REVIEW: The Roach King of Raleigh: A Young Adult Novel about Friendship, Survival, and Finding Hope When Life Falls Apart by Shannon Stocker
From Schneider Family Award-winning author Shannon Stocker comes The Roach King of Raleigh, an unflinching YA novel about a high school sophomore who’s determined to rise above his circumstances—even if it means starting a secret roach breeding business. Even if it means letting people in.
Quill Jenkins used to have a great life: a picture-perfect family, a big house in a nice neighborhood, and a best friend he could count on. But then his friend moved away, his brother left for college, and his dad’s drinking caused his parents to split. Now Quill and his mom live in a broken-down rental house owned by a neglectful landlord, who also happens to be the father of Quill’s high school nemesis.
More than anything, Quill wants to save enough money for a new house, but his mom refuses to let him get a job. So when he finds a hidden attic space inside his closet, then overhears the pet store owner arguing with a delinquent roach breeder, an idea is born. He strikes a deal and starts breeding roaches in the hidden room, reluctantly working with his classmate Harley and Harley’s twin sister, Zuri, to keep the whole operation a secret.
But as the roach business takes off, new complications arise: his dad’s condition steadily worsens, his beloved neighbor Mr. Dave suddenly goes MIA, and Quill learns that the truth has a way of creeping into the light.
CW/TW – alcoholic addiction, cancer death, traumatic brain injury, poverty, severe bullying, roaches.
Dear Ms. Stocker,
I saw this title and the cover then did a double take. Is this really about … those things? And don’t they breed well enough on their own? I live in the South and have dealt with them. A lot. I used to be the “person in charge” to “deal with them,” whenever they appeared where I worked, as my other co-workers would flee screaming down the halls. The thought of actually trying to increase their numbers makes me do a whole body shiver. But I was also intrigued enough to give this book a try.
Things have cratered for the Jenkins family. Teenaged Quill and his mother live in a pit of a rental house, owned by a despicable property owner whose son, in the same year as Quill at school, is a bully. But wait, there’s more. Quill’s father is an alcoholic who has finally given up and crawled into a bottle to live, looking worse each time Quill sees him. And Cam, Quill’s “golden child” older brother and his father’s favorite, has left Quill behind to live with and deal with all of it. Each penny is precious and his mom works herself to death but she won’t let Quill take a part-time job to help. She also doesn’t know that Quill is having trouble in a class but she does know he has few friends and worries about this.
Mrs. Jenkins and Quill adopt a stray cat (another mouth to feed) and when his father gives him a second hand bearded dragon (though Quill has to pay for everything that Pepper needs) as a birthday present, Quill’s astonishment at the cost to feed her leads to an idea. A crazy idea that might let him earn enough money on the side to help with a downpayment for a better rental and might just get Quill some new friends. If only he can keep everything on the downlow because his mom is terrified by bugs.
True story as told to me by a friend “Sarah” about what occurred during a long distance phone call with her boyfriend “Bob.”
Sarah: “Blah, blah, yadda, yadda.”
Suddenly a SCREAM rips through the phone line!
Bob: “What?!? What’s going on??”
Sarah: “Bob, do something! DO something!”
SCREAM SCREAM
Bob: “What? Sarah, what’s going on?! I’m going to call the police!”
Something about hearing the word “police” cut through Sarah’s hysteria a bit and she yelled, “It’s a roach! It’s HUGE! Do something!”
Bob: “Sarah, I’m 300 miles away. What do you expect I can do?”
::pause::
Sarah: “Oh, you’re right. Hold on.”
Through the phone, Bob hears — WHAM, WHAM, WHAM. ::pause:: WHAM!!
Sarah: “Okay, I killed it.”
I laughed and was also creeped out when my friend told me this which goes to show that I don’t care how much moolah might be available from breeding roaches, it ain’t happening. But also given how much moolah Quill and his business partners are pulling down, I can understand why he dives into this. The research and effort put in by Quill, Zuri, and Harley is amazing though. I gotta applaud their business savvy even as I shuddered at the thought of picking up, sexing, weighing, and sorting those things.
Quill has learned the hard way that making friends and caring too much causes pain. He ducks and dodges his way through the story, trying to avoid the offers of friendship from Harley – who has Tourrette’s – and won’t even think about why “take no prisoners” Zuri is spending time with him. Zuri frightens Quill a little even though she’s nicer to him than Harley says she is to family. Zuri truly is a force of nature. Quill is horrified at who his father has become but he keeps a touching faith in the man until all hope is truly gone.
An older man, who lives near a discount grocery store and the pet store, who are Quill’s roach buyers, is a wonderful guy who has a kind word for most, sage advice for Quill, and interesting taste in potato chips. Mr. Ginsberg’s many aphorisms are maybe a bit too on point but the friendship between him and Quill is a delight. Poor Mrs. Jenkins is a woman barely holding everything together, desperately trying to let her youngest son be a teen – but also study so he can hopefully get a scholarship – who asks a lot of the right questions. When she discovers what Quill has been up to, it’s not so much the fact that there’s been a roach breeding business going on in the same house as she lives but the fact that her son has been lying to her that hurts her the worst.
Quill’s bullying classmate is a piece of work. The bullying is awful so Be Warned. There’s also something going on with Cam which little clues dropped along the way hint about. The truth hits us broadside
Spoiler: Show
The staunch refusal to allow anyone else in his life that Quill maintains drags just a little bit. Yet with what Quill has had to deal with in his sixteen years, I kept a rein on my impatience. It’s obvious that he’s a good kid who cares about his mother, misses a best friend who moved, and has a father who drank too much even before he began drowning his sorrows. I like that Quill is allowed to be angry at the turn of events in his life, feel rage at his impotence in the face of his tormentor, and finally thinks through everything and opens his eyes while growing in character. He’s got more people on his side than he knows and that is nice to see as well.
Some of the events in the book are dark and I think that parents of younger tweens and teens might want to at least skim the book first and be ready to talk about it later. The death is foreshadowed, the cat and the bearded dragon are fine, but the bullying, poverty, drinking, Cam, and Quill’s lying might be worrying. I immersed myself in and enjoyed the story as well as watching Quill mature and learn from his mistakes. But I’m with Mrs. Jenkins about breeding bugs in my house. B+
~Jayne
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I don’t think I could stand to read this book, no matter how good it might be.
@Janine: Hi Janine! I’m the author, and I’m terrified of bugs. I’m willing to wager a free copy of the book that you’ll love it…write to me on Insta (DM) or contact me through my website if interested, and I’ll send you one! If you don’t love it, you can always put it in a Little Library somewhere. :-)
Thank you, Jayne, for reading and for the lovely review! Happy to send you a copy of my debut YA, STRONGER AT THE SEAMS, if you’re interested. Same thing – DM or email me!
@Shannon Stocker: Hey, thanks for stopping by Shannon. I’ll contact you about that book.