Ariel and Joaquin Dorfman have, ostensibly, written this book together. But the revealing third-person note at the beginning does not give the reader faith in their partnership. It ends with, 'Try to guess which one of us got in the last word'. By offering the reader a glimpse into their writing partnership the text then feels too self-conscious, or perhaps the reader self-consciously picks up on moments when it looks as though father and son were trying to outdo the other. The speech in particular is often structured around one-liners, as if they're building a tower together (you can hear them shouting the lines out, not the characters) and just as they reach the top, one of them knocks it over. This is a shame, as if the partnership was played down, the conversations and narration might ring more true.

Heller is a mature 16-year-old, enjoying his odd job of being the first to break bad news to a myriad of New Yorkers. The Dorfmans have obviously set up Heller as a knowledgeable teenager, aware of the injustices of the world, with his parents as sort-of missionaries working in the developing world, and it is therefore interesting that he seems to need to learn so much from the immigrants who people his summer - Russian, Haitian, Indian, Chilean. Through its language and tone, The Burning City is aimed at older teenagers, and could even be sold as an adult novel, but younger teenagers may well learn more than Heller does about multicultural New York, far-reaching foreign policies and being sixteen.

The city in the summer gets under your skin - the grime, the heat, the traffic and the people. The very detailed descriptions of Heller's rides across New York lose their impact for readers who don't know the city well, but may spark the imagination of aspiring transatlantic travellers, offering a taste of what they might experience in Central Park or on the sidewalks. His desire to outrun all the cars, so obviously dicing with death, will only be read sympathetically by a few readers, as the detail of his twists and turns becomes confusing rather than adrenalin-inducing, but maybe offers a reference to the summer 2001 setting. There are also some references to US teen culture, which despite the frequent TV and book imports, might be lost to some UK readers, and also jar against the adult tone.

The Burning City is a rich and engaging novel, but sometimes for the 'wrong' reasons. The reader may often find they want to engage with the authors more than the characters, and unpeel the layers of the text rather than the depths of the teenage hero. It may work well in a classroom setting - the bike ride descriptions offer a lot for straightforward practical criticism - but it's likely also to be loved and hated equally.

2007-12-29