan, Simon & Schuster, 1996; Guys Write for Guys Read, Viking, 2004; No Such Thing as the Real World, HarperCollins, 2009; and Taking Aim: Power and Pain, Teens and Guns, edited by Michael Cart, HarperCollins, 2015. Contributor of stories and articles to periodicals, including Boston, School Library Journal, and Signal.
SIDELIGHTS
An American author of young-adult fiction, Chris Lynch creates realistic and compelling books featuring young people wading through the muddy waters of adolescence on their way to adulthood. Indeed, confused and misunderstood teens have become Lynch’s stock in trade; these youths populate the pages of his novels Killing Time in Crystal City, Hit Count, and Irreversible as well as his “Blue-Eyed Son” trilogy. The author creates humorously flawed protagonists in his “Elvin” and “He-Man Woman-Haters Club” series, which are aimed at younger audiences, and he explores the rigors of combat in his “Vietnam” and “World War II” novels.
Lynch was raised in Boston, the fifth of seven children. After his father died when he was just five years old, his mother was left to raise the children alone and finances became somewhat strained. A somewhat reclusive child, Lynch attended primary and secondary levels Catholic schools but dropped out of high school in his junior year. He eventually enrolled at Boston University, where a journalism course sparked his interest in writing. After transferring to Suffolk University, he majored in the subject, and after graduation spent six years working at odd jobs such as painting houses, driving a moving van, and proofreading financial reports.
While pursuing a master’s program in professional writing and publishing at Boston’s Emerson University, Lynch took a children’s writing class from Y.A. author Jack Gantos. It was then that he began what became his first published novel, Shadow Boxer, the story of two brothers struggling to cope after the death of their journeyman boxer father. In reviewing this work for Horn Book, Peter D. Sieruta wrote that Lynch captures, “with unflinching honesty,” the novel’s working-class Boston setting.
In Iceman, another early novel, Lynch tells the story of Eric, a troubled youth for whom violence in the hockey rink acts as a release for his pent-up emotions. Reviewing Iceman for Booklist, Stephanie Zvirin wrote that Lynch’s “totally unpredictable novel … is an unsettling, complicated portrayal of growing up in a dysfunctional family” as well as “a thought-provoking book guaranteed to compel and touch a teenage audience.” A companion volume, Pieces, follows a despondent Eric as he reaches out to the individuals who received organs from his deceased older brother. “Lynch paints a cast of indelible characters, even secondary players, with a deft, sensitive hand,” commented Thom Barthelmess in Booklist, and a Kirkus Reviews writer described Pieces as “a sharply observed story of real human connection.”
In his critically acclaimed “Blue-Eyed Son” trilogy, Lynch returns to the mean streets of Boston to explore racism and family dynamics. In Mick his fifteen-year-old title character severs ties with his close-knit Irish neighborhood in favor of his new Latino and Asian friends, drawing the ire of his older brother, Terry. In Blood Relations Mick struggles to find himself, forming a brief liaison with beautiful Evelyn, while Dog Eat Dog finds him and Terry facing off for a final showdown. “With realistic street language and an in-your-face writing style … Lynch immerses readers in Mick’s world,” Kelly Diller wrote in a review of Mick for School Library Journal.
Lynch’s award-winning novel Freewill is written in the form of a mystery and utilizes second-person narration. Having lost his father and stepmother in a strange accident, Will is sent to a special school where a sudden rash of suicides forces the reader to wonder if Will is not responsible. One of the teen’s wood carvings is found at the scene of each of these suicides, attracting the police’s suspicious and also drawing the attention of a weird group of hangers-on. Finally, Will’s grandfather helps the boy unravel the mystery and find out what is really going on. Described by Adams as an “unsettling narrative,” Freewill is a “dark, rich young-adult novel that offers something to think about as well as an intriguing story,” according to Booklist contributor Susan Dove Lempke.
