From: Annette Goldsmith <ayg>
Date: Thu, 15 May 2003 11:37:44 -0400

I'm another Alex Flinn fan, partly because of the response when Alex came to my then library (Kendall Branch in Miami?de County) and talked about
 Breathing Underwater with a local high school class. (Hi, Alex!!) One of the boys said he thought she'd really done a good job of making it sound like it was written by a male teen -- high praise indeed.



Another stylistically edgy novel is Simon Deem's unusual 3Nbs of Julian Drew . The book starts off written in Julian's private code, because at that point he is incapable of describing his harrowing experiences and thoughts
(he's an abused child) in a straightforward way. In spite of (or maybe because of?) having to struggle just to decipher the text, the reader is drawn into this compelling story. Gradually the code disappears, a change which reflects Julian's burgeoning ability to express himself. I think the current popularity of instant messaging and the odd number-and-letter combinations which result might make this book even more relevant to readers today than when it was published in 1994.



Annette



Connie Rockman wrote:

 
   Megan quotes from Eliza Dresang: "...these books break boundaries in many ways-- in format, in topic, in treatment, in letting youth speak for themselves, and in giving voice to those who were previously unheard. . ."

A book
 that did that for me recently is Alex Flinn's Breathing Underwater. The format of this story is especially compelling. And the voice is especially strong because of the format and style. The narrator, Nick, moves between the past and present,
 telling his story through journal entries, while relating his present experiences in an anger management group and in school. We know that he has struck his girlfriend - we see him in court early in the book - but watching the story unfold t hrough his memories in the journal while we watch him deal with his school life and the group therapy in the present is a vivid juxtaposition. Through his unique voice we learn of the pain in his past - not in a me lodramatic way, but from the inside out, so the truth hurts us as it hurts him.

I listened to this book on tape - catching up with recent titles for a Young Adult Lit. class I was teaching - and, for me, that gave it an even greater impac t. The experience of hearing the male voice in my head made him even more real. The reader - Jon Cryer - found every nuance of feeling - the anger, the fear (that is at the bottom of all anger), the loneliness, and the volatility of Nick's tempe rament - all made more powerful because of the way the story was told.

Frankly, I found it amazing to learn that Alex Flinn is a woman whose experience of domestic violence came from being a lawyer and a volunteer. The book rings so tru e, I was convinced it was the writer's own story.

Have others found format and style to be major contributors to the way one of these edgy YA books strike you?

Connie Rockman

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Received on Thu 15 May 2003 10:37:44 AM CDT