Jellicoe Road

Marchetta, Melina. Jellicoe Road.  New York: HarperCollins, 2006. 419 p. eBook.

 

Abandonment issues don’t begin to describe the issues that haunt Taylor Markham’s dreams.  Left at a 7-11 when she was eleven, Taylor has been living in a boarding school for the last seven years.  Her closest adult figure is a very aloof Hannah, who recently disappeared without a trace.  On top of Hannah’s betrayal, Taylor has to deal with being the unwilling leader of the school’s underground society and having to deal with the annual war games played between the Townies, the visiting military group known as The Cadets, and the Jellicoe School that Taylor calls home.  As the weeks go on talk of a serial killer, Taylor’s mother, and the history of a group of five kids that changed Taylor’s very existence begins to unfold.  The more answers that surface, the more questions come to light, and it seems as though no one can rest until all is revealed, once and for all.

Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta is certainly one of those books that gets under a reader’s skin and nestles itself into the very fiber.  Taylor Markham is a teenager who is hard to love. She is aloof and hostile and clearly wounded.  She ends up with a ragtag group of friends whom the reader wants to love and throttle, usually at the same time.  The core strength of the novel is the intricate web that Marchetta weaves around Taylor and her gang, and a whole other group of kids from the past… a group that has a lot of secrets that need to be uncovered.  The reader has moments of “I just knew it” only to find out that the reader only knew a miniscule piece of something much, much bigger and hidden deeper in the past.  Certainly a weakness from the book is the confusing set up that leaves the reader quite befuddled for the first few chapters.  The chapters in italics, a clear indicator that it is something different than the current-day Taylor story, are not truly revealed until well into the book.  A reader can feel just as confused as our protagonist, though surely that is not an unintentional fluke.  Perhaps to truly appreciate the story that untangles itself in Jellicoe Road, it is first important to be just as tangled up in it as the characters themselves.

For a YA reader, Jellicoe Road delivers a hard hitting story, filled with emotions that are very real to most teens: confusion, a yearning for acceptance, and a desire to know what the universe has in store.  The book takes readers on a journey that was twenty years in the making, and it has the travelers stop and wonder if maybe it would just be better to let history keep its own secrets. But, of course, we know that history has its own agenda.

Forever

Blume, Judy. Forever. Seattle: Bradbury Press, 1975. 224 p. eBook.

 

Katherine knew enough to know that she would only lose her virginity to someone she loved.   What Katherine did not know was that when she met Michael at a New Year’s Eve party, they would start down a trail of firsts, and lasts, and forevers as they moved closer and closer into adulthood. High school seniors, Michael and Kath become fully involved in one another’s lives, until distance and the realities of the real world begin to tear at the core of their beliefs.  Readers follow Katherine and Michael as they make decisions about sex, birth control, love, and what forever really means.

Certainly the strength of Forever is the honest writing approach to some very difficult topics.  While this book is frequently found on the challenged and/or banned books list, it takes a straightforward approach to topics that can be rather uncomfortable for a teen.  Readers experience what Katherine experiences as her relationship becomes intimate.  For teen readers, Forever can provide answers to questions that otherwise would be uncomfortable to ask.  And for a parent, Judy Blume has provided a perfect springboard for frank discussions about the family’s values regarding teen sex and teen relationships.

A weakness within the book is also its strength.  As young readers grow, they will recognize the name Judy Blume and easily connect her with some of their favorite childhood books.  That familiar author and innocent title may lead a younger reader to pick up the book. A reader that may not be ready for a book with the level of sexual frankness contained in Forever may be disturbed by the content of the book.  In this case, it would be important to reiterate the belief that parents/guardians need to be aware of the book choices of youngsters. 

Despite the potentially uncomfortable subject matter, Judy Blume’s Forever is a respectful, earnest depiction of sex and the emotions that are part of such a big decision.  This is a powerful novel for both readers and their parents/guardians, as it may open barriers that are often restricted as teenagers wade the turbulent waters that will ultimately lead them to adulthood.

 

I Am the Cheese

Cormier, Robert. I Am the Cheese. New York: Knopf, 1977. 233 p. eBook.

 

Adam Farmer is on a frantic bike ride to reach his father. His father is in the hospital in Rutterburg, Vermont, and fourteen-year-old Adam knows that he must reach him despite the dangers.  Each rotation of his bicycle tires brings him farther from what he knows and into a world that terrifies Adam.  As Adam struggles to continue on his journey, the reader soon learns that things are not exactly as they seem.  In fact, as Adam’s life crumbles around him, readers are left wondering who to believe and if there is anyone to trust.

I Am the Cheese can easily be regarded as two novels in one. The first novel describes Adam while he battles against environment, devious strangers, and his own mental demons to get to his father.  The second novel, written in transcript form, details methodical questioning designed to make Adam remember.  As Adam begins to recall his past, the reader becomes exposed to a sinister history that could not be predicted.

Truly the strength of Robert Cormier’s work is in his ability to leave a reader guessing.  As Adam forges on his bicycle journey, readers become engrossed in the details he reveals about his life with his parents.  And as the transcripts reveal more of Adam’s past that has been locked away in his mind, readers are floored by the unwitting deceit of such an unreliable narrator.  If there were to be a weakness of this work, it would be that the ending seemed to come quickly and almost too tidily.  Adam and his reader are going helter-skelter through his journey and sudden slam into the conclusion.  The impact is enough to bruise, but not enough to have regretted the journey.

For a young adult, I Am the Cheese fits perfectly into the question-everything mentality that is a rite of passage for so many.  For many, Adam is the first unreliable narrator who did not intentionally mean to lead readers astray.  For a young adult reader, it may be enough to eye their parents wearily for a few days. Maybe even enough to drag out the family photo albums…just to be safe.

Round Two

Well, I had such a good time reviewing books a few semesters ago, that I've signed up for the advanced course. All of the reviews henceforth will be with the new coursework.

Happy Reading!