Described as a “bone-chilling” and “daring” novel by Booklist reviewer Gillian Engberg, Inexcusable focuses on high-school football player Keir Sarafian, a self-proclaimed “good guy” who cannot believe that he is guilty of date raping his childhood friend. As Keir recounts the events leading to the traumatic incident, however, he reveals himself as an individual blind to his own faults. Paula Rohrlick remarked in Kliatt that “Keir is a good example of an unreliable narrator, whose version of reality and sense of himself … are dangerously off base.” In a sequel, Irreversible, Keir tries to fashion a new life for himself at a college out west, though his tainted reputation and glaring lack of self-awareness hinder his progress. An “uneasy ending will leave readers in a chasm of doubt that Keir has truly changed,” Diane P. Tucillo noted in appraising Irreversible, for School Library Journal.
A football star is also at the center of Hit Count, an “unflinching examination of the price of athletic power,” opined Betty Carter in Booklist. A relentless, hard-nosed linebacker, Arlo Brodie takes immense pride in his ability to dole out punishment on the gridiron. Obsessed with becoming being the most ferocious hitter on the field, Arlo ignores the warning signs of head trauma, instead intensifying his workouts and worrying his parents, friends, and coaches. According to New York Times Book Review contributor Paul Volponi, in Hit Count “Lynch offers a penetrating view into the kind of difficult situation that occurs regularly on high school fields, undocumented by any camera.”
Two high-school friends react to the deaths of their fathers in Lynch’s Hothouse, which a Kirkus Reviews writer described as “a concise exploration of manhood, heroism and the psychology of a small … town.” Russell and DJ are both stunned when their firefighter dads are killed inside a burning building, and their shared grief tightens the bond of their friendship. When an investigation into the deadly fire reveals that drugs were a factor in the men’s deaths, everything Russ and DJ once held as true is shattered. “Weaving tough topics, such as death, friendship, family, school, and identity into a seamless story truthfully portrayed has become Lynch’s standard,” as Angie Hammond noted in her Voice of Youth Advocates appraisal.
Another teen questions his family’s history in Kill Switch, which focuses on the close relationship between high-school senior Daniel and Daniel’s aging grandfather. During the teen’s final summer before college, Da begins to show signs of dementia, and every hour spent with the elderly man now seems precious. The timeworn tales of Da’s youth start to gain unpleasant new details, however, as the man adds to them his experiences overthrowing foreign governments and tracking down wayward scientists with the help of covert operatives. The fact that Da used to work for the government gives these stories a veneer of truth; or is the old man going senile? In Booklist Chipman praised Kill Switch as vintage Lynch: “A compact, frayed nerves bundle of brilliance,” according to the critic, while Dean Schneider concluded in Horn Book that the author’s “spare prose” crystalizes “the complicated relationship of grandfather, son, and grandson.”
An offbeat tale about a pair of teens who become mixed up with the mob, Little Blue Lies, was deemed “charmingly clever and witty” by School Library Journal contributor Joy Piedmont. Oliver and Junie Blue built their relationship on playful fibs, and he is not sure what to believe when he learns that his ex-girlfriend holds a winning lottery ticket. Nonetheless, Oliver decides to intervene on her behalf with the One Who Knows, a local crime boss who wants his share of the proceeds. Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books reviewer Elizabeth Bush applauded Little Blue Lies, citing its “breakneck pacing and characters and dialogue as smart and sharp as Lynch makes them.”
In Killing Time in Crystal City, Lynch presents “a meditation on belonging, choices and denial,” in the words of a Kirkus Reviews writer. After breaking his arm in a scuffle he blames on his father, seventeen-year-old Kevin heads to Crystal City to live with his estranged uncle, a petty criminal. There Kevin befriends fellow runaways Molly and Stacey as well as a group of aimless, troubled guys who spend their days wandering a stretch of beach. As Kevin adjusts to his gritty new environment, flashbacks reveal the true reason behind the altercation between the adolescent and his dad in what Booklist critic Michael Cart deemed a “fine, character-driven coming-of-age novel, informed by a dramatic tension between reality and possibility.”
