Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Jumped by Rita Williams-Garcia

Wow. This book is just disturbing. It's a day in the life of three high school girls. One is angry about being benched from playing basketball and plans to beat up another girl after school (for no reason). The girl about to get jumped is innocent and oblivious and self-absorbed. And the third girl knows what's going to happen but is too concerned with her broken fingernail to intervene. It's a mature book—definitely for high schoolers—with lots of urban slang. I'm sure it would be useful for discussions on ethics and right vs. wrong, especially in similar urban environments and rough schools. Mostly this book just depressed me. The two characters at fault here don't ever take responsibility for their actions or grow in any way. They just do what they do and think it's ok. If this is the future of our world it's scary.

2 comments:

karenjoy113 said...

I just read a review of this story today and was thinking that the plot seemed interesting. I was curious to learn more about the character development after the said fight. Sounds like there isn't much at all. I've heard it is a depressing story. Thanks for writing about it!

yearbook publishing said...

This story is really disturbing and scary.. If this will happen to all high school students, it would surely affect the entire schools and parents..