day 29 of the 30 day book challenge

Day 29. A book everyone hated but you liked

My eighth grade year was pretty hit-or-miss when it came to book reading. Our teacher was a bit crazy–lots of hand motions, yoga talk, vegetarianism & big glasses paired with big hair. She cemented my love of sentence diagramming, & for that I am thankful. But she's a bit, well, "out there" for her conservative school district.

The whole class was tired of her choices–all rather depressing, a bit tough to get through, no real happy ending. 

That year, after we'd finally moved away from World War II reading (Anne Frank, Night, The Chosen & others I refuse to remember because I got so worn out by them) we read "I am the Cheese," a book which could have easily scored my vote for the most surprising ending. It wasn't a break from the depressing, dark stories we'd been reading, but the structure was different.

Here is the Powell's summary, which I find a bit lacking:

"A horrifying tale of government corruption, espionage, and counter espionage told by an innocent young victim...the buildup of suspense is terrific."–School Library Journal

The story was full of things that can get any middle school kid excited, so it's no wonder that it's become a bit of a classic in children's lit. I want to stop here before I get myself going & give something away.

What really rocked my world when researching this book for today was discovering the MOVIE! I also learned through IMDB's trivia that Robert MacNaughton, the man who stars in the film, now works in Phoenix as a USPS mail carrier. That just feels like mean trivia to me–but may be an odd bit of fate. In 1997, the book won the Phoenix Award from the Children's Literature Association!

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