He Forgot to Say Goodbye, Benjamin Alire Saenz

Saenz, Benjamin Alire (2008).
He Forgot to Say Goodbye
New York: Simon & Schuster
978-1416949633
Genre: Realistic Fiction

Two teenaged boys with very different lives find that they share a common bond- fathers they have never met left them when they were small boys—and in spite of their differences, they become close when they each need someone who understands.
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Ramiro Lopez and Jake Upthegrove both live in El Paso, yet they each live in two completely different environments. Jake lives with his wealthy mother and stepmother and attends the magnet high school for students who plan to be doctors; he despises his parents’ materialistic lifestyle and superior attitude. Ramiro lives with his single mother in a low income neighborhood; he works at Whataburger after school so that he will have money to buy clothes. While extremely different, the two share the fact that their fathers left when they where infants. While Ramiro has never met his father, Jake has spoken to his father on the phone. Still, both fathers have made the decision not to be involved with their sons. Ramiro romanticizes his father (he wonders about his actions, his life and looks) while Jake has become bitter and cynical and usually acts out towards his mother. The chapters alternate between the two boys’ narratives, and I thought each boy could have told his own story in a shorter novel. The narratives are somewhat connected by similar situations that each boy faces; however, it is not until the two actually interact that the novel proves interesting. Each boy suffers a terrible life-changing situation: Ramiro’s younger brother overdoses on heroine while Jake finds his stepfather with another woman. Each boy suffers the guilt-Ramiro wonders if he could have saved his brother while Jake wonders how to tell his mother or if he should. It is only when the two spend time culminating a friendship that they feel comfortable and at peace. Audiences, along with the boys, will come to resent the fathers as Jake’s father calls randomly and offers the boy money, while Ramiro’s father tells Ramiro’s mother, “Tell Ramiro to forget me.” Ramiro’s sidekick Alejandra provides some comic relief and allows readers to witness other sides of Ramiro’s personality. The three teens share a bowl of menudo, and readers will wonder if that is enough.