In I Pledge Allegiance readers meet Morris, Rudi, Ivan, and Beck, whose stories play out in Lynch’s “Vietnam” novel series. Morris describes his time in the U.S. Navy in I Pledge Allegiance, allowing readers to experience life aboard the USS Boston as the crew works to support ground forces facing enemy fire in the jungles bordering the Meikong river Delta. Sharpshooter finds Ivan trained as a U.S. Army sniper. Rudi narrates Free-Fire Zone, sharing his insecurities with readers while describing his experiences on the battlefield as a U.S. Marine. In Casualties of War, Beck, a member of the U.S. Air Force, grows conflicted over his crew’s use of Agent Orange to defoliate Southeast Asian forests. The series concludes with Walking Wounded, which focuses on the aftermath of Rudi’s death.
“Lynch puts his readers in the center of intense conflict,” noted Todd Morning in a Booklist review of I Pledge Allegiance, while a Publishers Weekly critic wrote that he also touches on themes such as “racial unrest in the Navy” as well as “battles, tragedies, and inability to explain the horrors of war.” Sharpshooter “brilliantly captures the war in small details,” asserted Morning in appraising the second “Vietnam” novel, and a Kirkus Reviews writer concluded of Lynch’s series that it “gains richness from the multiple narratives” and ranks among “the best Vietnam War novels” written for young adults.
With The Right Fight, Lynch opens his “World War II” novel series. The work concerns Roman Bucyk, a minor-league baseball player who gives up the sport to serve his country as a member of a tank unit in North Africa. “Roman’s youthful optimism, bravado, and fear allow readers to experience a firsthand look into a soldier’s life,” Rita Soltan observed in School Library Journal. The fates of three other former ballplayers are chronicled in Lynch’s “World War II” novels: Dead in the Water, which follows a sailor in the Pacific; Alive and Kicking, which chronicles the exploits of an Army Air Force gunner; and The Liberators, about Marine paratroopers.
In addition to his hard-hitting novels for older teens, Lynch addresses younger readers in several works of fiction. His “Elvin” series depicts the comic exploits of an overweight teen, while the “He-Man Woman-Haters Club” novels poke fun at the stereotypes of younger adolescent boys. School Library Journal critic Miranda Doyle predicted that readers “will identify with Elvin’s outsider status and enjoy his hilarious missteps on the path to adulthood.” Reviewing The Wolf Gang, one of the “He-Man Woman-Haters Club” tales, Shelle Rosenfeld concluded in Booklist that “Lynch’s presentation of the boys’ seesawing view of girls as enemies or attractions is dead-on, as is his portrayal of the ties of friendship that bind—and survive even the toughest tests in the end.”
Described by Horn Book contributor Claire E. Gross as an “oddball futuristic conspiracy-adventure story,” Lynch’s Cyberia is the first installment in a science-fiction series for middle graders. In the novel, Zane possesses a technologically advanced communications device, which has been given him by his workaholic single dad to keep Zane entertained while he is home alone. The device allows the boy to communicate with his dog Hugo. When the pup recounts stories of animal abuse, Zane is inspired to become an animal rights advocate, doing battle with maniacal veterinarian Dr. Gristle. Reviewing Cyberia, Gross cited “the tenderness” that characterizes Zane’s relationship with Hugo as well as the “hefty dose of dry situational comedy” Lynch stirs into his story.
In a sequel, Monkey See, Monkey Don’t, Zane once again locks horns once again with his nemesis, Dr. Gristle, who is employing a special technology to turn Hugo against his owner. In Prime Evil, Zane combats Gristle’s brother, Bucky, who is developing a breed of ill-tempered cattle. Lynch’s use of “short, direct narration and dry dialogue keep the action zipping along,” observed Gross in her Horn Book appraisal of Monkey See, Monkey Don’t, and School Library Journal critic Jessica Miller cited Prime Evil for its “slapstick humor and … interesting plot.”
