Named to ten BEST OF THE YEAR lists and selected as a William C. Morris Award Winner,The Serpent King is the critically acclaimed, much-beloved story of three teens who find themselves–and each other–while on the cusp of graduating from high school with hopes of leaving their small-town behind. Perfect for fans of John Green’s Turtles All the Way Down.“Move over, John Green; Zentner is coming … over, John Green; Zentner is coming for you.” —The New York Public Library
“Will fill the infinite space that was left in your chest after you finished The Perks of Being a Wallflower.” —BookRiot.com
Dill isn’t the most popular kid at his rural Tennessee high school. After his father fell from grace in a public scandal that reverberated throughout their small town, Dill became a target. Fortunately, his two fellow misfits and best friends, Travis and Lydia, have his back.
But as they begin their senior year, Dill feels the coils of his future tightening around him. His only escapes are music and his secret feelings for Lydia–neither of which he is brave enough to share. Graduation feels more like an ending to Dill than a beginning. But even before then, he must cope with another ending–one that will rock his life to the core.
Debut novelist Jeff Zentner provides an unblinking and at times comic view of the hard realities of growing up in the Bible belt, and an intimate look at the struggles to find one’s true self in the wreckage of the past.
“A story about friendship, family and forgiveness, it’s as funny and witty as it is utterly heartbreaking.” —PasteMagazine.com
“A brutally honest portrayal of teen life . . . [and] a love letter to the South from a man who really understands it.” —Mashable.com
“I adored all three of these characters and the way they talked to and loved one another.”—New York Times
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I loved this story – the religious themes, the pressure of the “sins of the father” as they related to the main character, though all of the characters are excellent. I loved the darkness that presses in and the exploration of how a character faces it. I love that Zentner is willing to take us into those places and asks us to think about them. WONDERFUL YA.
The Serpent King was one of the most buzzed-about and well-loved books of 2016, and for very good reason. As soon as I finished this, I wanted to flip it over and start again. Since then, I’ve recommended it probably more times than I can count.
The Serpent King follows three high school students through the end of their senior year, as they grapple with change, family tragedy and drama, and the end of life as they know it. Dill, Travis, and Lydia are three of the realest, most memorable characters I’ve read in a long time. They all come to life so vividly, by the end of the book you just feel like you’ve lived through everything with them.
This book is incredibly funny, heartbreaking, and it will stick with you LONG after you finish reading it. I can’t recommend this highly enough, definitely an all-time favorite for me!
I love this book. It captures the lives of three misfit teens in Tennessee, and what binds them together. It’s not as action-packed as some YA readers might like, but these people are real.
Zenter always makes me laugh, cry, and think. The Serpent King was like a teenaged STAND BY ME, only in the South. Must read.
Lydia, Travis, and Dill. Three total misfits in Forestville, Tennessee. Lydia is a fashionista who is unique in her style and gets a lot of backlash for it. She runs a blog called Dollywould where she finds friends who love her style. Travis is a tall, skinny dude who loves the books series Bloodfall. He is a complete social outcast who is completely happy to live in the make-believe world of the bloodfall forums. Dill is the main character, whose family is…. unusual to say the least. His dad is in jail for the possession of child pornography, and Dill Early is unsure of how to leave that past behind. Three total misfits have banded together in a wonderful book as they go through the trials of being teenagers and different in a very small town that has very small beliefs.
I really enjoyed this book. It is an easy read with likeable and relatable characters with high intense moments that get your heart beating. I can easily assign the roles (Dill, Travis and Lydia) to my high school friends growing up in my TN small town with plans to move away to make something more of themselves. Growing up musically inclined and gay in the Bible belt, I might as well have been handling snakes at that age and time.
With steadfast religious beliefs, I had a hard time reconciling my sexuality and my faith. Churches wanted you to attend, but still condemned your “lifestyle choice.” Hate the sin, not the sinner, but we will make your skin crawl when we preach about you from the pulpit. I hate that the Pastor’s portrayal is “stereotypical”, but in my experience and thru a lot of news stories, it feels all too real and true.
This book is a must read for any age range (from YA to elder).
It was interesting. This is one of the realistic fiction books I can actually stand. I had a good time reading it, especially because it was for a margin project at my local library. Meaning I was supposed to write in the book as I went along. I ended up drawing little snakes everywhere! That did not take away from the writing or the characters. I found that I was able to connect to quite a few of the characters in here and shared similar experiences. Jeff Zentner really did a great job on this book. I have read his other book, Goodbye Days, which I didn’t really like. This was a huge step up and was cool how he connected them. At the end of this book they talk about one person (I’m trying not to spoil it because I really want to share the connection with you) becoming a musician. His name is Dearly. In Goodbye Days the main character and his friends talk about going to a Dearly concert. Cool, right!?
This was another book suggested by my favorite librarian at the Urbandale Library! I went in to get a few books and she pulled this one off the shelf and told me I would enjoy it. She was not wrong. It was a little slow in the beginning for me to get into, but once I was I had trouble putting it down.
I was really drawn into the lives of these three friends and how they were incredibly different and yet still so connected. That is true friendship, when it’s based on who you are as a person and not what you’re into, where your family came from, what your beliefs are…you just truly like the people for who they are on the inside.
It’s a very emotional read, so be prepared for that. There is so much going on in the lives of these teens and there is just about every emotion imaginable in this story. Definitely have tissues on hand.
I think high school aged teens will enjoy and benefit from this story. It covers many issues they will be facing and some that I hope they will never face.
I’m going to read this again.