Author: Eric Walters
Publisher: Orca Soundings
Genre: Contemporary/Realistic Fiction, Young Adult
Pages: 102 (pocket paperback)
Summary: As the new girl in a strange town, Casey is trying desperately to fit in and make friends. When her parents leave town for the weekend, her friend suggests she have a house party. Casey is reluctant to go along, until she realizes maybe this is the answer to fitting in and making friends--and getting back at her parents. They invite a few people and then a few more, using msn and text messaging. Hundreds of people show up and things get out of hand. Casey is in more trouble than she thought possible and now she must decide whether--and how--to do the right thing.
Review: This week, my YA class was assigned to read a title published under the Orca Soundings imprint. I had no prior knowledge of this publisher before, but after reading this title I've discovered that this is an imprint that publishes novels for presumably reluctant readers, often featuring some kind of "issue" driving the plot. In this case, we have our main protagonist Casey, who's lying to her mother about staying at a friend's house while her parents are away on a trip and caves under the pressure of aforementioned friend to throw a party at her now-empty house.
It's hard to properly review this book because it sets out to be a specific kind of story and it does so. This book is short, the language is simple, there's a lot of dialogue, and the action moves at a clipping pace. Was it riveting? For me, personally, not really. But I'm also not the intended audience. I am curious how reluctant young adult readers would receive this. Since the majority of the novel is dialogue, it stays pretty focused on the plot and doesn't bother with too much description which I think is a good way to approach enticing reluctant readers -- in my experience, oftentimes they feel drowned in the details or their minds wander when there's too much description. The clipping pace due to the short length of the story should also hopefully keep them hooked; there's no meandering here.
What does bother me about this book -- and this whole imprint actually -- is that it appears to be reverting back to the "issues book" trend that was so prevalent in the '80s. Every book in Orca Soundings deals with some kind of heavy teen issue and it is the focus of the story at the expense of all else. There's no character development, the secondary characters are flat and are present merely to fill in specific roles and stereotypes, and the moral lessons are about as subtle as a hammer to the head. Do reluctant readers need to be talked down to and have merely shocking issues thrown at them to entice them to read? I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with this kind of fiction, nor is there anything wrong with reading and enjoying it (I'm trying to be conscientious of being judgmental of what others read after our class discussion from two weeks ago when we discussed award winners) but surely we can present reluctant readers with more quality literature while still adjusting to their reading needs?
I was also annoyed by the short instances of fat-shaming. Casey notes that her friend is only "plump" and not "fat", but also berates her for liking sweets and baked goods, and notes how she has a "weight problem" and is always trying to lose a few pounds. Considering the short length of this novel, every detail is important and has an impact, so I was annoyed that this is how Walters chose to characterize Jen. What was the point? It had no bearing on the plot whatsoever, except maybe to highlight that Jen was insecure, but this could have been accomplished in a number of different ways.
Overall, I wasn't particularly impressed with this title. While it's largely inoffensive and serviceable, the fat-shaming and the less-than-subtle moral lesson deterred from being able to enjoy it for what it is. While the simple writing style and the large amount of dialogue could potentially hook reluctant readers, the morally-driven plot felt too condescending to the intended audience. I like to think that there's a way to present more quality literature to reluctant readers without having to resort to "issue novels" to grab their attention, but maybe I'm being too idealistic? Am I being too snobby? I'm not sure, but I'd love to hear anyone's thoughts!
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