Episodic and fast paced, Lynch’s fiction questions the male stereotypes of macho identity and inarticulate violence. “I feel like in every case what I am really writing about is the uniquely beautiful experience that is true friendship,” he told School Library Journal interviewer Kiera Parrott. “I’ll even go further—possibly scaring off some readers too—and say that no matter what each one of my books looks like on the surface, to me I’m always writing a love story.”
(open new)Unconventional Warfare is the first book in the “Special Forces” series by Lynch. It protagonist is Danny Manion, a juvenile delinquent who becomes a soldier. Danny struggles during his young. With a quick temper, he frequently gets into fights. Danny’s father, who has complications from polio, urges Danny to get along with his brothers, but Danny cannot seem to control his temper. However, he enjoys wrestling and looks up to his coach, Mr. Macias. Danny is arrested for stealing a motorcycle, and Mr. Macias comes to his aid. He convinces the judge to refrain from giving Danny jail time if Danny agrees to join the Army. He benefits from the structure of the military and develops respect for his colonel. Danny is selected to be part of an elite team of special forces soldiers and is sent to Laos on a mission that is technically illegal. He lies to his father about what his unit is doing. They work with local operatives and fight enemies. Meanwhile, Danny learns to depend on the other young men in his unit.
A contributor to Kirkus Reviews offered a critical assessment of Unconventional Warfare. The contributor remarked: “Without any historical notes to provide context, Danny’s story feels underdeveloped and overly simplistic even for younger teens.” The same contributor also suggested the book’s brevity prevented it from having “any real character development.”(close new)
BIOCRIT
BOOKS
Authors and Artists for Young Adults, Gale (Detroit, MI), Volume 19, 1996, Volume 44, 2002.
Children’s Literature Review, Volume 58, Gale (Detroit, MI), 2000.
St. James Guide to Young-Adult Writers, 2nd edition, St. James Press (Detroit, MI), 1999.
PERIODICALS
Booklist, December 15, 1993, Gary Young, review of Shadow Boxer, p. 747; February 1, 1994, Stephanie Zvirin, review of Iceman, p. 1001; September 1, 1995, Stephanie Zvirin, review of Slot Machine, p. 74; October 15, 1996, Anne O’Malley, review of Political Timber, p. 4141; April 15, 1997, Randy Meyer, review of Scratch and the Sniffs, pp. 1429-1430; August, 1998, Shelle Rosenfeld, review of The Wolf Gang, pp. 2006-2007; September 1, 2000, Debbie Carton, review of Gold Dust, p. 116; May 15, 2001, Susan Dove Lempke, review of Freewill, p. 1745; November 15, 2002, Ed Sullivan, review of Who the Man, p. 588; September 1, 2005, Michael Cart, review of Me, Dead Dad, and Alcatraz, p. 111; September 15, 2005, Gillian Engberg, review of Inexcusable, p. 55; September 1, 2008, Ian Chapman, review of The Big Game of Everything, p. 110; September 15, 2008, Daniel Kraus, review of Cyberia, p. 50; January 1, 2010, Daniel Kraus, review of Monkey See, Monkey Don’t, p. 86; May 15, 2010, Daniel Kraus, review of Hothouse, p. 36; January 1, 2011, Ian Chipman, review of Angry Young Man, p. 92; Daniel Kraus, review of Prime Evil, p. 106; October 15, 2011, Todd Morning, review of I Pledge Allegiance, p. 46; March 1, 2012, Ian Chipman, review of Kill Switch, p. 76, and Todd Morning, review of Sharpshooter, p. 83; March 1, 2013, Thom Barthelmess, review of Pieces, p. 62; November 1, 2014, Michael Cart, review of Killing Time in Crystal City, p. 52; April 1, 2015, Maggie Reagan, review of Hit Count, p. 65; July 1, 2016, Jennifer Barnes, review of Irreversible, p. 54.
