Truancy

Isamu Fukui

In the prologue, we get the setup (and it feels like the map for the rest of the story). The Mayor of an undisclosed city is meeting with his cabinet and discussing the purpose of education (to instruct/subject children and future citizens into becoming mindless instruction-followers) and the perhaps inevitable result (a local rebellion group called The Truancy, made up of kids, fighting for freedom). It seems from this prologue that we will now read a story of how the Truancy started and how it will win its fight against the evil Mayor. And in many ways, this is true. But Fukui adds in some interesting drama along the way that makes this a worthwhile read. Most interestingly is the portrayal of three characters as proponents of Just War, Pacifism and Militarism. In many ways, these three characters are battling for control of the city with their own philosophy and we actually see them interacting along the way, explicitly espousing their point of view and tactical approach to conflict. Since the fun of this book is actually the unfolding of conflict doctrine in the plot, I won't reveal which doctrine/character wins. I will say that I have yet to see a book written that is both entertaining and provides a good role model of how to think about conflict, violence and resolution within a framework that is not so detached from reality that it becomes useless (this book included). But the fact that I just read a YA novel (written by a teen author no less) where conflict doctrine is a major plot element is quite fun. It definitely allows us to ask the questions that need to be asked.

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