Meet the characters of Ari Rosenschein's Dr. Z and Matty Take Telegraph + Enter to win

Dr. Z and Matty Take Telegraph
by: Ari Rosenschein
Genre: Young Adult
Release Date: May 7, 2024
Publisher: Fire & Ice Young Adult Books

It’s the late ’90s—the final days before smartphones and the internet changed the teenage landscape forever. Zack and his mother have moved from Tempe to Berkeley for a fresh start, leaving behind Zack’s father after a painful divorce. A natural athlete, Zack makes the water polo team which equals social acceptance at his new school. Yet he’s more drawn to Matthias, a rebellious skater on the fringes, who introduces him to punk rock, record stores, and the legendary Telegraph Avenue.

As their friendship intensifies, Matthias’s behavior reminds Zack of his absent dad, driving a wedge between him and his mother. Complicating matters is Zaylee, a senior who boosts Zack’s confidence but makes him question his new buddy, Matthias. Faced with all these changes, Zack learns that when life gets messy, he might have to become his own best friend.

Dr. Z and Matty Take Telegraph is about how a friendship can challenge who we are, how we fit in, and where we’re going.

The cast of characters in Dr. Z and Matty Take Telegraph is relatively small, so readers will get to know the main ones quite well throughout the novel. Zack, Matthias, and Zaylee create a triangle of sorts—their interactions incite much of the drama in the book. Let’s get to know each of them a little better.

Meet Zack
Zack is a sophomore from Tempe, Arizona. When we meet him, he’s in the process of moving with his recently divorced mother, Margaret, to the more progressive city of Berkeley, California. Zack has been out of touch with his dad, a frustrated poet on a writing journey for the past two years.

Fascinated by the idea of the Renaissance man, Zack is both physically fit and mentally acute. He was a star wrestler in Tempe and is well-read, thanks to his father’s influence. Still, Zack struggles to connect, lamenting his lack of close friendships. He is scared that he will end up alone at his new school, Berkeley High, which doesn’t have a wrestling team where he can easily excel.

Beneath his muscles and snark, Zack is a romantic who harbors hopes of falling in love despite lacking experience with girls. He wants to meet a unique person who can appreciate his brain and brawn but lacks a smooth manner of communicating with potential romantic partners.

In addition to his fear of being alone and missing his dad, Zack isn’t quite sure who he is stylistically. This quandary is one of the things that draws him to Matthias, a California skater with a unique look and opinions that set him apart from the pack.

Meet Matthias
Matthias is a true California kid, a wild, punk rock-loving skater with a heart of gold. He is a spiritual traveler who is always seeking out new esoteric influences. Matthias is immersed in Bay Area underground music and the skateboarding scene and doesn’t simply accept mainstream culture as absolute. In fact, he tries to steer Zack into more individualized music and ways of thinking.

He also likes to push boundaries. Matthias likes to dress eccentrically, act differently, and shock people with unexpected ideas and behaviors. Falling in line and complacency have no place in his world.

Berkeley is a place of economic division, and Matthias’s family is more working class than Zack's. They are also very close. Matthias mentors his younger brother, Noel, and learns about punk rock music and progressive politics from his father, Oscar.

Matthias is gifted with natural athletic ability and takes immense pride in his skating prowess. Skating is an area where he feels successful since academics constitute a significant struggle. More than his athleticism, Matthias is attracted to Zack’s intelligence and emotional core below the surface. Despite their outward differences, he sees something more profound in Zack—something that reminds him of himself.

But he has a dark side, too. Matthis has experienced mental health challenges since junior school when he had a major outburst. He acts calm and collected but is secretly terrified that he will have another episode and doesn’t know what that will mean for his life. Matthias is a dreamer who feels the joy and pain of his teenage life in equal measure.

Meet Zaylee
Zaylee is a politically aware senior who attends a private Catholic school in the East Bay. She works at a frozen yogurt shop where she meets Zack. A truly engaged social activist, Zaylee sees the world through the prism of social justice. Of particular concern to her is the environment—Zaylee wants to leave things better for the next generation.

Her passion for our planet makes her deeply fearful for the future. This concern leads her to make choices that affect the many, not the few. She is both hopeful and filled with trepidation about college. The fast-approaching post-high school phase of life represents a new start where she can shake off the tokenization she feels as a Black student at her conservative school.

While Zack is growing on Zaylee, her dreams may be opening up faster than he can keep up with, which results in some drama. She is ready for the next experience but uncertain of what that will mean for her and how it will upset the status quo of her life.

We spend the rest of the afternoon messing around on Telegraph. I even take a brief spin on Matthias’s skateboard as a joke. I’ve got decent balance from wrestling, so I make it a whole city block. I kick the deck when I disembark, imitating how I’ve watched Matthias do it.

“Not bad, Dr. Z. Not bad at all.”

Like I said, I pick up athletic stuff fast.

And it turns out Anthony the gutter punk isn’t the only character Matthias knows. Every few feet, we run into a grommet, a punk, and even normal kids from school, all falling over themselves to praise Matthias for his skating.

He’s a star, and with my build, I feel like a personal bodyguard, someone cool and important.

It’s going great until I see a street clock. “I’m supposed to meet my mom back on campus at three.”

“Or what, you turn into a pumpkin?”

“No, it’s just—”

“I’m joking, Dr. Z.” Matthias pulls me in for a hug and I stiffen. I guess I’m not used to that kind of contact outside of sports.

“Do your thing,” he says. “But make sure to listen to both those CDs tonight. That’s your homework.”

“You know I will. See you at lunch on Monday.”

On my jog back, I pass the same funky boutiques and eateries, the bag with my poster and contraband whacking my side in rhythm with my breath. I’m no longer worried about the CD heist or the awkward hug. That unfamiliar contentment from this morning is back. I feel alive.

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Ari Rosenschein is a Seattle-based author who grew up in the Bay Area. Books and records were a source of childhood solace, leading Ari to a teaching career and decades of writing, recording, and performing music. Along the way, he earned a Grammy shortlist spot, landed film and TV placements, and co-wrote the 2006 John Lennon Songwriting Contest Song of the Year.

In his writing, Ari combines these twin passions. Coasting, his debut short story collection, was praised by Newfound Journal as “introducing us to new West Coast archetypes who follow the tradition of California Dreaming into the 21st century.” Dr. Z and Matty Take Telegraph (Fire & Ice YA) is his first young adult novel.

Places to find Ari Roscenschein:

Website | Facebook | Goodreads | Instagram | TikTok | Amazon Author Page

You can follow the Dr. Z and Matty Take Telegraph Blog Tour here.

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