The Starboard Sea by Amber Dermont

As I work my way through the New York Times 100 Notable Books list each year, I find things that I certain I would not have picked up to read had they not been on the list and that I am glad that I did.  Which I guess is where the motivation to continue to go to that list each Thanksgiving when it comes out.  This is not the the best book that I read in that way ('Everyone Dies Alone' by Hans Fallada holds that honor, and it will be very hard to unseat it because the summary of the book sounds every bit as depressing as the book itself, and yet somehow it manages to convey a ray of hope, despite all that happens).

This book does not take place in times of war.  It is high school.  You can argue that growing up and the traumas that occur can have every bit the same trauma as war and I don't disagree with that, except for the magnitude of effect.  When bad things happen in high school, the ripple effect can be smaller.  Not so in 'The Starboard Sea'.  Jason Prosper is bright and handsome and talented.  Unfortunately that does not protect him from bad things happening to him.

The story starts off as a boarding school story that you may have heard before.  "A Separate Peace' comes to mind.  But then it takes a big left turn into a culture of hazing that is unchecked and ends in a tragedy--which is likely to be repeated.  This is particularly instructive in the wake of manslaughter charges being filed in the case of a drum major hazing at Floridad A&M from 2011.  How is it that otherwise good people remain siltent in the face of profound cruelty?  This book explores that--as you might expect, there are no simple answers