Smackdown the 8th - Round 3

By Van, Debbie, Anna and Cristina

OCDaniel                                  vs      The Girl in the Blue Coat

             

It was the weirdest start to a round we’ve had yet as the four of us had just read OCDaniel in the previous round.  So...here’s what we had to say about the battle with The Girl in the Blue Coat.

Vanessa and Deb: This is a tough one for us.  Both books were great in their own right but the subject matter is soooo different that we liked them for different reasons. AND... as weIl, we think about who we would recommend the books to, it might be 2 different kinds of kid.  So, for Van, I am going rogue because I am not a fan of historical fiction and I it was an effort for me to start the Girl in the Blue Coat but...it’s going to be my vote. For Deb, she is not going rogue because she does like historical fiction. The story took place in Amsterdam instead of Germany and although it was about the German Invasion, it was also a mystery and focused on the ingenuity of the people to evade capture. Van and Deb are voting Blue in this election!

Cristina: If we are basing our judgement on how well these two VERY DIFFERENT books presented a common theme, it would have to be a journey around an isolated one becoming connected to the world and pushing onward. Girl in the Blue Coat ticks all my boxes. A damaged heroine fighting through impossible barriers to achieve something and in the end, coming to grips with her own pain and scars. It's why Wolf by Wolf was MY STORY in 2017. Hanneke is I think, a raw glimpse into the hearts of so many people who initially feel comfort in their own silo, but can no longer swallow the horrors going on around them and so, the struggle to protect themselves OR to take a stand against obvious injustice burns inside of them. How many times have we felt a tiny fraction of this struggle?

This book gripped me from the first chapter. OCDaniel is an excellent book, and it is worth reading and talking about to any kid who'd listen to me, but I'm smacking it down and choosing Girl in the Blue Coat as my winner.

Vanessa: OOOO nicely put Cristina!

Anna: OCDaniel was very good, but I loved the Girl in the Blue Coat. Excellent WWII story reflecting the injustices - atrocities of war and what needed to be done to survive. The main character, Hanneke, is relentless and determined to find answers to things that don’t make any sense to her. The end was so unexpected - what a twist! Smacking down - Girl in the Blue Coat!

So there you have it, Team SweetGrass/Strembitsky/Westlawn are moving Girl in the Blue Coat to the next round!