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, November, 1994, Elizabeth Bush, review of Gypsy Davey, p. 93; April, 1996, Elizabeth Bush, reviews of Mick, Blood Relations, and Dog Eat Dog, all p. 270; September, 2008, April Spisak, review of Cyberia, p. 33; December, 2008, Deborah Stevenson, review of The Big Game of Everything, p. 162; December, 2010, Ruth Cox Clark, review of Hothouse, p. 456; February, 2011, Elizabeth Bush, review of Angry Young Man, p. 284; December, 2011, Elizabeth Bush, review of I Pledge Allegiance, p. 214; January, 2013, Elizabeth Bush, review of Casualties of War, p. 254; March, 2013, Deborah Stevenson, review of Pieces, p. 341; February, 2014, Elizabeth Bush, review of The Right Fight, p. 324: March, 2014, Elizabeth Bush, review of Little Blue Lies, p. 366; March, 2015, Deborah Stevenson, review of Killing Time in Crystal City, p. 362; September, 2016, Deborah Stevenson, review of Irreversible, p. 35.
Horn Book, May-June, 1994, Patty Campbell, “The Sand in the Oyster,” pp. 358-362; November-December, 1995, Maeve Visser Knoth, review of Slot Machine, pp. 746-747; November-December, 1995, Peter D. Sieruta, review of Shadow Boxer, pp. 745-746; March-April, 1997, Elizabeth S. Watson, review of Political Timber, p. 201; July-August, 1999, review of Whitechurch, p. 469; November-December, 2000, Lauren Adams, review of Gold Dust, p. 758; July-August, 2001, Lauren Adams, review of Freewill, p. 457; September-October, 2001, review of All the Old Haunts, p. 588; July-August, 2004, Laurence Adams, review of The Gravedigger’s Cottage, p. 456; January-February, 2006, Betty Carter, review of Inexcusable, p. 83, and Christine M. Hepperman, review of Me, Dead Dad, and Alcatraz, p. 84: September-October, 2008, Lauren Adams, review of The Big Game of Everything, p. 592; January-February, 2009, Claire E. Gross, review of Cyberia, p. 96; November-December, 2009, Claire E. Gross, review of Monkey See, Monkey Don’t, p. 678; September-October, 2010, Betty Carter, review of Hothouse, p. 83; March-April, 2012, Dean Schneider, review of Kill Switch, p. 113; July-August, 2013, review of Free-Fire Zone, p. 161; May-June, 2015, Betty Carter, review of Hit Count, p. 113.
Horn Book Guide, fall, 2012, April Mazza, review of Sharpshooter, p. 104; spring, 2013, April Mazza, review of Free-Fire Zone, p. 77; fall, 2013, reviews of Iceman, Shadow Boxer, and Pieces, all pp. 120-121; fall, 2014, Lauren Adams, review of Freewill, Betty Carter, review of The Right Fight, and Rebecca Hachmayer, review of Little Blue Lies, all pp. 117-118; spring, 2015, April Mazza, review of Walking Wounded, and review of Dead in the Water, both p. 115; fall, 2015, Betty Carter, review of Hit Count, April Mazza, review of Alive and Kicking, and Randy Ribay, review of Killing Time in Crystal City, all pp. 129-130.
Kirkus Reviews, October 15, 2001, review of All the Old Haunts, p. 1488; August 15, 2005, review of Me, Dead Dad, and Alcatraz, p. 918; September 1, 2010, review of Hothouse; February 15, 2012, review of Sharpshooter; November 15, 2012, review of Casualties of War; February 1, 2013, review of Pieces; October 15, 2013, review of The Right Fight; January 1, 2014, review of Little Blue Lies; November 1, 2014, review of Killing Time in Crystal City; March 15, 2015, review of Hit Count; June 15, 2016, review of Irreversible; September 15, 2018, review of Unconventional Warfare.
