I am currently reading If I Grow Up by Todd Strasser. His ability to depict urban school situations is solid. In his description of Mr. Brand, the teacher who urges DeShawn to apply to a magnet high school, I recognized some of my own hopes and frustrations for students. Even though the book is set in another city, I believe the plot and characters speak to urban dwellers everywhere. I should mention I have only just begun the book (I'm on page 34), but, at this point Strasser's descriptive writing, realistic dialogue and imaginative plot are engaging to me. The young people in his book sound like the young people I know and that reality isn’t always easy for an author to capture. I recommend this book to my students and anyone else who enjoys young adult literature.
(Strasser, Todd. If I Grow Up. New York, 2009. Print.)
No comments:
Post a Comment