It's just the wind. Not water. Not anyone. Go to sleep.
A novel by Hannah Moskowitz, Teeth is about Rudy, a sixteen year old whose family moves to a small island home to Enki fish. This breed has the magical ability to cure anything from cuts to cancer, and the inhabitants of the island all benefit.
There, Rudy copes with his younger brother's touch-and-go recovery from cystic fibrosis and all the anxiety that comes with. He meets the only two other teenagers on the island — Diana, a book smart girl who rarely leaves her house, and Teeth, a caustic, self-destructive merboy.
Not to be confused with the film. Trust us.
Contains examples of:
- Arc Words: "I think this is the part where we stop pretending we're not going to see each other again."
- Armor-Piercing Response: When Rudy yells at Mrs. Delaney for throwing Teeth into the ocean, she responds thusly.Mrs Delaney: He was a fish. Where would you have put a fish?
- Bittersweet Ending: Rudy is settling into the island and his brother is getting better, but his relationship with Diana is implied to be ruined, and he'll likely never see Teeth again.
- Black-and-Gray Morality: Teeth is self-destructive and overly possessive, but the fishermen are rapists who are more than willing to torture Teeth.
- Character Development: Rudy and Teeth both go through some as a result of knowing each other.Rudy: I don't know why they think I've changed. It's Dylan. The difference is Dylan, playing back. I haven't changed. Why would I have changed?
- Chekhov's Gun: A literal one, in fact — Mrs. Delaney's gun is mentioned in passing by Diana and later used to murder the fishermen.
- Dysfunction Junction: Teeth is a victim of abandonment and daily sexual assault, Diana grew up more or less on her own and has trouble interacting with people, and Rudy has been coping with his brother's illness and his own feelings of inadequacy.
- For the Evulz: It's never explained why the fishermen do the things that they do.
- Half-Human Hybrid: Teeth was born through a "union" when his father, a fish, raped his mother, a human.
- Have I Mentioned I Am Heterosexual Today?: Yes, getting turned on by the thought of making out with a merboy is absolutely a normal teen male fantasy, Rudy. It's implied that he gets over it.
- If It's You, It's Okay: Rudy feels this way towards Teeth, but he gets around to acknowledging that he probably is bisexual by the end of the book.
- I Have No Son!: Mrs. Delaney refuses to acknowledge Teeth, aka Daniel, because he is a Child by Rape.
- Meaningful Rename: After Daniel is abandoned by his mother, he renames himself after the teeth he's growing in.Rudy: What kind of a name is that?Teeth: The kind I gave myself.
- Rape as Backstory: Teeth is raped on a nightly basis by the fishermen, and Teeth's own mother was raped before giving birth to him.
