Plum-Ucci, C. (2000). The body of christopher creed. New York: Harcourt, Inc.
ISBN-13: 978-0-15-206386-3
Plot Summary
Torey Adams spends his senior year away from his hometown of Steepleton, and away from his friends, at Rothborne, a boarding school. He could not bear to face the people there after what happened in the woods. During his junior year, a socially awkward classmate whom he had punched out in the sixth grade and had not spoken much to since, disappeared. That was the year Christopher Creed, after sending an email to the school’s principal indicating his either running away or suicide, went missing. Now, in the aftermath, most of Torey’s friends at school, including his girlfriend, take Christopher’s disappearance lightly, too lightly for Torey who feels bad for Christopher. Torey befriends Ali and her boyfriend, Bo, and together they launch a plot to find out more information about Christopher and find him. When their plan backfires, Torey explores the woods behind his house because a psychic had told him he would find Christopher in the woods. Torey enters an ancient Indian burial ground, breaks his leg, and stumbles into an underground cave. There are wrapped Indian bodies as well as an unwrapped body that is newer. At first, Torey believes it to be Chris, but then realizes it is Bob Haines before the air causes it to disintegrate. Christopher Creed remains missing.
Critical Evaluation
Told in flashback and first person narration, The Body of Christopher Creed begins with Torey in his new school recalling events that occurred the year prior and still searching for information. The flashback creates a frame of the story with the beginning and ending taking place in the same location; perhaps the significance is that a person’s past will always affect them and you cannot truly get away from it as Torey wanted to do by finishing high school somewhere else. The reader sees the world through Torey’s eyes and watches as he changes. Torey is a well-developed, dynamic character. In the beginning, he is judgmental of the “boon,” those students from the wrong side of town, but later, he begins to see them in a different light and ultimately changes his idea of who his friends are. Other labels the high school students apply to each other, such as jock and nerd, are common in real life as well. Perhaps readers will be able to see how being labeled affects a person’s actions; the primary example is, of course, Christopher Creed, labeled as an outsider, who essentially creates a separate, imaginary identity for himself and ultimately is pushed outside of reality by disappearing. Readers will be able to recognize a Christopher Creed in any school they attend. The framework of the story also adds a touch of irony: in searching for the missing Christopher Creed, Torey himself goes missing by attending the boarding school. Readers might see how people’s actions affect others in ways they might not be aware of and that what people believe to be true is just that, their perception. Torey, as well as the reader, will see that some mysteries will never be solved. The trick is in discovering how we get over them once they have changed our lives and move on.
Reader’s Annotation
High school junior Torey Adams seems to have a perfect life. When Christopher Creed, the socially awkward school outcast, mysteriously disappears, he struggles with doubts and questions that lead him to a dramatic realization. Her father and paternal grandmother operated funeral homes and much of her imagination can be attributed to lying awake at night above the funeral parlor and wondering what the noises were downstairs.
Author Information
Carol Plum-Ucci was born August 16, 1957 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. As she was growing up, she always knew she wanted to be a writer. Her father and paternal grandmother operated funeral homes and much of her imagination can be attributed to lying awake at night above the funeral parlor and wondering what the noises were downstairs. In fact, one of her favorite memories was of taking her friends down into the funeral home and telling them there was a body there to scare them when, in fact, there really was a body down there (I love her humor). Plum-Ucci attended Purdue University where she received her BA in communication in 1979 and then received her Masters degree from Rutgers. She worked as Assistant Producer to the Miss America Pageant in 1984. She has also been a ghostwriter, critic, speechwriter, and essayist. Her most famous work is The Body of Christopher Creed, for which she won the Printz Honor Book Award in 2002. It was also named as a finalist for the Edgar Allen Poe Award.
Plum-Ucci very actively communicates with her readers. She strongly encourages them to contact her for help writing. She welcomes students and teachers to Skype her. She speaks at many schools. Plum-Ucci also takes local school interns during the summer months.
For more information about Carol Plum-Ucci, including what her favorite songs are, please visit her website:
If you enjoyed The Body of Christopher Creed, you will be happy to know that there is finally a sequel. Following Christopher Creed was published September 6, 2011.
ISBN-13: 978-0-15-204759-7
Yay!
Genre
Young Adult
Mystery
Running away
Suicide
Curriculum Ties
Lenape Indians, burial grounds
Book Talking Ideas
Mental illness, burial grounds
Reading Level/ Interest Age
Characters are in high school; appropriate for grades 9 and up
Challenge Issues
Has been challenged for age-appropriateness.
Challenge Defense
In defense of a challenge, I would cite these reviews as well as ALA's Strategies and Tips for Dealing with Challenges to Library Materials.
Book Report 11/01/00
Notable/Best Books (A.L.A.) 01/19/01
Booklist 03/15/01
Publishers Weekly 05/22/00
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books 04/01/00
School Library Journal starred 07/01/00
Kirkus Review 05/15/00
Voice of Youth Advocates (V.O.Y.A.) 08/01/00
Why did I include this title?
No comments:
Post a Comment