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Plum-Ucci, Carol. 2000. The Body of Christopher Creed. Hyperion. 331 pages.

I had hoped that a new start away from Steepleton would make my junior year seem like a hundred years ago, rather than just one.

To say that The Body of Christopher Creed is haunting is an understatement. It is compellingly atmospheric. It completely draws you in. It's nearly impossible to put it down. Our narrator, Victor "Torey" Adams, is giving readers a personal glimpse into his nightmare. When the novel opens, we meet Torey. A new student--a senior--at a boarding school. We learn that there's something from his past that still haunts him. Maybe not quite so torturously as it once did. But something still holds him back from being that "normal" kid from two years ago. The football player.The musician. The boyfriend. The oh-so-normal, somewhat-popular guy. What is this something? Or should I say who is this something?

Who is Christopher Creed? Why should the reader care? The reader only sees Chris Creed through the eyes of various characters. We get impressions of him from Torey, from Bo, from Ali, from Alex and Ryan, etc. According to his classmates, Chris was weird. A definite freak. Someone who was out of touch with reality. A guy with a big, goofy grin who never knew when to shut up. Who never could quite sense when he was being obnoxious and annoying just by being there, by being himself. According to his mother, Chris was a happy, well-adjusted teen. He had no reason whatsoever to runaway from home. No reason to commit suicide. Therefore his disappearance must mean foul play. Surely, Chris, her very own son, would never of his own free will vanish. Who's the primary suspect? Well, that would be Bo, a boy from the wrong side of town. In this small-town, apparently, there is a lot of prejudice going on. It's nothing to talk trash about Boons, (folks from Boondocks; aka poor and trashy side of town, you know, where everything bad happens.) The whole town seems to have an us-versus-them mentality which is just freaky to be a little honest. But Ali and Torey believe Bo is innocent. In fact, there is a lot of disagreement. You've got folks thinking he was murdered. Folks thinking he committed suicide. Folks thinking he just ran away to get away from his controlling parents. Which of these theories is the truth? Will anyone ever be able to puzzle out the truth?

All of this is revealed through Torey. His written account of the events that led him to where he is today...to who he is today.

Writing it was supposed to bring me some quote-unquote "healing," at least that's what Dr. Fahdi had said. Maybe it did; who knows? I got a load off my chest. But I was looking for other things, more important things, like the peace you get when things make sense and life seems fair. I never got that peace. Some nights I would remember and write and remember and write, and I was sure I was just being Dr. Frankenstein, trying to re-create a dead human. The dead never come back the way they were in life. Some nights I got convinced I was creating a monster.

If you're reading this on a site (other than Becky's Book Reviews or Becky's feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.

Chaltas, Thalia. 2009. (Pub April 2009) Because I Am Furniture. Viking. 356 pages.

I am always there.
But they don't care if I am
because I am furniture.

I don't get hit
I don't get fondled
I don't get love
because I am furniture

Suits me fine.

Anke has a difficult home life, though that is putting it mildly. Her father is abusive. She sees all. Hears all. Yet though a witness, she's somehow avoided being the subject of his abuse. (Though witnessing it is damaging enough as it is.) Can a teen girl break out of her silence and get help for her troubled family?

Because I Am Furniture is a verse novel about hard issues: physical, verbal, and sexual abuse. With all the negative going on in her life, Anke finds great joy in the one positive of her life: volleyball. Can what she learns on the court change her life off the court?

Here's one of the poems I enjoyed from the novel:

They call us
Nopes
the "out" crowd,
we don't fit their
dog-show guidelines
wealthy-beautiful.

We call them
Yups
they have to
all agree,
yup each other
every day on every thing.

And we say
Nope, don't
want any part
of your Yuppitude
so tight
society will burst
with any change
of thought.

But being a fractured, momentary gathering
and not an actual collective,
we say
Nope
individually
with scrambled cadence

and their
Yup
is way
louder.

