carloschhp

Wow, Chris Crutcher is a pretty awesome writer. The depths that he gets to in his books and how he is in touch with human feeling, particularly teen feelings is rather amazing when you think of it. At the same time he provides and engaging and action-packed story that doesn't overwhelm you with the brutality that the characters suffer but rather lets you deal with it because they can and do. While I have to say that this book contains some horrific things, it is not gratuitous and doesn't focus on the misery (like A Child Called It perhaps?) but on how these kids deal with it. I really like that while the book is about teens and of teens and for teens, it presents adults as people too, rather than cardboard placeholders. They have motivations and their actions are not capricious. This has some rather interesting discussion about religion which unfortunately seem to be a little weighted against fundamentalist Christianity under the guise of labeling it "rigid thinking." While I agree with Crutcher's stance, I think he could have portrayed a more sympathetic view of people who have been brought up to think rigidly, one where it wasn't quite as adversarial. My fear is just that the people we would like to open their minds might feel attacked by this book and use it as yet another reason to close in and down rather than explore. At the same time, I do appreciate the Crutcher knows his position and isn't afraid at all to take a stance.

2023-07-18 01:34