Why I Chose to Read Pet

I am not a fan of the fantasy genre, but I realize how popular it is and how many students might enjoy reading it. I do love monster tales, and the premise of this book, plus the staggering awards list, drew me in.

Teaching Considerations

Audience: Booksellers list this as “ages 12+.” This seems appropriate. The themes are heavy, and there’s a bit of cursing, but a fantastical book like this addressing some all-too-common, painful realities could definitely draw a young person in.

Key Themes: the persistence of evil, friendship, abuse, trauma, survival, community, justice, courage, and listening to young voices.

Instructional Ideas:

CHARACTER

This was one of my favorite aspects of the book. Jam is a smart, curious, young trans woman with a selective mutism speech disorder. This allows the author to get really creative with the prose. Sometimes we’re in her head; sometimes she and her family, or Redemption, use sign language; and sometimes she talks.

Through Redemption, a strong and wonderful character, we see what real friendship can look like through highs and lows. Jam’s mother, Bitter, is another gem, whose childhood trauma at the hands of her father is only faintly disclosed at the beginning, and whose presence lingered throughout as she painted Pet and even gave the creature her hands. The author also took us into two homes with different parental makeups, almost daring readers to assume this or that, or to judge them. Ube, the librarian, is another wise and supportive adult.

Finally, Pet was fascinating and fun to imagine, whether it was emitting clouds of smoke, covered in fur and metal feathers, disappearing into thin air, or walking through traffic unfazed.

SETTING

Akwaeke Emezi built a really fascinating, almost utopian world, and she set readers up for success by clarifying the rules of that world from page one. The story is set in the future in a town named Lucille, where monsters no longer exist because they’ve been sentenced to restitution and/or rehabilitation.

ENDING

No spoilers here, but the ending lost me. I feel like the emotional story ended too abruptly. It was partially satisfying, and the epilogue added a smidge more, but still didn’t bring me to a fulfilling catharsis. I was left wondering, what do restitution and rehabilitation look like in this world? There is so much work to be done after one makes an admission of wrongdoing or guilt. Further, without Pet physically intervening in the final scene, how would it have played out? I ask because that’s the reality many abuse victims are faced with every day.

Key Excerpts

“Forgetting is how the monsters come back.” – page 20

What questions does this text pose about history and the future? Can you envision an ideal future? What does it look like, and what pivotal elements of your history influence it?

“Jam balled her hands up into fists, squeezing tightly. She’d never hidden things from her parents before, not really. It was hard to keep secrets; you had to keep track of them, regulate how they moved through your body, make sure they didn’t swerve and jump out of your mouth.” – page 69

Did Jam have to keep her hunt secret from her parents? Why? When I was younger, I kept a lot of secrets from my parents. In hindsight, there was a time or three when confiding in them might have been safer for me. This book tells us, “Do not be afraid” (p. 201). I agree! And also, do not be afraid to seek family or community support. Jam sought out Redemption instead of hunting alone, right?

“‘Why are you here, Jam? Shouldn’t you be in bed? Go on, now.’

Jam stared mutely back at him and didn’t budge.

‘She stays,’ said Redemption. ‘I’m the one talking to you.’

Redemption darted around him and blocked the exit.” – pages 179-180

This book is a beautiful story of friendship. Do you have a friend you’d go hunting with, if a monster emerged in your world? Who are they, and how would they help?

Book Talk Excerpt

“Jam looked at the creature, now free and sitting on the floor beside the empty canvas, surrounded by smoke and rubbing its horn. That was some other weird shit. Some seriously other other weird shit.” – page 34

Pet broke out of Jam’s mother’s painting, which could symbolize how experiencing pain in the past can help us fight back in the future. Pet was huge, made of animal, human, and metal parts, and smoke. It didn’t have a face, but it did have a mouth, and it could change its voice from shrill and unlistenable to smooth and comforting. It used invisibility selectively, only allowing certain people to see it. And yet, it wasn’t a monster. It was Jam’s pet, and almost like a superhero sidekick or weapon. Can you create a pet or a monster description, and explain what your character wants most as well as what its “fatal flaw” (weakness or defect) is?

My Thoughts and Reflections

★★★★

I am so biased by my distate for fantasy. I recognize the creativity here, and I’m in awe of any writer who can imagine a better future for humanity. I respect Akwaeke Emezi for using this format for this content: creating a new reality so readers can examine our current reality from a distance, and “making the unknown known.” More than anything, I appreciate her for telling a powerful story about friendship and for advocating for young people who experience abuse. This story might have been riveting for me if it had been told without (in my opinion) all the metaphorical and literal fluff. I enjoyed the characters and dialogue, and the writing was truly gorgeous in places. Yes, I would still recommend it in a heartbeat to readers I believe would enjoy it.

Topics/Ideas/Books/Authors I’m Curious About As A Result of Reading Pet

This book didn’t quench my thirst for monsters. I wanted to escape reality, but the human monster portrayed felt a bit too tangible. When I research YA monster books, I realize the genre is full of these “horrible human depicted as fantasy monster” tales, and some of the bestsellers focus on vengeance. Not my thing! So I’d love to dig into these YA monster stories: The Monstrumologist, and Mary’s Monster: Love, Madness, and How Mary Shelley Created Frankenstein.