(25-26)

Other reviews: Teen Book Review, The Compulsive Reader, Laura's Review Bookshelf, Flamingnet, Karin's Book Nook.


© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Dowd, Siobhan. 2008. Bog Child.

Don't hate me. But I didn't love Bog Child. I stuck with it because I'm stubborn, not because it was going "good" for me. I found it confusing and a bit on the boring side. Abby has a generally positive take on the novel, but admits that, "This book is not for everyone, but those who can stick with it through the unfamiliar Irish slang and dialog will find a touching, dramatic story of family and sacrifice. Siobhan Dowd's writing is poetic and she builds tension throughout the book. This is an unforgettable story set during a time rife with passion and turmoil."

The novel has received four stars in the review journals. (Kirkus, School Library Journal, Booklist, Publishers Weekly). And those reviewers obviously saw much too praise. It also made Amazon Editors Top 10 List for teen lit. And Publisher's Weekly's Best of 2008 list. I'm sure it will be making many other "best lists" and might even merit an award or honor. [The Printz is notorious at times for choosing books that I wouldn't choose in a million years. Not all the time. Just some years.]

What is it about? A young man, Fergus, on the verge of adulthood discovers half-a-body. The body of a seeming child. (Minus the legs. Plus an ancient-looking bangle). The archaeologists who come to collect the body--and study it--feel it might date from the Iron Age. First century A.D. (What I suppose you'd call C.E. now in these days of political correctness.) The novel is set in Ireland in 1981.

The book is a complex-and-tedious weaving of two or three story lines. Fergus has a brother in prison on a hunger strike. To "help" his brother out, he agrees to smuggle packages across the border at some risk to himself. He doesn't know what he's carrying. He doesn't want to know either. But he fears that it might be materials used in making bombs. During the course of a few months, Fergus begins having dreams about "Mel" the body they discovered. Fergus also falls for a girl, Cora, and has a timid courtship that isn't quite fully explored.

The book offers little in explanations. It presumes that every reader--no matter the age--will have enough background on the troubles haunting Ireland. Their conflicts with the British. In particular the terrorist actions of certain groups within Ireland. I was clueless. I'd imagine many readers would be clueless. And Siobhan Dowd could have easily given just a few brief paragraphs to orientate American readers with what was going on. True, the author is dead. But the publisher might have foreseen that readers might have trouble jumping in on this one.

For a book as complex as this one to work for the reader, you have to care. Care about the characters. Care about the action. Care about something. Obviously Dowd got many readers--at least the ones with review columns--to care and some deeply so. But not this reader.

To read a somewhat spoilerish but thorough review read the Guardian's thoughts on the novel.
Teenreads.com


© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Meyer, Stephenie. 2008. Breaking Dawn.

What more can be said about Breaking Dawn. Chances are you either a) have already read it and are very opinionated (loved it; hated it) b) are planning to read it and have already read other spoiler reviews (like all the ones on Amazon) c) are planning to read it and are avoiding all reviews just in case they have some spoilers d) have no interest in reading it at all. (So far--on Amazon--as of Wednesday, September 13th 10AM Central time, it has received 2, 251 reviews: 925 5 star reviews, 317 4 star reviews, 197 3 star reviews, 250 2 star reviews, and 562 1 star reviews.) There will be spoilers.

I have extremely mixed feelings on Breaking Dawn. Probably the biggest problem with the novel is that it defies logic. And I'm not just talking because they're werewolves and vampires. In the first three novels, Meyer has created--for the most part--a very realistic accounting. Yes, there are vampires and other supernatural beings, but they're written in such a way that they feel real. It reads like typical realistic fiction. It's not hard to swallow, to suspend your disbelief. Yes, Meyer's fictional world doesn't quite match up with reality, but it has its own set of rules to go by. Its own logic. Not in Breaking Dawn.

