See below the review of Andrew Klavan’s The Identity Man. Split is another book about change and whether it is possible for a young man to become a new person, leave behind his old patterns of thinking and his past crimes, and as Jace, the protagonist in this book, puts it, “take the bastard-no-longer pledge.”

When sixteen year old Jace shows up on his older brother Christian’s front step with a split lip, a few dollars, and a reluctance to answer questions, it’s touch and go as to whether or not Christian will let Jace stay–even overnight. Both young men are running from their abusive father, and together they endanger each other. However, Jace has nowhere else to go, and maybe, even though he’s possibly a broken kid, unfixable and dangerous, perhaps he’s not hopeless yet. At least Jace would like to convince himself and Christian that it’s not too late, that he can leave his dad and the anger that is his dad’s bequest to him, all behind.

Again, the question is “can a person really change, become new, leave the past behind?” If so, how? Jace tries sheer will power, and that works for him to some extent. He also finds a “good woman,” but he’s afraid to take advantage of the benefits of a loving relationship with a girl he is attracted to because he’s afraid he can’t be the good man she needs and deserves. Finally, the answers in this book are honesty, brotherly loyalty and love, exercise for the purpose of anger management, and taking it one day, one hour, one minute at a time. Those are pretty good answers, perhaps inadequate in the long run, but perhaps not as far as leaving an abusive past behind.

Split was one of the books on the shortlist for the Cybils in the category of Young Adult Fiction, and I’m definitely understanding why it’s one of the top books that the panel chose. The relationship cues and under-currents are subtle and spot on, and Jace is an intelligent and astute judge of character, even of his own. His insights into what is going on beneath the surface of his family’s dynamics, plus the references to Shakespeare and other literary lights, were what made the book for me.

Warning: some language, (domestic) violence, and sexual references make this a book for mature young adults with a tolerance for that sort of material.