Michael Vey: The Prisoner of Cell 25 — A Book Report

Introduction and Overview

Michael Vey: The Prisoner of Cell 25, by R.P. Evans, is a young adult science fiction novel whose plot centers on Michael Vey, a teenage boy with Tourette's syndrome who is gifted with electrical powers. Michael is a fourteen-year-old high school student whose extraordinary ability brings him both wonder and serious social hardship, drawing intense scrutiny that plagues his daily life. A cheerleader named Taylor also possesses electrical powers, and readers learn that both Michael and Taylor were born in the same hospital. In time, an evil organization bent on controlling their powers sets its plans in motion, generating the novel's central conflict.

Adolescents anywhere in the world — during their high school years — can be universally cruel to fellow students who are a little different, a little strange, or nerdy. This social reality in Michael's high school experience, compounded by the fact that he is punished as the victim, provides a fortuitous, if sad, opening for the plot to develop. Readers of young adult stories also come to expect that a family member — often a parent — will support the protagonist when things go badly, but Michael denies his mother that opportunity. Finally, greed and evil are familiar themes in fiction, yet dark wickedness is here presented in a clinically understated narrative through Dr. Hatch and his nefarious colleagues at Elgen Academy.

Bullying and Institutional Cruelty in Michael's High School

Cruelty comes to Tourette's-afflicted Michael not only because bullies recognize an opportunity, but also because the punishment for an insidious act against him is visited upon him rather than on the perpetrator. When Jack Vranes locked Michael in his locker for the second time in a month and the custodian dragged him to Mr. Dallstrom's office, Michael observed: "It was the second time that month I'd been called to his office for something someone else did to me. Mr. Dallstrom was big on punishing the victim" (8). Being stuffed into a locker was outrageous enough; having a clueless principal heap additional pain onto the victim made it unconscionably worse.

This double injustice — peer cruelty followed by institutional indifference — is one of the novel's most pointed social observations. By placing Michael in a setting where authority figures fail to protect him, Evans ensures that readers feel the full weight of his isolation and establishes strong motivation for the plot that follows.

Michael's Protective Relationship with His Mother

Notwithstanding all the unkind and nasty things that happen to Michael — experiences that most boys would quickly share with their mothers — he demonstrates remarkable sensitivity by refusing to burden his mom with his suffering. Michael recalls the bullying he endured at summer camp, when kids surrounded him and taunted, "Let's see what the freak does next" (51); notably, these were bullies who did not even know about his electric powers. When his mother later learned of the episode and asked, "Why didn't you tell me?" with tears in her eyes, Michael's response revealed his unselfishness: "Because you have enough to worry about" (51).

This protective impulse appears again on page 20, when Michael, not wanting his mother to see his black eye, heard her come home and "ran to my room, shut the door, turned out the lights, threw off my shirt, and crawled in bed" (20). Most children would want a parent to witness the evidence of a bully's attack and to intervene on their behalf. Michael, however, is a different kind of protagonist — one whose emotional maturity and selflessness set him apart from the typical adolescent hero found in young adult literature.

Conclusion

There is nothing new about high schools when it comes to bullying and meanness. It happens every day. But in this story, a boy with a disability has the power to return hurt to his tormentors. For adolescents who have experienced bullying, this book may offer smiles of vicarious vengeance when Michael turns the tables on his oppressors with his electricity. Moreover, the greed and meanness in the book — used to generate conflict and keep readers engaged — can also be read as a kind of foreshadowing of what adolescents will witness in the real world as adults. It is a hateful, spiteful, and dangerous world, populated with greedy people in many places and circumstances, and Evans's novel prepares its young readers to recognize those dangers with clear eyes.

Works Cited

Evans, R.P. Michael Vey: The Prisoner of Cell 25. Simon and Schuster, 2012.