Language: G (0 swears, 0 ‘f’); Mature Content: PG (brief smoking and drinking; Violence: PG (kidnapping, fight)
BUYING ADVISORY: MS - ADVISABLE
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
Katie McCabe is sick of hearing about the McCabe way of doing things. Her sheriff father can’t control her, so he has decided to send her to the family ranch into the care of his oldest brother, Charlie. Nothing works for Katie in this new place either - if anything it makes Katie feel more belligerent than she ever was at home. She fights with her uncle, with her cousin Sarah, and picks a bigger fight with the school bully, Denton, whose family has been trying to run the McCabe’s out of town for decades.
I think I am supposed to feel sorry for Katie, but I could not muster up the feeling. Her anger at her father seems to be born out of nothing except teenaged petulance. And she just takes that anger with her to her uncle’s, where she proceeds to hate everyone who is trying to hold out a hand to her - demanding trust without giving any. Gardner’s aim seems to be to help angry teens see themselves in Katie and make a change - I can hope that it does without being convinced. Plus the promise of the blurb on the inside flap is 180 pages into the book and only lasts for 30 more pages - not the brilliance of Hatchet, for sure.
Cindy Mitchell, Library Teacher, MLS
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment