The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (Oprah's Book Club)

Book Description

With the publication of her first novel, THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER, Carson McCullers, all of twenty-three, became a literary sensation. With its profound sense of moral isolation and its compassionate glimpses into its characters' inner lives, the novel is considered McCullers' finest work, an enduring masterpiece first published by Houghton Mifflin in 1940. At its center is the deaf-mute John Singer, who becomes the confidant for various types of misfits in a Georgia mill town during the 1930s. Each one yearns for escape from small town life. When Singer's mute companion goes insane, Singer moves into the Kelly house, where Mick Kelly, the book's heroine (and loosely based on McCullers), finds solace in her music. Wonderfully attuned to the spiritual isolation that underlies the human condition, and with a deft sense for racial tensions in the South, McCullers spins a haunting, unforgettable story that gives voice to the rejected, the forgotten, and the mistreated -- and, through Mick Kelly, gives voice to the quiet, intensely personal search for beauty. Richard Wright praised Carson McCullers for her ability "to rise above the pressures of her environment and embrace white and black humanity in one sweep of apprehension and tenderness." She writes "with a sweep and certainty that are overwhelming," said the NEW YORK TIMES. McCullers became an overnight literary sensation, but her novel has endured, just as timely and powerful today as when it was first published. THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER is Carson McCullers at her most compassionate, endearing best.

Customer Reviews:

The Quiet Man. .......2007-09-27

An outstanding and realistic examination of the human condition. It's an indirect examination ("thoughts that wound from behind" as the great philosopher/storyteller Soren Kierkegaard put it) and that's what makes it so effective.
Everyone is so caught up in their own problems and acting out their desires that nobody notices the quiet suffering of the saintly central character. When he exits his void is felt yet no one can fathom the reasons for his disappearances. Maybe Jean Calvin was/is right about that thorough-corruption doctrine.
Carson McCullers sounds Kierkegaardian in showing the limits of organized religion and social action. The men of purposeful action (street preacher Simms, vagabond Jake Blount, and house-calling Doctor Copeland end up estranged, embittered, and feeling a lack of accomplishment. Meanwhile, the non-formalists (John Singer, Mick Kelly, and Biff Brannon) are better-adjusted and seem to have done more for the world. McCullers doesn't forget the "middle path" either by giving us Portia Copeland, a decent and generous church-goer who talks a little too much.
Our author echoes the sentiments of fellow Southerner William Faulkner on the civil rights issue. Both McCullers and Faulkner despaired at the suffering of blacks under Jim Crow but were wise enough to know the situation could not be legislated away (after all Jim Crow was a creation of government too.) Racism is a human failing to see The Other as a fellow child of G-d. It's an animalistic impulse, as Rabbi Daniel Lapin (a teacher of mine) rightly points out. Trying to speed the undoing of this impulse through legislation and protest marches, while not completely unhelpful, risks bloodshed. Having the faith/attributes of Biff (who runs a restaurant/hospitality center in the spirit of Biblical patriarch Abraham, the father of faith), Mick and Singer makes peaceful change possible in time.
Doctor Copeland and Jake Blount foreshadow the professional protestors of our era. Their enjoyment in physical confrontations tells us a good bit about the psyche of poverty pimps and union thugs.
Singer's life shows the truth of what another of my teachers (the saintly Rabbi Avigdor Miller ZT"L) once said -- "It is the quiet man that is respected." The public activist hero portrayed in Hollywood and TV news misleads many into thinking that they must pour forth a constant stream of verbiage to make an impact and promote "understanding." Rabbi Miller and other sages know better -- Most talking is counterproductive.
McCullers (who was 23 at the time "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" was published) proves herself the Great American Prophetess of the Great American Loneliness. Widespread ambivalence and inarticulateness amid the Information Age and cell-phone-driven communications "revolution" wouldn't have surprised Carson McCullers.
To close, here's a gem -- "He (Biff) had known his loves and they were over. Alice, Madeline, and Gyp. Finished. Leaving him either better or worse. Which? However you looked at it."

Character study, not a story.......2007-09-13

I read tons of "pulp" novels and I've started adding some classics to my wish list--largely to see if the books I abhored in high school would be more enjoyable if they were not assigned reading. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter was no better now.
As a character study it is superb; the main characters are deep, believable, and unique. I understood the characters, or at least why they didn't understand themselves. Each chapter with Mr. Singer made me smile with anticipation while I waited for something magical to happen to make the characters happy.
That was the problem with the book. Each chapter barely moves the story forward, and in the end nothing happens. There is so much potential for characters to talk and understand and change, but it never happens and the potential hangs over the entire book like a cloud. The book simply ends. No character is better off than they were in the beginning, no character's life path is appreciably changed from those of their next door neighbors. In short, with the exception of Mr. Singer, there was no reason to write about these characters in terms of their participation in events that are worth writing about.
The book was not a labor to get through, but I was largely unsatisfied with the resolution. I don't need a happy ending, but atleast give me a sense that the previous 200 pages somewhat affected that ending.

No thrilling page-turner, but a deep, honest look into the heart of man!.......2007-09-09

It's no fast-paced thriller, nor is it a gripping page-turner, it is however, an incredibly deep look into the heart and soul of man. Not until you finish the very last page and reflect on what you have read, can you truly begin to understand the simple truth behind the title, `The heart is a lonely hunter.'

The heart of man is lonely, always seeking, always needing something... elusive. We all share the need to feel connected, to be part of a whole. To know truth, and be at peace. We are so many disjointed voices that few of us are ever really heard.

Set in the deep South, Carson tells of a deaf mute named John Singer and a group of frustrated individuals that gravitate towards his serene and kindly nature--a young girl, desperate to follow her dreams; a drunkard, willing to impart his wisdom on the uninformed; a black doctor, eager to lift his people to equality; and a café owner, stuck in the routines of life.

Each seek Singer's company and tell of their woes with a deep believe that he, and only he, truly understands their ply. In him, each sees a kindred spirit. But what, exactly, does Singer see in them?

The Meaning of Life.......2007-08-29

"Seek and ye shall find," Jesus is quoted as saying in the Bible. All of us, no matter what our religious affiliation--or lack thereof--are seeking out a dream, a little piece of happiness. Sometimes this process is conscious and sometimes a subconscious imperative drives us forward towards that piece of happiness.

The five main characters of "The Heart is A Lonely Hunter" are all seeking their dreams in an unnamed mill town in the South in the late 1930s. For teenaged Mick Kelly, the dream is a career in classical music that her impoverished family can't afford to provide. For the relentless black Doctor Copeland, the dream is freedom and equality for his people. For restaurateur Biff Brannon the dream is having children. For vertically-challenged drifter Jake Blount the dream is a Marxist revolution to level the playing field for all people. And last, but most important, the dream for deaf-mute John Singer is to be reunited with his long time partner Anatopolous, who was committed to an institution.

Singer becomes the prime focus for the other four. One by one they inadvertently seek him out and spill their wishes and desires to him, although he often doesn't understand them. To Mick he is a secret friend who understands her. To Copeland he is a wise man who understands the struggles of the black minority. To Blount he is a comrade in arms for the revolution. And to Biff he is a kindred spirit, a fellow observer of humanity.

Yet for as much as he represents to them, they mean relatively little to Singer. His thoughts are consumed by his love--platonic, we assume--for Anatopolous, the one he thinks understands him. But much as Singer is a false idol to the other four, Anatopolous is a false idol for him, a lazy, selfish, slovenly person incapable of appreciating Singer's love. In the end these troubled souls are left to pick up the pieces after the false idols shatter, as they inevitably do. This leads each of them to make a decision and to enter a new phase of life.

What makes this book so wonderful to read is the profound understanding of humanity shown here. All of us at one time or another have felt the pent-up ambition Mick feels at wanting something that remains just out of reach. We've felt the righteous anger to right a terrible injustice like Doctor Copeland. We've felt the isolation of being the outsider like Blount. We've all felt the confusion after a loss like Biff. And those of us fortunate enough--or perhaps unfortunate enough--have felt the heartache of an unrequited love like Singer.

These people all seem real because their hopes and desires are those hopes and desires we all have. Their dreams aren't altogether different than those each of us seek, whether we're aware of it or not. We know their longing and desperation to find someone who understands them, even if that someone is a deaf-mute who can only nod along.

Because of that, the book touches something deep in our consciousness, something primal within all of us--the need to seek out for something greater. The most astounding thing about "The Heart is A Lonely Hunter" is that the author was only twenty-three years old when she published this. At a time when most of us are just getting out into the "real world" and discovering ourselves, McCullers already had it figured out.

This is truly a literary achievement that you should seek out at your local bookseller or library at once, those who haven't already done so based on Oprah's recommendation.

That is all.

doesnt stand up over time.......2007-08-13

Lula Carson Smith was my favorite author for a long time. However i must have outgrown her, because i found a recent re-reading of 'the heart...' to be a little tiresome. i agree with another reviewer who noted it was easy to tell the characters were developed by a 23 y/o.

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strong suspense thriller
Excellent - very suspenseful
the suicide club

The Suicide Club
Gayle Wilson
Manufacturer: Mira
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0778324699

Book Description

Lindsey Sloan teaches the best and brightest students at Randolph-Lowen High School—exceptional teens with promising futures far from their small Alabama hometown. So when brash detective Jace Nolan arrives from up north and accuses her kids of setting a series of fires in local black churches, Lindsey is furious.

No matter how Jace tries to convince her, Lindsey can't believe her pupils could do something so horrible, let alone be addicted to the rush of getting away with it. But when her attraction to Jace places her in mortal danger and people begin dying, Lindsey can no longer be sure just what her students are capable of.

If Jace is right, it's up to the two of them to outsmart these criminal minds—before they carry out the ultimate thrill-kill.

Customer Reviews:

strong suspense thriller .......2007-07-06

Gifted Coordinator teacher Lindsay Sloan rejects as ludicrous Sheriff's Department Detective Jace Nolan's theory that at least one if not more of her students is involved in serial church arsons even though he claims he is working with FBI profilers. However, her students notice the cop and the teacher talking; they wonder if she is ratting on them. Soon afterward, someone tries to kill her in a fire.

Still she rejects his supposition until a series of student suicides occur that make her reconsider what is happening to her gifted pupils. She vows to help Jace learn the truth in order to insure her students are safe. The cop and the teacher are willing to risk their lives to prevent more appalling consequences from occurring.

The recent Virginia Tech tragedy reminds the audience how plausible the story line of THE SUICIDE CLUB is. Readers join Lindsay praying that it is not the students committing arson and wondering what has happened to these geniuses who are suddenly killing themselves. Although the romance between Jace and Lindsay is well written, it seems more like a superficial sidebar requirement (even with the life threatening final confrontation) to a strong suspense thriller as the superb mystery takes center stage.

Harriet Klausner

Excellent - very suspenseful.......2007-07-03

This is one of the best suspense stories I have read this summer. While it was disturbing...and all to relevant to what is going on in our current culture, there is no denying the compelling story and the ability that Wilson had in keeping you reading. I could not put this one down. It was chilling and scary and well written! Great love story that came across as real...excellent read. I highly recommend.

the suicide club.......2007-06-20

This book is about kids who are extremely smart, so they go to a special school, the Randolph-Lowen School.

Someone in the community has been burning down churchs, so the police think since there are no clues left behind that it has to be gifted kids doing the vandalism.

Jace Nolan, a detective who is investigating the fires goes to the Randolph-Lowen School where the gifted kids in the community attend. He thinks they have to be the ones setting the fires.

Lindsey Sloan has worked at Randolph-Lowen for 10 years with the gifted kids. When Jace asks her who she thinks is capable of doing the crimes, she is upset that he would suggest any of their kids there would be involved. To her, they are all good kids.

The church fires are over but new things start happening. Suicides, but are they really suicides?
Then it escalates to other bad acts.

This book was very disturbing in the way that I was wondering why Gayle Wilson would write it at a time when so many bad things are happening at schools around the country.

I guess I am just tired of all the killing and heartache that goes along with school violence.
I would not have read this book if it wasn't sent to me in my book club, and then I had reservations about it.

But you can see for yourself, but It was not for me.

The Suicide Club (Dover Thrift Editions)

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Imaginative, Ghastly Premise - But the Sequels Prove Unexceptional
Welcome to London's most unusual social club
Par but not his best
Intriguing Premise Falls Flat
The Suicide Club

The Suicide Club (Dover Thrift Editions)
Robert Louis Stevenson
Manufacturer: Dover Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0486414167

Book Description

Short story trilogy involving a club for people who wish to end their lives. The "Story of the Young Man with the Cream Tarts," "Story of the Physician and the Saratoga Trunk," and "The Adventure of the Hansom Cab" chronicle the exploits of Prince Florizel of Bohemia and Colonel Geraldine through some of 19th-century London's most dangerous haunts.

Customer Reviews:

Imaginative, Ghastly Premise - But the Sequels Prove Unexceptional.......2006-10-01

In 1882 Robert Louis Stevenson published The New Arabian Nights, a collection of his short stories that included The Suicide Club, itself comprised of three, loosely connected stories: The Story of the Young Man with the Cream Tarts, Story of the Physician and the Saratoga Trunk, and The Adventures of the Hansom Cab. These three tales are found unabridged in this Dover edition (2000) reprint, The Suicide Club.

The Suicide Club is based on an imaginative, ghastly premise, a secret club dedicated to facilitating the suicide of its own members. In the first tale, The Story of the Young Man with the Cream Tarts, Stevenson not only fully develops this macabre concept, but also introduces his two protagonists, Prince Florizel of Bohemia and his personal aide, Colonel Geraldine, that play key roles in these three stories as well as in later stories.

Unfortunately, although the two sequels, Story of the Physician and the Saratoga Trunk, and The Adventures of the Hansom Cab, initially are suspenseful, the endings seemingly fizzle out, and neither story quite achieves its promise. Nonetheless, these three stories in combination still rate 3.5 to 4 stars and will appeal to fans of Robert Louis Stevenson.

Point of interest: The film, The Suicide Club, was released in 2000; Roger Corman was the producer, Rachel Samuels was director, and the actors include Jonathan Pryce, David Morrissey, Paul Bettany, and Catherine Siggins (in the film version there is a female member of the exclusive suicide club). This film was also marketed under the title The Game of Death.

Welcome to London's most unusual social club.......2005-06-04

The Suicide Club is a really eye-catching title; once I saw Robert Louis Stevenson's name attached to it, I wasted little time in taking this little book home with me. I must say it's also rather striking to see a book of only 59 pages bearing a note that it is unabridged. Obviously, it's something of a short read, but it's also an enjoyable one. This is far from Stevenson's best-known work, but it's no secret that the author was a master storyteller.

The book consists of three interrelated short stories built around a most unusual prince and an even more unusual "social club." Prince Florizel of Bohemia indulges his thirst for adventure by undertaking all manner of secret excursions in disguise, aided always by his friend and Master of the Horse, Colonel Geraldine. While in London, one such late-night adventure leads them to the doors of The Suicide Club. This secret club serves an unusual purpose - it's essentially an assisted-suicide service. Suicide is a messy business - a lot of desperate men just can't bring themselves to take their own lives, and most also do not wish to cause a scandal among the friends and families they leave behind. For a fee, The Suicide Club arranges for the "accidental" deaths of its members. The luck of the draw determines who will die - and who will do the killing - on any given night. Anxious to put an end to such a barbaric society, Prince Florizel sets out to bring the murderous president of the club to justice, thereby setting the stage for the following two stories.

"Story of the Physician and the Saratoga Trunk" finds a young American in France deceived by intrigues and seemingly framed for murder as he finds a dead body in his bed. A mysterious doctor in the next room engineers a plan for the innocent young man to avoid an undeserved fate - this is where the Saratoga trunk comes in, as it's the perfect size for hiding a corpse. The young man and his luggage are able to exit the country in the company of Prince Florizel, but there is more than one surprise in store for the prince when he learns what his new friend is secretly transporting. It is nothing less than a most disturbing calling card from Florizel's enemy, the former president of The Suicide Club.

"The Adventure of the Hansom Cab" brings the saga to a close. A young war hero just back from India finds himself selected in a most unusual manner for a secretive mission, one which culminates in a final confrontation between Prince Florizel and the president of The Suicide Club.

The book gets less exciting as you progress through the second and third stories, but the opening "Story of the Young Man with the Cream Tarts" is a great read. The atmosphere inside The Suicide Club is palpable, from the Prince's initiation to the strained jocularity of the nervous society members to the tension of the high stakes card games designed to close out each evening's activities. It's a great concept, but the power of the original inspiration is lost somewhat as the two successive stories wander rather far afield before being directed back toward Prince Florizel and his campaign against The Suicide Club in the end.

Par but not his best.......2005-04-04

RLS is a fabulous writer. These stories are not necessarily his best but they give a flavor of his obsessions with the dark side of the puritanical Victorian soul. He catalogues the trials of men in demanding circumstances, often self-imposed, with a 19th century sensibility that oozes subversion. He winks at us with glittering language.

