Ray vs. the Meaning of Life

Stewart, Michael F. Ray Vs. the Meaning of Life. The Publishing House, 2018. 275p. 978-1-989-13300-2. Available at FIC STE on the library shelves.

When seventeen-year-old Ray’s grandmother is killed by a grizzly, Ray has one month to discover the meaning of life so he can inherit a million dollars and Sunny Day, the campground where he’s lived his entire life. If he can’t, both his mother and his uncle Jamie will get everything. His mother wants him gone. His twenty-five-year-old sister, Crystal, an avid hunter, wants him dead. Tina, the girl he likes and the daughter of Salminder, the one person who acts like a father, has bigger issues to contend with than helping Ray in his quest. The summer guests have begun to arrive, and there’s still an iceberg floating in the pool. Fortunately Grandmother left some help for Ray through a paid contract with Dalen, a celebrity motivational speaker. Armed with platitudes and an infectious positivity, Dalen sets to assist Ray in not only finding what the meaning of life is, but also truly discover who the real Ray is, and in the process help the entire campground community. But will one month be enough?

Filled with an unforgettable cast of characters, Ray’s struggles are realistic and are told with humor. Containing much of the “wise” sayings from countless Internet memes, the wisdom disgorged by Dalen still represents the fundamental building blocks of philosophy, and through them Ray eventually figures out that one person’s meaning of life is not necessarily another person’s. Every reader will empathize with Ray’s heartfelt struggles to discover the meaning of life, and by extension himself. A brief attempt at awkward sexual activity makes this better read for older students searching for themselves as well as those looking for a humorous book.