This Blog is Dedicated to our dear friend Karen.
When she left this life she left a hole in our hearts as well as several to be read books.
We, her friends, will read these books for her.
This blog will be a sort of book club for us to post our thoughts and feelings about the stories and feelings we have of Karen while we read.

Thursday, July 7, 2016

#13 Because of Mr. Terupt by Rob Buyea

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A strong 3.5 or 3.75, rounded up to 4. This book passed the crying-in-public test, which means I had the chance to show strangers my ugly crying face while reading.

The book has an unusual format, where different members of a 5th grade class take turns relating the events that happen; in fact, we often get the chance to see the same event from several different viewpoints. I did like how each of the kids' chapters was written in a somewhat different style. I didn't care for the obviously contrived valley girl style used for Alexia. I did enjoy the more eloquent style given to the big reader, Jessica, and the very structured, logical style used by Luke.
I would have given the book a higher rating, but while it covers several very emotional and serious topics (and deals with them well), I felt like the buildup to these events was too sudden. I guess I feel like the book should have been a bit longer, and should have taken more time to develop the characters and set the scene for the major event in the last part of the story. (I hesitate to say more for fear of giving away spoilers.)


All of that being said, this is a good book for juvenile readers. It deals with issues like family and death in a straightforward, but not sensational, way. It teaches strong lessons about friendship, teamwork, and forgiveness, but not in a preachy way. And it tugs at your heartstrings something awful.
 

~Kris

1 comment:

  1. I really enjoyed this book as well. So interesting to see the same event from so many different view points of personalities and family backgrounds.

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