Intriguing Premise Falls Flat.......2005-02-10

From the description given on the back of the book, one would expect "The Suicide Club" to be a stalwart mystery, full of heart-pounding drama and shocking twists. And perhaps in its day it was just such a mystery. However, as intriguing as the premise is, the stories fall far short of expectation.

"The Suicide Club" is a collection of three short stories. The first story is by far the strongest. There is a thin strand of connection between all three stories that remains uncovered until the end of each piece. In the first story, Prince Florizel of Bohemia and his companion, disguise themselves and attend a party of men who wish to end their lives. In what is termed a 'suicide club' men are dealt cards - with certain cards signifying roles that they are destined to play. Each night two men are chosen - as executioner and the one to be executed in a proscribed manner. Prince Florizel is sickened at this discovery and vows to hunt down the president of the club to exact his vengeance, hence the two succeeding stories.

Robert Louis Stevenson begins with an interesting story idea, but the succeeding two stories subtract more than they add. If he had developed the first story in a different direction, "The Suicide Club" might hold the readers' interest for the entire book. Although a quick read, the last two stories drag through contrivances that are too far-flung to successfully complete the story.

The Suicide Club.......2005-02-04

I became interested in these stories when I read in a Charlie Chaplin biography by David Robinson that Chaplin considered making a movie of the story. To be honest, I am not certain if I could picture a movie version of "The Suicide Club". Since I could not picture the Chaplin character in any role in the book, I am glad he chose not to pursue the project.

"The Suicide Club" deals with the adventures of Prince Florizel and Colonel Geraldine. While incognito, they discover a suicide club. Each night at the club a member is randomly chosen as an executioner and another as a killer. After the prince is nearly executed, the story goes in strange directions. The main characters only make a brief appearance in the second story/chapter to transfer a mysterious body that turns up in a character's bed. The dead man turns out to be Colonel Geraldine's brother. The third chapter/story shows the prince and colonel to be exacting revenge on the president of the Suicide Club in a duel that is arranged through odd circumstances.

With the interesting story that introduces the book, my attention was peaked. The Suicide Club in itself is an interesting concept. After the suicide club is dissolved, the rest of the story tails off disappointingly.

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Suicide Club - A Review
THIS BOOK BECOMES AN ADDICTION!
Timely and Thought-Provoking
Timely and Thought-Provoking
FANTASTIC

The Suicide Club
John R. Warmus
Manufacturer: 1st Books Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1585005223

Customer Reviews:

Suicide Club - A Review.......2000-09-06

The characters kept me enthralled as I read with anticipation to see how they would react as the events would unfold. The story progressed as I thought it would, which brought about a familiarity that was, in a way, comforting. I felt myself comforted, for lack of a better word, to discover my theory was reenforced through the main character's own observations and admissions. There were still many unaswered questions at the end of the book, which would seem to be a deliberate (and well thought out) act on the part of the author. Most importantly, the one question of "Why?" was never truly answered. Or better yet, the concept of it happening will never truly be understood. For how could intelligent, caring individuals do and plan such an act "just because it was something we wanted to do?" To sum it up...it was a book I could not put down. I was truly concerned and enthralled with the main characters...Marge...Frank....Robert. I felt my own emotions being torn, as I am sure Robert's were.

THIS BOOK BECOMES AN ADDICTION!.......2000-05-10

WHILE READING "THE SUICIDE CLUB", I PUT ASIDE EVERYTHING EXCEPT TURNING THE NEXT PAGE. EACH ONE GREW MORE SUSPENSFUL AND MORE INTRIGUING.I WAS SO ADDICTED THAT I CONSIDERED CALLING IN SICK TO WORK. HOWEVER, I COMPROMISED, WENT TO WORK AND READ IT ON MY BREAKS AND LUNCH. THAT EVENING, I STAYED UP TO 3 A.M. IN ORDER TO FINISH THE BOOK. ALL I CAN SAY IS "WHEN'S THE NEXT BOOK COMING OUT?"

Timely and Thought-Provoking.......2000-04-12

This is a well-crafted tale of suspense set in Any Small Town, USA. The characters are 3-D and the storyline moves. It's a quick read but delivers plenty of substance on a topic often neglected in fiction: suicide among teens. Warmus manages to weave the events and characters into a story that is true-to-life without becoming morose. It's a book definitely worth reading--and recommending to friends.