Kliatt, May, 2004, Michele Winship, review of The Gravedigger’s Cottage, p. 10; September, 2005, Paula Rohrlick, review of Me, Dead Dad, and Alcatraz, p. 10; November, 2005, Paula Rohrlick, review of Inexcusable, p. 8; September 8, 2008, Paula Rohrlick, review of Sins of the Fathers, p. 14.
New York Times Book Review, August 23, 2015, Paul Volponiaug, review of Hit Count, p. 25.
Publishers Weekly, October 21, 1996, review of Political Timber, p. 84; January 11, 1999, review of Extremely Elvin, p. 73; May 10, 1999, review of Whitechurch, p. 69; August 21, 2000, review of Gold Dust, p. 74; October 29, 2001, review of All the Old Haunts, p. 65; November 11, 2002, review of Who the Man, p. 65; October 17, 2005, review of Inexcusable, p. 69; October 23, 2006, review of Sins of the Fathers, p. 53; September 8, 2008, review of Cyberia, p. 51; September 13, 2010, review of Hothouse, p. 47; December 20, 2010, review of Angry Young Men, p. 54; October 24, 2011, review of I Pledge Allegiance, p. 54; October 20, 2014, review of Killing Time in Crystal City, p. 54; July 18, 2016, review of Irreversible, p. 212.
School Library Journal, September, 1993, Tom S. Hurlburt, review of Shadow Boxer, p. 252; March, 1994, Jack Forman, review of Iceman, p. 239; March, 1996, Kelly Diller, review of Mick, pp. 220-221, and Kellie Flynn, review of Blood Relations, p. 221; October, 2000, Michael McCullough, review of Gold Dust, p. 164; November, 2001, Angela J. Reynolds, review of All the Old Haunts, p. 160; September, 2005, Miranda Doyle, review of Me, Dead Dad, and Alcatraz, p. 207; September, 2006, Carolyn Lehman, review of Sins of the Fathers, p. 211; October, 2008, Jeffrey Hastings, review of The Big Game of Everything, p. 152; January, 2010, Necia Blundy, review of Monkey See, Monkey Don’t, p. 106; September, 2010, Allison Tran, review of Hothouse, p. 157; February, 2011, Ryan Donovan, review of Angry Young Man, p. 113, and Jessica Miller, review of Prime Evil, p. 114; January, 2012, Chris Shoemaker, review of I Pledge Allegiance, p. 120; March, 2012, Maggie Knapp, review of Kill Switch, p. 165; June, 2012, Kimberly Gamick Giarratano, review of Sharpshooter, p. 127; May, 2013, Jennifer Miskec, review of Pieces, p. 118; February, 2014, Rita Soltan, review of The Right Fight, p. 109; March, 2014, Joy Piedmont, review of Little Blue Lies, p. 160; October, 2014, Jennifer Schultz, review of Killing Time in Crystal City, p. 120; March, 2015, Richard Luzer, review of Hit Count, p. 159; August, 2016, Diane P. Tucillo, review of Irreversible, p. 111.
Voice of Youth Advocates, December, 1993, John R. Lord, review of Shadow Boxer, p. 295; April, 1994, Randy Brough, review of Iceman, p. 28; December, 1994, Keith W. McCoy, review of Gypsy Davey, p. 277; October, 2010, Angie Hammond, review of Hothouse, p. 352; December, 2010, Ruth Cox Clark, review of Hothouse, p. 456; February, 2011, Devin Burritt, interview with Lynch, p. 18, and Ryan Donovan, review of Angry Young Man, p. 113; February, 2012, Ann Reddy Damon, review of I Pledge Allegiance, p. 595; August, 2012, Robbie Flowers, review of Sharpshooter, and Jan Chapman, review of Kill Switch, both p. 264; February, 2013, Robbie L. Flowers, review of Free-Fire Zone, p. 565; April, 2013, Mark Flowers, review of Pieces, p. 663; February, 2014, Hilary Crew, review of Little Blue Lies, p. 62; February, 2015, Loryn Aman, review of Killing Time in Crystal City, p. 60; April, 2015, Blake Norby, review of Hit Count, p. 65; December, 2016, Beth Green, review of Irreversible, p. 64.