Breaking Dawn reminds me of the movie Soap Dish. It almost seems to be a spoof of the first three novels. The rules are being rewritten as you go. The rules and logic are very slippery. Almost all of the logic that has evolved in the first three novels and in the first few chapters of Breaking Dawn even will be tossed out the window by book two. The only explanation used by the characters are that they didn't know. They're just as surprised as the rest of us at the strange goings on in the plot. Meyer really doesn't give us much more to go on. We're just supposed to believe so thoroughly that Bella--both as human and vampire--was so one-of-a-kind, so unique, so magically supernatural that of course she can do anything she wants. She's had the power all along. In New Dawn and Eclipse and even Twilight, Meyer backs up her supernatural beings with supernatural mythology and logic. She explains why they exist, how they exist, gives them purpose, defines their limitations, explores their needs and intents. Not so with Breaking Dawn. There are no answers to the questions.

The other reason is that Breaking Dawn is just so weird, so very very weird. The fast-acting, miracle-gro vampire sperm that compacts a nine month pregnancy into three or four weeks. The wonder-baby that develops from a newborn to a preschooler (almost looks 5) in just five months. We're told in the end that she'll be fully grown (an adult) in just seven years. Jacob's imprinting on the baby. Edward calling Jacob both "brother" and "son." Jacob's living in the Cullen house. Edward asking Jacob at one point to have sex with Bella and give her some pups. The all-night sex marathons just a week after giving birth. I could go on and on and on.

Bella. I've had my fair share of issues with Bella. She was whiny. She was too dependent. She was too immature. She was manipulative (though to be fair all the characters have been manipulative.) Bella has never been the "role model" teen in my opinion. Her whole world is Edward, she idolizes him. She places him so far above herself in the first three books--and in half of this book as well--that it's just too unhealthy. She sees him as perfect, flawless, the one and only reason for her existence. And that's just dangerous as we saw in New Moon. In some ways, becoming a vampire corrects some of these Bella-flaws. She's more of his equal now. But the doting has only intensified. The scary thing for me is the portrayal of their love. For me it isn't their age. It's not that they're 17-and-18 and getting married. They're going to be trapped at those ages for eternity. And age is just a number after all. (Though I must say that if it was any other "human" experiencing that much panic and anxiety and cold feet and still going to go through with the wedding anyway it would be a big mistake. I don't typically buy into the hidden-or-not-so-hidden messages in books. But the message of this one early on could be frightening; ignore your own feelings, ignore your intuitions and judgment, and get married anyway. That would be frightening for any age.) No, the issue for me is how sickeningly sweet, perfectly perfect, oozing in euphoria the happy couple is at all times.

"Happiness was the main component in my life now, the dominant pattern in the tapestry." (527)

"And then Edward hugged me tightly, because nothing pleased him more than my overwhelming ecstasy in this new life. And I was euphoric the vast majority of the time. The days were not long enough for me to get my fill of adoring my daughter, the nights did not have enough hours to satisfy my need for Edward." (527)

I believe that people can be happy in their marriages. But overwhelming ecstatic and euphoric the vast majority of time on a day in day out forever and ever basis? Not likely. Problems happen. Arguments happen. You get annoyed. You get frustrated. You have bad days. You have good days. You have so-so days. Life happens. Life is not perfect. No one gets everything they want. But I don't think its possible--single or married--to go through life "overwhelmingly ecstatic." Some of Bella's descriptions are just over-the-top sickeningly sweet.

And it's not like I want Bella to be miserable. Or for Edward to become un-perfect in her eyes. Or vice versa. But still.

Yet, if you could go outside yourself you could find yourself enjoying it in a very amusing way. Yes, it's not believable. Yes, it's very very weird. But entertaining? I must say that it is.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Oftentimes surprises make us happy, and these unexpected events or discoveries provoke good feelings. Once in a while however, we are unpleasantly surprised and greeted with a sudden occurrence that comes more as a rude awakening. Greenland’s Warming Island—also known by the less-easily pronounced Uunartoq Qeqertotoq—is a recent geographical example of the latter. (more…)

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