The Nest or Crazy

The main characters in both The Nest and Crazy had defective family members that they sort of didn't want around. Crazy was written in a more down to earth manner so we could identify with both the mom and the daughter. The end was inconclusive but at least the main character had some tools and more understanding to deal with her situation.

Nest was written in a Patrick Ness sort of way where you were drawn to the story not quite knowing how and what was happening. The queen bee almost seemed to be like the main character’s subconscious thoughts until things got nasty. Then morals took over and the little brother was saved from an actual bee swarm. This was quite a different style for Oppel.

This was a difficult decision to make. After much discussion Dianne and I agreed that Nest should move on. Then after a final weekend of deliberation I backed out and decided that Crazy should move on. Sorry Dianne!

I feel that Crazy lends itself to bringing the important topic of mental illness out in the open and in a way that teens could relate to, thus allowing for open discussion among students. Sometimes we can deal with our problems by reading a good fantasy and getting lost for a while, but wouldn’t it be better to understand the issues and perhaps find the possibility of long term help and support, instead of a band-aid solution?

Final outcome is one vote for Nest and one for Crazy!

Deb, blogging for Ottewell (part of Team 2).