Please Don't Ignore Vera Dietz

 *spoiler alert* Please Ignore Vera Dietz, by A.S. King, is a unique, edgy, and gripping book that tells the story of the smart and snarky Vera Dietz as she tries to navigate her senior year. We first see Vera as she is leaving the funeral of her best friend Charlie. The two had a mysterious falling out not long before his death and Vera knows something about Charlie's death that she will not share. The rest of the novel explores Vera's life without Charlie; it tells us where she works, who she is hanging out with, how her relationship with her father is, and who she is looking to love now. We also learn more about her past as we piece together what really happened on the night of Charlie's death and what led to Vera and Charlie falling apart. The only way to find the truth about all of these is to not ignore Vera Dietz. 

One of the biggest highlights is the often alternating narrator; this means that though we see the world through Vera's eyes the most, we will occasionally hear from people like her father Ken, the dead kid Charlie, or even the inanimate location of the Pagoda. Hearing from all of these different perspectives allows us to see things Vera doesn't and it helps this world feel bigger and more alive. There is one character that is especially interesting to hear from, and that is Ken Dietz himself. "Vera thinks I don't know she's drinking. As if my past id just a vocabulary word... She has no idea what it means to me" (King 123). Vera always goes on about how she believes her father does not truly know her and could possibly know what is wrong with her. However, though Ken does not know everything, he knows some things and he is very concerned and wants to help her. It is also realistic because that is how many parents are; they are aware of many of the problems facing their kids but do not know how to properly assist them without just giving them advice and hoping they listen. This is why the use of alternating narrators plays heavily in the book's favor; it allows us to see multiple perspectives and makes the world feel much bigger. 

Vera Dietz, the novel's titular character is a phenomenal protagonist because of how relatable she can be, her humor, and most of all, her development as a character. At the beginning of the novel, we see Vera as an angsty teenager entering her senior year of high school; she is silently coping with Charlie's death and the stresses of being a teenager. Her ways of dealing with both were to try and be invisible and ignored so she would not have to deal with them. Whether it be the Detentionheads at school or dumb people she encounters during work; if she ignored her problems, then her problems would ignore her. However, as seen through flashbacks and through the messages Charlie left Vera, her habit of ignoring only made things worse and assisted in the loss of her best friend. It is at the end when she admits to everything about the Saturday night Charlie died when she realizes, "I have gone from the invisible Vera Dietz to the invincible Vera Dietz" (King 323). She has become someone who will advocate for others and for herself to make sure that she will never suffer in silence again. 

Please Ignore Vera Dietz is a very insightful and thought-provoking book and very unique insight into the teenage experience. The engaging and relatable characters, the stimulating drama, and the shocking realism of the book make it a fantastic read. This is the perfect story for teenagers and young adults because the themes present are things teenagers encounter very often and can learn a lot from. 

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