Well....what to do when you don't like either book? Flip a coin? Spin the title? Which book is heavier? Lighter? Prettier? This was the case with What Happened to Ivy and 13 Hangmen. Both really different stories from the emotional and controversial to thirteen year old boys with time travel magic and mystery.
13 Hangmen first caught my attention with a baseball player on the cover. If any of you know Dia she was a crazed Boston Red Sox fan in the fall and we listened everyday to the ups and downs and wins or losses of her team. Of course being a sports fan I jumped on the wagon with her and watched until they won the World Series. I hoped the book would continue the Red Sox adventure but it fell well short of the excitement I'd hoped for. In the end it really had nothing to do with baseball and more to do with ghosts and time travel. I just didn't buy the 13 year old inheriting a house from an uncle he met once, or the time travel with ghosts...the other disconcerting thing was the main character always called his parents by their first name!! I don't like it.
What Happened to Ivy was a quick read with complicated controversial issues. A young girl with cerebral palsy and her 14 year old brother David and family are constantly dealing with her seizures. David struggles with loving his sister yet at the same time resenting her. Many things to talk about with students but I don't see it as the nominated award winner it is touted as. Yes, the topic is emotional and controversial but the characters didn't have the development needed to to put it at the top. I'm not sure if young adults would get it at the level intended without guidance.
So, what did Tristin, Andrew and I decide on? After changing our minds several times and weighing our options....we choose 13 Hangmen to move on.
Tristin, Andrew, Donna O
No comments:
Post a Comment