ONLINE
National Book Award website, http://www.nationalbook.org/ (December 20, 2009), “Chris Lynch.”
School Library Journal online, http://www.slj.com/ (August 6, 2014), Kiera Parrott, interview with Lynch.
Simon & Schuster website, http://www.simonandschuster.com/ (January 8, 2018), author interview.
Teenreads.com, http://www.teenreads.com/ (December 20, 2009), interviews with Lynch.
Chris Lynch is the Printz Honor Award–winning author of several highly acclaimed young adult novels, including Printz Honor Book Freewill, Iceman, Gypsy Davy, and Shadow Boxer—all ALA Best Books for Young Adults—as well as Killing Time in Crystal City, Little Blue Lies, Pieces, Kill Switch, Angry Young Man, and Inexcusable, which was a National Book Award finalist and the recipient of six starred reviews. He holds an MA from the writing program at Emerson College. He teaches in the Creative Writing MFA program at Lesley University. He lives in Boston and in Scotland.
Author Revealed
About Chris Lynch
Q. What is your birthdate?
A. 7/2
Q. Previous occupations
A. Furniture mover/truck driver, house painter, proofreader.
Q. Favorite job
A. I could not have a more perfect job for me than writer.
Q. High school and/or college
A. Catholic Memorial H.S., Boston University, Suffolk University, Emerson College
Q. Name of your favorite composer or music artist?
A. Impossible. But my favorite "literary" musical composer is Randy Newman. His songs are lyrical, resonant short stories.
Q. Favorite movie
A. Midnight Cowboy
Q. Favorite television show
A. The Simpsons
Revealing Questions
Q. How would you describe your life in only 8 words?
A. Dead lucky to have the job I have.
Q. What is your motto or maxim?
A. Look for humor, find life.
Q. How would you describe perfect happiness?
A. Without question, perfect happiness includes a steady diet of humor. I am pathologically addicted to the hearty laugh, and spend much of my life in pursuit of it. Probably, the midst of a genuine, helpless fit of laughter is the point of emotional nirvana for me. On a broader level, I have found my periods of deepest satisfaction were when my kids were younger, I was totally consumed in taking care of them every day, and my writing life was going really well too. That feeling of having a strong sense of purpose every day, feeling that purpose is a mighty one (thank you, George Bernard Shaw), and feeling that you are doing a pretty good job of it all, that state is pretty hard to top. These days, my kids are at the point of not really needing me as much as I would like them to. That has, frankly been a tough adjustment for me. But adaptation is probably life's most useful skill.
Q. What’s your greatest fear?
A. Anything deadly befalling my children.
Q. If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you choose to be?
A. A modest little house on a modest, remote little beach (New England coast, thank you), where I could hear pounding surf most of the time..
