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Ever want to tell people how you really feel about something but were afraid they would not like your opinions? Is there such thing as free will (Howe 8)? These are both questions that the characters of The Adventures of the Blue Avenger and The Gospel According to Larry face. In each novel, the main characters David Schumacher (Blue), and Josh Swenson (Larry), are confronted with the deaths of their parents. Facing death can be frightening, and it is not uncommon for teenagers to confide or find help outside their family (Hospice 30). The death of a parent is a life-shaking event for which few are prepared. This experience can wound us deeply, leaving lifetime scars. In each character's case he seeks outside help, which takes him on unimaginable journeys. The setting of each book is centered close to home, and only their mind and the Internet take them far beyond what they believe. Each novel incorporates humor to a serious topic that appeals to the adolescent sense of optimism. Due to Josh Swenson and David Schumacher's experiences with death, their perseverance of a role model, freedom of expression, and self-determinism make each character comparable in many ways.

A major problem that young adults face in today's society is the death of a parent. One of every seven children loses a parent before the age of ten (www.napa.ufl.edu). "The death of a parent is supposed to be the most stressful event for an adolescent"(www.napa.ufl.edu). As in The Gospel According to Larry and The Adventures of the Blue Avenger, David and Josh both deal with the loss of their parent's. Grief is the process by which our minds heal the loss of a loved one. For us to go on with our lives and again risk caring about others, we need to let go of those we love who are no longer with us. Through this process of mourning, we gradually accept the loss. The steps of the mourning process are accepting the reality of the loss, experiencing the pain, adjusting to life without your lost loved one and investing your emotional energy into a new life (Hospice). We allow the dead to be gone from our lives. It is not uncommon for teenagers to confide or find help for grieving outside their immediate families. In a child's younger years they tend to "put aside" their emotions because they don't know what to do with them.

Just as Blue had lost a parent, the main character in the Gospel According to Larry also lost his. The Gospel According to Larry is a novel about a high school senior named Josh who creates an identity known as Larry to advocate his views on commercialism and other topics on a website that becomes famous throughout the world. "The website started out as most of my projects do-as a way not to be bored, a way to create something interesting out of nothing. Also, it was that holiday juggernaut that starts with Halloween, gains steam over Thanksgiving, and comes to a roaring crescendo with Christmas and New Year" (Tashjian 41). Through the holidays, Josh uses the loss of his mother to begin his site. "Creating the site was a way to distract myself during that

literature has stood the test of time in the American literary culture. Its acceptance to the literary world was overlooked for years and years. "By the end of the nineteenth century, a few authors had begun to write novels pretty clearly aimed at readers who were neither children or adults"(The Literary Value of the Young A

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Approximate Word count = 1493
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English