Monday, June 18, 2012
YA - Mister Death's Blue-Eyed Girls
by Mary Downing Hahn, 2012
"Based on an actual crime in 1955, this YA novel is at once a mystery and
a coming-of-age story. The brutal murder of two teenage girls on the
last day of Nora Cunningham’s junior year in high school throws Nora
into turmoil. Her certainties—friendships, religion, her prudence, her
resolve to find a boyfriend taller than she is—are shaken or cast off
altogether. Most people in Elmgrove, Maryland, share the comforting
conviction that Buddy Novak, who had every reason to want his
ex-girlfriend dead, is responsible for the killings. Nora agrees at
first, then begins to doubt Buddy’s guilt, and finally comes to believe
him innocent—the lone dissenting voice in Elmgrove. Told from several
different perspectives, including that of the murderer, Mister Death’s
Blue-Eyed Girls is a suspenseful page-turner with a powerful human drama
at its core." (from Amazon.com)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
What an interesting book. I wanted to see justice done. I wanted to see the killer caught. (It reminded me of Lovely Bones in that regard.) I don't want to do any spoilers, but I will say that the author's afterword affected my perception of the story I'd just read. Most of my students seem put off by historical fiction (this is set in the 1950s) and yet it was a more innocent time. Some of Nora's and Ellie's dilemmas fit with what kids today deal with. I'd love to hear other people's perceptions of this story.
ReplyDeleteOh! I forgot to comment on a part that caught my eye. On page 250, Nora and Buddy are commenting on how teachers love kids like Ralph (who is actually an arrogant and cruel, but handsome and success-oriented student) while they loathe kids like Buddy and see him as always the trouble-maker. This bothered me because I think there's some truth in it. I think most of us strive to meet all kids' needs and recognize that there are many different kinds of strengths, but I know that it can be all too easy to "type" kids by their behaviors, appearance, parents, etc.
ReplyDelete