BOOK REVIEW: SKULLFACE BOY BY CHAD LUTZKE

You are on the highway leading out of Boulder, heading west to California, and on the side of the road you see a teenager hitchhiking. You pull up next to him and that’s when you realize his face has no skin or muscle, it’s just a skull. For most people the reaction would be to scream and hit the gas. But in Chad Lutzke’s Skullface Boy the driver would offer him a ride and they’d end up having a moment. These interactions between hitchhiker and driver form a strange and wonderful trip that is some of the best storytelling you’ll find this year.
Let’s dive right into the strangest thing about this book: the skullface of Levi. It’s exactly what it sounds like. In Levi’s words, “It sticks out in a crowd and is whiter than an Irishman’s ass. Bone White.”

The questions you might have, like how does he eat? Or how does he exist? Never get addressed, and I don’t think we need it. Per Levi: “It’s who I am. You don’t like it, don’t look at it.”

It becomes apparent that we are not to focus on why Levi has a skullface. No one calls the police, there isn’t a group of scientists hunting him down to run tests. Instead, Lutzke uses it as a test for the characters that Levi runs into. Some of these characters taunt him or assault him. Others look past it to see the smart, interesting boy behind the bone. You could see it as a metaphor for race, sex, religion, or a myriad other reasons people judge others. But you could also see it as a unique way to tell a coming of age road trip story, adding fuel to the interactions someone might find while hitchhiking.

The character of Levi is not your typical teenage boy. At times he appears wiser than his age, doling out advice to those he meets. Then there are the times that he is naive. Such as the time he helped an old man with a yard sale, never wondering why the man is selling everything until the family that owns the house shows up. These mistakes make him more endearing, your heart is with him every step he takes, every car he hops into. You feel his hunger pains and the beating he takes at the hands of some douchey frat boys.

Through everything he is trying his best. When someone offers him a ride or helps him, he repays the favor, maybe working all day in a gas station, or listening to the last words of an old man. By the end of the book Levi will have wormed his way into your heart.

Lutzke gives us the good, bad and weird of humanity, letting us decide who falls into each bucket. A truck driver teaches him the ways of Las Vegas and junk food. A man and his two girlfriends teach Levi that women don’t need to settle to feel loved. A dancer gives him a new Kiss t-shirt and encourages him to keep on his path. Levi steps into their lives for a little while and no one is the same when he moves on.

As we go on this adventure with Levi we start to put together that this is happening in the 1980’s. Lutzke is able to expertly drop in hints and background items that he never has to call it out. It’s the work of a great storyteller to be able to ease you into time and place simply with a few words.
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Lutzke recently retweeted a fan on Twitter: “This guy really says a lot with a little, ya know what I mean?!” (@nightrider81) After reading Skullface Boy I completely agree. It’s a short book, the chapters read fast, but damn if this is not a powerful story. The climax of Levi’s tale will leave you misty eyed and empowered to see the good in everyone. This will be a book that spreads like wildfire, passed around to family and friends, something that sticks with the reader long after they are finished.