Q. Which living person do you most admire?
A. Muhammad Ali
Q. What are your most overused words or phrases?
A. Certain swear words. Intellectually childish and lazy on my part.
Q. What do you regret most?
A. I wish I approached my adolescence more like Ferris Bueller did.
Q. If you could acquire any talent, what would it be?
A. A genuine grasp of music, almost any instrument would do.
Q. What’s your greatest flaw?
A. I tend to let my appetites make decisions for me.
Q. What’s your best quality?
A. I adapt, eventually, to most realities.
Q. If you could be any person or thing, who or what would it be?
A. A dolphin. Is there any creature on earth that seems to be enjoying itself more than the dolphin?
Q. What trait is most noticeable about you?
A. I'm a goof, a high percentage of the time.
Q. Who is your favorite fictional hero?
A. There is no definitive here, but I do love Hellboy's attitude.
Q. Who is your favorite fictional villain?
A. The artist Damien Hirst, who qualifies by managing to be both artistically nonexistent and vile at the same time.
Q. What is your biggest pet peeve?
A. Lots, but I'll pick one. Poor manners behind the wheel. Why does driving give people license to be flaming butts?
Q. What is your favorite occupation, when you’re not writing?
A. Tough one. An evening of theatre and a restaurant is a pretty fine occupation.
Q. What’s your fantasy profession?
A. I'd love to run a publication like The Onion.
Q. What 3 personal qualities are most important to you?
A. Sense of humor. Strong work ethic. Personal responsibility.
Q. If you could eat only one thing for the rest of your days, what would it be?
A. Fettucini Alfredo, laced with spinach and smoked salmon, and absolutely bombarded with garlic.
Q. What are your 5 favorite songs?
A. Monstrously unfair question. Answer would change daily. Right now: Jessica by the Allman Brothers; One Week by Barenaked Ladies; No Surrender by Bruce Springsteen; Diamonds and Rust by Joan Baez; Promised Land by Chuck Berry
On Books and Writing
Q. Who are your favorite authors?
A. Fitzgerald, Vonnegut, Joan Didion, Richard Ford, Pete Dexter, Arthur Miller, Tennesee Williams, Samuel Beckett. As of now.
Q. What are your 5 favorite books of all time?
A. Play it as it lays, Joan Didion. Stay here with me, Robert Olmstead. The Sportswriter, by Richard Ford, Hole in my life, by Jack Gantos. The Moviegoer, by Walker Percy.
Q. Is there a book you love to reread?
A. I am too slow for rereading. But I am going back to the Olmstead right now, so that must be special.
Q. Do you have one sentence of advice for new writers?
A. Be bold, be different, excite, amuse and scare yourself.
Q. What comment do you hear most often from your readers?
A. Nevermind, I thought you were Chris Crutcher.
Chris Lynch is the author of numerous acclaimed books for middle-grade and teen readers, including the Vietnam and World War II series and the National Book Award finalist Inexcusable. He teaches in the Lesley University creative writing MFA program, and divides his time between Massachusetts and Scotland.
QUOTED: "Without any historical notes to provide context, Danny's story feels underdeveloped and overly simplistic even for younger teens."
"any real character development."
Lynch, Chris: UNCONVENTIONAL WARFARE
Kirkus Reviews. (Sept. 15, 2018):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 Kirkus Media LLC
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Full Text:
Lynch, Chris UNCONVENTIONAL WARFARE Scholastic (Young Adult Fiction) $17.99 11, 27 ISBN: 978-0-545-86162-5
A young man serves in a secret unit during the Vietnam War.
Danny Manion is an impulsive hothead, one who brawls with his brothers even though he knows it disappoints his polio survivor father. After he steals a motorcycle, his wrestling coach and idol, Mr. Macias, arranges with the judge for Danny to join the Army, with Mr. Macias as his colonel. But instead of serving in a noncombat position in Thailand like he tells his father, Danny is actually part of a special ops unit illegally fighting in Laos. Through injuries and missions gone wrong, Danny grows and learns from his colonel and his fellow soldiers--even though they all come across like teen sociopaths, with statements like "Truth is, there are no rules here. It's glorious," and "We're here to kill everything." Danny exhibits more concern about a fellow soldier shooting an elephant than about killing people, and the Meo characters who help their unit aren't even called by their proper names. With the violent nature of war as depicted, the overall slimness of the novel, and without any historical notes to provide context, Danny's story feels underdeveloped and overly simplistic even for younger teens. Danny and his family are white; his close friend and fellow soldier is named Lopez.
Too short to allow for any real character development or complex moral thought; don't recruit this one for your library. (Historical fiction. 12-14)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Lynch, Chris: UNCONVENTIONAL WARFARE." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Sept. 2018. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A553948816/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=98e17d2e. Accessed 20 Nov. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A553948816