A Newton teen is a fish out of water in Austin — and then things get weird

Boston Globe

2 days ago

The novel's opening mystery is the disappearance of a Newton teenager named Nathaniel Rothstein, who had been spending the summer in Austin with his uncle after an altercation with another student.
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'Like Nathaniel I was a white Jewish kid who went to Newton South High School,' Schaefer says, although he's quick to point out that the character is not autobiographical. 'Except for the demographics, he's very unlike me. We have very little in common: he's straight, I'm gay; he was on the stage crew, I was on the stage.'
In Austin, Nathaniel finds himself navigating a landscape radically different from his suburban Massachusetts hometown — especially in the racially diverse crowd at the boxing gym where his uncle is a regular.
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'I graduated from Newton South in 2000,' Schaefer says, noting that in his childhood 'there was so much discussion about diversity and inclusion, but the community didn't always look diverse and inclusive. There were tensions and contradictions there that I was interested in exploring.'
As the novel unspools and the plot thickens, readers are guaranteed to encounter characters unlike themselves, and maybe that's the point.
'I just feel like we're in this moment where we're very aware of differences and that's so important,' he adds. 'But where is our shared human or collective humanity? Where does that fit into our current discourse? I don't think the book answers that question but I think that's a preoccupation of the book and something I'd certainly hope that readers thought about.'
Lucas Schaefer will read at 7 p.m. Friday, June 14, at
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And now for some recommendations ...
Have you felt lately that everything seems a little more expensive and a little less satisfying? Have your favorite small businesses gone bankrupt and your local newspaper shuttered, while your longtime doctor's office now sports a zippy new corporate name and no longer answers their phone? In
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(Dey Street Books), Megan Greenwell explains why — the rise of private equity, a financial tool wielded by modern-day robber barons that has led to enormous wealth held by the very few, and left local communities and everyday people reeling in its wake. Not a fun read, but a must-read.
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(Liveright), a debut novel by Phil Melanson, is everything historical fiction should be: immersive, exciting, and eye-opening. The book follows a teenaged Leonardo da Vinci as he sets out to enter Florence's art world and attract the attention of Lorenzo di Medici, the banking family's youngest and most extravagant patron of the arts. With its twisty plot and sly humor, 'Florenzer' also explores the pleasures and risks of being a gay man during the Renaissance, a time of extreme intellectual and artistic growth but also scandals, hypocrisy, and danger.
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Kate Tuttle edits the Globe's Books section.
Kate Tuttle, a freelance writer and critic, can be reached at