This past week I read Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King at night and also listened in the car to Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver. I have never done this before and while I didn't mix up the characters, I realized that I just plain don't like being mentally invested in two books at a time. I like one book's characters to consume me and I like to put all my thoughts and analysis toward one book. I learned that if I split my thoughts between two books, I don't end up thinking as deeply about either one.
Anyway, on to the book!
I liked it! I really did, better than any YA books I've read in a while. Don't worry: I'm not going to spoil the ending for those who want to read it.
It's about a girl named Vera whose best friend Charlie just died. She and Charlie were like peanut butter and jelly until a slutty girl, Jenny, messed up their friendship. Although Vera still loved Charlie as he turned down a road no parent would want his/her child to take, the things he did and said made her start to also hate him.
It's about a girl named Vera whose best friend Charlie just died. She and Charlie were like peanut butter and jelly until a slutty girl, Jenny, messed up their friendship. Although Vera still loved Charlie as he turned down a road no parent would want his/her child to take, the things he did and said made her start to also hate him.
The book travels back and forth between the past and present, as various people (Vera, Charlie, Vera's father, and the pagoda....yes....a building is a narrator at times) narrate different chapters. This way, the reader is invested in each character and grows to respect each in different ways. It's different, and I think it's clever. It takes away the reader's bias and gives all sorts of perspectives.
Vera's relationship with her dad, Ken, plays a huge part in the book and in her character development. He doesn't want her to go down the same road as he did with alcohol, or her mother who was a local stripper who got pregnant at a young age and left her family to go to Vegas. Vera also wants to escape her so-called destiny of turning out like her mom, but finds herself dating a 23-year old co-worker and turning to alcohol for comfort and coping. The books turns into a coming of age novel as Vera works herself out of the messes she became tangled in and finds a way to make amends with the dead Charlie who has been haunting her since he died.
The book really focuses on Vera's character and how she manages to emerge from the dog crap that's been thrown at her (literally). It keeps the reader engaged by the writing style and by stringing him/her along until the Truth is finally revealed.
A School Library Journal reviewer had commented that the flow-charts Vera's dad made didn't seem to belong, and the way she immediately popped out of her alcoholic tendencies was unrealistic. I disagree and think the charts added to the light writing style and were very amusing; I was even thinking about photocopying the flow chart on "getting over stuff" and using it with problematic students! And the whole drinking thing...just because Vera was drinking quite frequently didn't necessarily mean she had a drinking problem. Call me crazy, but teenagers will be teenagers. The more realistic a book, the more reluctant readers will eat it up.
Themes: friendship, love and hate, domestic abuse, escaping (problems, family, life, etc.), coming of age, parent-child relationships, destiny
Would interest: reluctant readers (although it's a bit long), boys and girls grades 9-11
My grade: A
Would interest: reluctant readers (although it's a bit long), boys and girls grades 9-11
Good for teaching: character development, point of view
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