Module 9: Mystery
"Alone again, so long. This time We wait. This time We know for sure. That heat, that heartbeat, that life-will be back". Cryer's Cross, Lisa McMann
"Alone again, so long. This time We wait. This time We know for sure. That heat, that heartbeat, that life-will be back". Cryer's Cross, Lisa McMann
Book Summary:
The small town of Cryer’s Cross is rocked by tragedy when an unassuming freshman disappears without a trace. Kendall Fletcher wasn’t that friendly with the missing girl, but the angst wreaks havoc on her OCD-addled brain.When a second student goes missing—someone close to Kendall’s heart—the community is in an uproar. Caught in a downward spiral of fear and anxiety, Kendall’s not sure she can hold it together. When she starts hearing the voices of the missing, calling out to her and pleading for help, she fears she’s losing her grip on reality. But when she finds messages scratched in a desk at school—messages that could only be from the missing student who used to sit there—Kendall decides that crazy or not, she’d never forgive herself if she didn’t act on her suspicions.
Something’s not right in Cryer’s Cross—and Kendall’s about to find out just how far the townspeople will go to keep their secrets buried.
Reference: McMann, L. (2011). Cryer's Cross, New York, N.Y. Simon Pulse.
Impressions:
A good old fashioned mystery and ghost story, It was a perfect book to read right before Halloween. I read the whole book in less than six hours. Some language, but it showed great insight into a mental condition call Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. The characters were developed well, and the writing kept the reader turning the pages to get to the next moment. The book had you guessing what was going on right up to the last two chapters. I have not read a mystery book in awhile, but this one was geared right for kids ages 12 and up.
It had all the elements of a good mystery, and I would like to see more by this author. Young Adult Literature explains these features. "A real mystery encourages reasoning and problem solving, as well as questioning and examining evidence, fact, and motives. Like a problem novel, a real mystery also explores values and social morality. Behind the plot of each mystery is the idea of 'good versus evil, order versus chaos, illusion versus reality, and the necessity of thought as a tool for survival". (Bucher, 2014 Young Adult Literature)
Professional Review:
This horror/suspense offering never really gets a whole shiver going, even though McMann infuses her story with a 50-year-old wooden school desk and a menacing collective of tortured souls possessing it. Even when the desk-spirits seem to explain the bizarre disappearances of two of several high school students in the tiny Montana town of Cryer's Cross, the intended creep factor intended falls short. What doesn't fall short is the solid characterization of Kendall, a senior who tries to keep control of her OCD even after Nico, her best boy-friend since infancy, goes missing. Weird carved messages show up on the desk he was using before his disappearance, and Kendall thinks she hears his voice when she sits at it. Luckily, she has the distractions of soccer, a new boy from Arizona who slowly warms up to her, and her family's potato harvest to keep her from obsessing about Nico's loss and the eerie desk-until they just become too compelling. Then she, too, faces danger from the trapped entities that inhabit the desk. The mystery of why and how the desk is possessed and urging teenagers to harm themselves is given a quick and illogical gloss over when explained. Discerning readers are unlikely to suspend disbelief, but they may find the character and setting help redeem the book.
Library Uses: I would include this book on our monthly newsletter for good juvenile mystery books to read or even a good story to read for the month of October.
It had all the elements of a good mystery, and I would like to see more by this author. Young Adult Literature explains these features. "A real mystery encourages reasoning and problem solving, as well as questioning and examining evidence, fact, and motives. Like a problem novel, a real mystery also explores values and social morality. Behind the plot of each mystery is the idea of 'good versus evil, order versus chaos, illusion versus reality, and the necessity of thought as a tool for survival". (Bucher, 2014 Young Adult Literature)
Professional Review:
This horror/suspense offering never really gets a whole shiver going, even though McMann infuses her story with a 50-year-old wooden school desk and a menacing collective of tortured souls possessing it. Even when the desk-spirits seem to explain the bizarre disappearances of two of several high school students in the tiny Montana town of Cryer's Cross, the intended creep factor intended falls short. What doesn't fall short is the solid characterization of Kendall, a senior who tries to keep control of her OCD even after Nico, her best boy-friend since infancy, goes missing. Weird carved messages show up on the desk he was using before his disappearance, and Kendall thinks she hears his voice when she sits at it. Luckily, she has the distractions of soccer, a new boy from Arizona who slowly warms up to her, and her family's potato harvest to keep her from obsessing about Nico's loss and the eerie desk-until they just become too compelling. Then she, too, faces danger from the trapped entities that inhabit the desk. The mystery of why and how the desk is possessed and urging teenagers to harm themselves is given a quick and illogical gloss over when explained. Discerning readers are unlikely to suspend disbelief, but they may find the character and setting help redeem the book.
Suzanne Gordon, Lanier High School, Sugar Hill, GA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC,
Gordon, S. (2010). [Review of the book Cryer's Cross By Lisa McMann], School Library Journal, Retrieved from http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1416994823?ie=UTF8&isInIframe=0&n=283155&ref_=dp_proddesc_0&s=books&showDetailProductDesc=1#product-description_feature_div
Library Uses: I would include this book on our monthly newsletter for good juvenile mystery books to read or even a good story to read for the month of October.
No comments:
Post a Comment