I'm officially the last YA librarian in the world to read this book, and I must say I was underwhelmed. My predominate opinion is that this is an adult book, not one for middle school students. Yes, there is an overuse of the f-word, but that's not my main objection. It's kind of boring. Yes, adults may find the voice of the mildly autistic main character interesting, but he makes so many random comments that I got annoyed. Also, the main plot is that a neighbor's dog is killed, he investigates even though his father tells him not to, and in the process finds that his mother has not died, as his father told him, but has had an affair with a neighbor and run off with him. Well-written, intriguing in a number of ways, but of limited interest to the vast majority of middle school students.
Monday, November 10, 2008
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
I'm officially the last YA librarian in the world to read this book, and I must say I was underwhelmed. My predominate opinion is that this is an adult book, not one for middle school students. Yes, there is an overuse of the f-word, but that's not my main objection. It's kind of boring. Yes, adults may find the voice of the mildly autistic main character interesting, but he makes so many random comments that I got annoyed. Also, the main plot is that a neighbor's dog is killed, he investigates even though his father tells him not to, and in the process finds that his mother has not died, as his father told him, but has had an affair with a neighbor and run off with him. Well-written, intriguing in a number of ways, but of limited interest to the vast majority of middle school students.
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I read that book some time ago, yeah you're probably the last one on earth to read it.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't impressed by it and wouldn't ever dream of suggesting it to my sons until they're at least 16 or older, for content reasons.
Likewise, Life of Pi, which I was stunned to see an 8th grade girl at St. P School toting around a few years ago. NOT a YA book. Another tedious read, to be honest.
I agree. A distinct voice is not enough to carry a novel, especially not if you want the novel to engage young adults. I enjoyed the first few chapters because the voice was unique, but the lack of plot wore me down after that.
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