Jenni Fagan's "The Panopticon"

‘The Panopticon’ is one of the most fantastic additions to the young adult fiction world that currently exists. While some people contest its suitability for the young adult library due to the vulgar nature of its sexual references and cussing, they would be unpleasantly surprised to find out that the average teenager knows a few four letter words, as well as their own developing body.

There is also the misconception that the panopticon represents the building that the protagonist is sent to, while realistically it is not-quite-figurative; a mental state. While some elements of fantasy are implied in the beginning, the story will quickly establish that these, too, are imaginary.

The main character is Anais, a young girl who has bounded from foster home to correctional facility and back again for most of her young life (she is only 16 at the opening of the story). While her offenses have always been relatively minor, she is the main suspect in a potential murder. A police woman who had already had several bad run-ins with Anais is in a coma, and as a result, both of their outcomes are looking bleaker by the day.

Anais cannot remember committing the crime (a result of being constantly on drugs), but knows she will, if she knows anything, given enough time, the way it always does. The book goes through her daily life at the correctional facility, slowly remembering her events on that day, with occasional glimpses to her childhood.

The friendships in “The Panopticon” are also an integral theme, since many of the characters are lacking a family of their own. They are beautifully depicted, and often heart-breaking considering the tragic setting of the book.

It deals with real issues, even if the average adolescent will never have a life that completely contends with that of Anais (but, unfortunately, there are many that will). It is not only the mystery that will keep you reading, but a genuine love for the protagonist. While she doesn’t always do all the right things, and can be downright antagonistic at times, you will root for her. She is a good girl at heart, let down by family and the general system.

While I would definitely say this belongs on the young adult shelf, every adult would benefit from reading this book. There are experiences we forget as an adult, especially if we have lived an essentially trouble-free adolescence. It is all too easy to forget or ignore the perspective of another in the circumstances depicted in this novel, and while the problems in this book are not something we enjoy being reminded of, they are crucial in the current day, while these social problems are still all too real.