Library & Literary Miscellany

The Body of Christopher Creed by Carol Plum-Ucci (hardcover 2000, softcover 2001)

Torey Adams: “When perfect lives come crashing down, some people say they come down with a vengeance. The more perfect the life, the more complete the destruction…I seem to remember the theory that we’re all dealt fifty-two cards by the end of our lives. If you get all aces in the beginning, you have a greater chance of getting your twos and threes in rapid succession later…For sixteen years I had a perfect life. I got my share of twos or three in the weeks following the corpse.”

Torey Adams is on the list–the list of guys with perfect lives according to Christopher Creed’s enigmatic suicide/disappearance letter. Torey narrates the novel as he recounts the events following Christopher Creed’s disappearance. Christopher’s disappearance, the disappearance of a kids that had previously only received attention when he was being picked on or beaten up, has gripped the attention of the entire town of Steepleton, New Jersey.

Torey is puzzled by Christopher’s perception that he’s one of the guys with a perfect life. Before Christopher’s disappearance, Torey accepted without question the division between the affluent “in” kids and the outsider “boons” (so named for their residence in the boondocks). After Christopher’s disappearance, Torey begins to question the labels that kids stick on other kids (in this book, the main labels under consideration are boon and slut). As Torey tries to understand life through Christopher’s eyes, he begins to see Steepleton’s (and his own) hypocrisy, injustice, arrogance, and heartlessness toward those on the outside of “cool”.

In his quest for understanding and self-pardon, Torey forms an unlikely friendship with Bo “boon” Richardson and Ali “slut” McDermott. Each for his or her own reasons, together they delve into Christopher’s disappearance. The trio are caught in their attempt to retrieve Christopher’s diary from his room, and their investigation ends up having repercussions for the entire town. Steepleton’s secrets, scandals, and mysteries of the past are brought out into the open

Basically, Plum-Ucci is plumbing the depths of teen angst and arrogance, superficial behavior, insidious social cliques, and personal responsibility. Christopher’s disappearance brings Steepleton to its knees and makes it clear that words and actions have consequences. She also includes ideas about withholding judgment of others. Christopher’s harshest critics and abusers would not have been so quick to do him harm if they had first stopped to take a long, hard look at themselves.

This book reminds me quite a bit of Gail Giles’ What Happened to Cass McBride? in the whole “be careful what you say and do for it impacts those around you and may come back to haunt you” sort of way. The Body of Christopher Creed is by no means light reading, and it is recommended by its publishers (and by Publisher’s Weekly) for young adults 12+ (Note: I appended this sentence on December 01 as Renay from the-book-ninja.org pointed out my wording was poor, thanks Renay).

While the book may engender some challenges (discussion and/or action related to suicide, sex, and violence are all included in the book), the overall message is an important one for young people (and all people) to understand–treat others with the respect they deserve as fellow human beings.

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Anne Boles Levy (Book Buds blogger) presented on book reviewing at the Kidlitosphere conference in October. She has recently published a synopsis of this presentation in Foreward Magazine’s Shelf Space entitled Basic Reviewing for the Advanced Blogger (the article is not only a synopsis of her presentation but also a re-write of an earlier post of hers on Book Buds about her presentation).

Basically, she argues in support of writing reviews that contribute to what former Los Angeles Times book review editor Steve Wasserman called “a cultural conversation of critical importance.” She writes:

I took it to mean that no book exists in a vacuum. It’s part of a genre or it breaks from it; it’s typical of the author’s work or it’s a departure; it’s of the moment or reminiscent of another era. It has its hyper-specific niche or is part of a movement. There’s always a larger something or other to say about it, and a reviewer’s job is to pin that something, as nebulous and slippery as a jellyfish, to the wall

She advises reviewers regarding Capsule Reviews, Daily Reviews, and the Long Form. Her article is worth reading for it includes sagacious reviewing advice such as the necessary reminders of what to do (have a theme and something to say) and what not to do (avoid excessive plot rehash and vacuous “I liked/disliked it” statements without placing them in any sort of context) in a review. Plus, it’s always enjoyable to read a well-written argument.

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