I just finished reading The Body of Christopher Creed (by Carol Plum-Icci) for my teaching young adult literature class, and if I were to sum up the book in one word it would be, "Wow".
When I first started reading the book I wasn't sure I would end up liking it. Firstly because I don't read many mystery books, because my imagination tends to get the best of me, and secondly because I didn't much like the idea of reading about a murdered teenager. I have to say though, before I continue on, that I was pleased with how the book turned out.
The story starts out with the main character, Torey Adams, saying:
"I had hoped that a new start away from Steepleton would make my junior year seem like a hundred years ago, rather than just one. Granted, senior year is not a great year to be switching schools, especially if you played football, baseball, had a decent blues band going in your basement, and had known the same kids since forever. I kept telling myself at first, Hey, going to boarding school will be like leaving for college a year early. It's cool. But that's a hard argument to hold on to when you're looking at people whose average age is fifteen, and when we're still living under a 10:00 P.M. weekend curfew in the dorm, At first it was a weird change. But staying in Steepleton after all that had happened would have been weirder."
Because of the above, we automatically know that whatever when down in Steepleton must have been big if it caused Torey to flee to another school. It makes readers interested as forces them to ask the question, "What happened and why are you running?"
As the book continues, Torey begins to tell his story and we learn about the missing boy named Christopher Creed. Now, I'm going to tell you the whole story, and I most certainly won't tell you the ending, but I will give you a quick summery. The following is the current summery I have written for the project I read this book for. It lacks many details but should get the point of what's going on across to you.
Summary:
A high school student by the name of Christopher Creed has disappeared. There are no signs of a kidnapping and a note left behind -from Creed -throws the town of Steepleton into chaos. By the wording of the note, no one can tell if it Creed planned to commit suicide or if he simply ran away. Fellow classmate, Torey Adams, has known Creed since Kindergarten and when the school’s reject goes missing he takes it upon himself to find the kid.
Torey’s search leads him to make some unlikely allies in the form of the school’s ‘slut’, Alie McDermott, and a boon called Bo Richardson. The three of them set out to discover what exactly happened to their classmate. However, when Chris’ mother starts blaming Bo of killing her son things get messy. The teens find themselves thrust into a world they’ve never seen and it opens Torey’s eyes to the fact that Steepleton, and its locals, are not as perfect as everyone says.
He learns who his true friends are when his best friend, Alex, and Alex’s girlfriend, Renee, start thinking that not only did Bo kill Chris but that Torey helped him. Wanting to prove both his and Bo’s innocence, Torey is determined to find out the truth behind Creed’s disappearance.
The story that Carol Plum-Ucci presents to readers brings up many themes and at times it was difficult to read. It was an uneasy read that had me sometimes watching the shadows around me. Though it was enjoyable, it hit on some themes that made it hard to swallow sometimes. There were even a few things mentioned in it that I recognized having witnessed in my own high school.
For the sake of explaining each theme I want to talk about accurately, I will divide them up and give a quick response to each.
Homosexuality:
This theme is only touched on once in the book and at the very beginning. Torey mentions some fellow students thinking a kid named Leo is gay. He states that there are two other gay guys living in the dorms, but no one cares because they were open about it. He makes a point of saying that it wasn't really the possibility of Leo being gay that bugged people, it was the fact that you could tell the kid was struggling with something and knowing that he was made you struggle as well.
Sex:
This is not really a theme so much as it is something the characters talk about frequently. There are characters that are accused of being sluts, characters that are said to be virgins, characters that claim not to sleep around but actually do, and characters that actually seems to think of sex as being something special. Honestly, there were a few times that I thought, "How could a teacher teach this book to her/his class without feeling awkward," but the scenes were nothing that students wouldn't have already read. In fact, most of the scenes with this theme in it were mainly conversations of the topic or a characters thoughts on it. They were tings that teens would actually talk/think about.
Gossip:
Gossip and the harm it does is a big theme in this book. In fact, I'd say it's one of the main ones. Through the book Torey notices how much of gossips his friends really are and how much harm they are actually causing. The boy has his eyes opened in many ways in this book and faces revelations that many teens are forced to.
Human Faults:
One of the big things Torey learns during the story is that there is no such thing as a perfect life. After starting up a friendship with Allie he slowly starts realizing that his friends' 'perfect' lives were not as pristine as everyone pretended they were. In fact, he learns that Steepleton itself has a hidden past. As he says at one point in the story, Christopher Creed -the weird kid -might have disappeared but his disappearance only brought out the weirdness of everyone in the town...and that weirdness ends up revealing a lot about the town's inhabitants.
Something Interesting:
Now this is not a theme, this is something I merely observed. Being an English major, I tend to pay attention to the language and style author's use. The slang Carol Plum-Ucci used really caught my attention. I liked how the author kept the story in Torey's point of view -keeping to first person -and in that teenage slang was used. I had to laugh though, a few times :) You see, the slang used in the book isn't exactly common today. Of course this is because the book is not a new write and takes place in the past, but I still gained amusement from it a few times. Slang and insults such as, "You're wigging out," "Quit wigging," "You sound like you were cutting logs (referring to sleep)", and "She's a turbo-slut" sprang up repeatedly.
I swear half of the lingo used in the book I had never heard before. I even asked my roommate on a few of them and she hadn't heard of them. It kept the story interesting though. One thing I wasn't impressed with, but understand why the author did it, was the amount of curse words used in the book.
The F-bomb, as well as a few others were used throughout the book by the characters. The cursing is understandable, considering many teenagers talk like that, but it's another reason to question whether it should be used in the class room setting.
While reading The Body of Christopher Creed, I was constantly toying with the thought that it shouldn't be presented in classrooms. I had spoken to a friend who said she had read the book in sixth grade and another who had said she had read it in eight. Honestly, six grade is a bit too young to be reading this book. I have a younger sister in fifth grade and I will not be encouraging her to read this book. Only my high school aged siblings will be allowed to take it from my book shelf due to the themes and language used in it.
As for eighth graders...I'm iffy. I could see how you would want them to read it, but I think -and this is strictly my personal opinion -that they are still too young for many of the themes presented in the story. Technically, the book could be consider a late middle school to high school read, but I wouldn't want to present it to a class younger than sophomore year of high school. If I had to teach it, I would prefer that it be to a Junior level class. This is because the characters in the book are Juniors in high school and the situations they face and themes that appear often take place during that age.
Overall, the book it great and I will most likely read it again in the future. The ending of the book had me convinced that it should be used in a classroom setting. I won't tell you what the end is, because I don't want to spoil the story for anyone who wishes to read it, but what Torey eventually comes to realize is important and I think there is a valuable lesson to be taken from it...a very valuable lesions actually.
I look forward to reading the sequel and will most likely start on it tomorrow...if I get the chance. I also encourage any of you above ninth grade to read it. I took something away from it and was able to connect with some of the things mentioned in it. I think it is an awesome read.
Book Trailers:
The following are a couple of fan made trailers I found for the book on YouTube. I thought they were pretty cool and would show them to you.
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/AQGVeC0Gwcw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/gJVwdbRp6cU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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