Teen wants to help another in ‘Cages’
Novel explores acceptance, guilt
Robin Roe’s “A List of Cages,” an earnest debut novel for young adults, is engaging, personal, heartwarming and tragic.
“Cages” tells the story of two high school boys: Adam, a popular senior, and Julian, a quiet freshman and outcast. When Adam becomes an aide to the school psychologist, he finds out that one of the students who sees her (or rather had been avoiding his appointments with her) is Julian, his former foster brother.
Since leaving Adam’s home, Julian’s life has taken a dark and sad turn; he lives with his abusive uncle, becoming more and more isolated. Adam is asked to befriend Julian and spend time with him for course credit, but that obligation rekindles their very real friendship. In building this friendship, Adam learns the tragic nature of Julian’s secretive world.
The story is told from the first-person perspectives of both boys. Adam’s carefree life with many friends, a loving mother, good grades, and plans for college is juxtaposed against Julian’s lonely life of social exile, school failures, and of course, abuse.
As Julian is brought into Adam’s social circle and shown warmth and kindness, Julian begins to break free of his emotional cage and engages with the world in a new way. However, this new-found energy and happiness brings swift and brutal retribution from his uncle, who is determined to keep him isolated and under his control. While the book is certainly a page turner that engages the reader, the novel is really about relationships. Adam and Julian’s relationship is the central theme of the novel, with poignant moments throughout, including a lovely scene in which Adam is shown Julian’s sanctuary of sorts – a closet in the school’s auditorium. Julian lets Adam read the stories he’s written, and Adam delivers one of the few genuine compliments that Julian has received.
The relationship between Julian and his uncle, Russell, is deeply disturbing. Julian is terrified of his uncle but equally terrified of being alone in the world. Even when Adam makes a desperate plea to contact the authorities when Julian shows up at his home bloody and beaten, Julian begs him to stay silent.
There also are moments of humor and wit, creating a nice balance in a novel and also an interesting contrast between the dark story of Julian’s life and the more humorous moments of high school, friendships, relationships and young adulthood.
What makes Roe’s story powerful is that it is relatable. The story touches on so much of what all of us have felt at one point or another in our youth — from the need to feel accepted to the guilt a person feels for not speaking up when they should to the complications of adolescent relationships.
Accompanying the preview copy was a letter that described the story behind “A List of Cages.” Roe and her mother removed her own nephew from an abusive situation. She describes the elation of the rescue, but also the guilt and worry when two more boys are born into the same home.
“As I wrote, I found myself channeling my experiences – of knowing someone I loved was being abused and feeling helpless to stop it,” writes Roe. “Of being abused, and not knowing that I could, or even should, stop it. As I wrote, I felt everything again – all the love and guilt and shame and fear and still more love.”