Meh. That is all I have to say about this. I was expecting more from this book. ( )

The audience is the most perplexing element of this book which though marketed to YA seems more to tempt that audience with promised (and delivered) violence while also speaking to an adult audience with another voice entirely.

[b:A Clockwork Orange|227463|A Clockwork Orange|Anthony Burgess|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1250654465s/227463.jpg|23596] meets [a:Judy Blume|12942|Judy Blume|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1195238650p2/12942.jpg] with not the most appealing, or writerly, depictions of violence, violation, and threat. Ultimately describes the inability of parents (or anyone) to really know the minds or lives of the generations either side if them. ( )

I like his style. What twists and so believable. ( )

If you loved The Chocolate War, you will probably enjoy this one as well, although this is an easier read.

One of the protagonists sees people as either "good" or "bad." He ultimately learns that what you do determines in which category you fit, not what you think or how you feel. Interesting characters and realistic social dynamics for a high school student to think about, along with a page-turner plot. As always with Cormier, no cheesy fairy-tale endings. Just reality.


For teachers & parents:

Deals very realistically with alcoholism, peer pressure, and divorce. Also explores sociopathic behavior, realistic teen romance. I'd recommend this to a teen trying to understand alcoholism (maybe has a parent who is alcoholic, is struggling with it himself, etc.)

( )

This is a frequently challenged book (like most of Cormier's books) about a group of teenagers who break into a house, vandalize it, and assault the young teenage girl who makes the mistake of coming home early. The violence is ugly, brutal and exceedingly real. The book unflinchingly depicts it and then moves beyond it to address the consequences of this violence for everyone concerned.

Cormier deals with dark subjects in a complex and mature way. So many books for young adults romanticize violence in one way or another, but his do not. They show it in all its nasty, empowering glory. They're disturbing and make you feel dirty once you've read them, but they also make you think and analyze the whys and wherefores and that's what good books do.

This one is disturbing enough to give you nightmares, but compelling and truth telling all the same. Given the amount of violence our young adults experience in their day-to-day worlds, more books need to help them explicate it for themselves. ( )