Timely and Thought-Provoking.......2000-04-12

FANTASTIC.......2000-03-31

This book totally consumed my life, I could not put this book down. It is a real page turner, wonderfully written, I feel as though I knew all the characters in this town, and could visualize each one. The Suicide Club kept me on the edge of my seat throughout. John R. Warmus is truly a talented writer and I'm anxiously awaiting for more to read from him. I highly recommend this book to everyone.

The Battle of Jericho (Coretta Scott King Author Honor Books)

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Heart touching story "The Battle of Jericho"
True
Katherine's Review
A Disappointment
Great storytelling

The Battle of Jericho (Coretta Scott King Author Honor Books)
Sharon M. Draper
Manufacturer: Atheneum
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0689842325

Book Description

"Are you willing to do anything to help your slimy pledge brothers become Distinguished Gentlemen?" Sharp demanded.
"Anything, sir," Jericho said. He just wanted it to be over.
"Then suck my big toe."

"Sir?" Jericho wasn't sure if he had heard correctly....

When Jericho is invited to pledge for the Warriors of Distinction, he thinks his life can't get any better. As the most exclusive club in school, the Warriors give the best parties, go out with the hottest girls, and sail through their classes. And when Arielle, one of the finest girls in his class, starts coming on to him once the pledge announcements are made, Jericho is determined to do anything to become a member....

But as the initiation week becomes progressively harrowing, Jericho is forced to make choices he's not entirely comfortable with. And one member seems to have it in for the sole female pledge in the group...a pledge who will stop at nothing to show she can handle the pressure. But when is she being pushed too far, and when should Jericho and his friends step in and risk losing their places in the pledging process? As Jericho becomes increasingly uneasy, his cousin Joshua breezes through the initiation, never thinking of the consequences, even when the fine line between fun and games, and life and death is crossed.

Sharon M. Draper proves once again that she knows just how real kids think, act, and feel in this haunting story of peer pressure, popularity, and hazing.

Customer Reviews:

Heart touching story "The Battle of Jericho".......2006-10-17

This book is AMAZING. You never lose intrest. It keeps you going. It is also very touching. It tells about the things that kids will go through just to be cool under peer pressure. But what you have to realize is the danger you could be putting yourself into. It is the best book that you will have read ever or in a very long time. Sharon Draper is a wonderful author. i would recommend this book to anyone as my first choice. It is also great for any teen looking forward to get into reading. This book is definitely a good way to get started.I give this book 10 stars!!!!!

True.......2006-06-02

This story will grab you at the beginning. You learn about the teenage mind and how it is to be pressured into being "cool". Josh, the main character, is sucked into a world of wanting. Wanting to be with the so called Warriors. The truth is they aren't the easiest group to get into. Everyone thinks they are so great, all the boys want to be like them, the girls love them, and they are like the kings of the high school. But to get in to the group you must attempt unbelieveable stunts.

Dana, female character who wants to be in the group even though it is a boys one, secretly joins. They make her get the worst oo it and her life is put in danger. Over all it is suspenseful, keeps you guessing on the next task they might have to go through. All through the book you think about what a teen has to go through because "cool" is in.
Nice book, should be read.

Katherine's Review.......2006-01-18

The Battle of Jericho is about a teenager named Jericho and his friends getting into the club, the Warriors of Destruction. I actually give all the Sharon Draper books 5 stars. At first, the book is hard to get into, but after maybe the fifth chapter of the book, it starts to get interesting. Then, you just can't put it down. The Battle of Jericho is fiction. This book is for ages 14 and up. I don't think younger kids would understand and it might be hard to cope if you're too young. I even cried. Also, this book is an exciting and emotional book, because it made me cry, laugh and get mad. It's a very good book. I think that girls and boys could read The Battle of Jericho.

The main characters are Jericho, Josh, Kofi, Ariel, November and Dana. The Warriors of Destruction is a club at Jericho's school that everyone wants to be apart of yet it's very hard to get in. They chant this song every time they have a dance or after an accomplishment. Jericho, Josh, Kofi, and Dana are all trying to be apart of this club.

The Christmas toy drive is getting everyone closer together. It lets the leaders know how the new pledges will act if they're selected. So far everyone that was asked to help with the toy drive is still on board. The warriors dance is here and everyone's got a date and they're being asked to join the Warriors of Destruction but someone slips in and signs up no girls allowed. Yet they have to let Dana in because she signed up a while ago and she's already said the pledge and swore to the silence of the brotherhood. The first night of the activities is they make them do... will they let Dana in the club or just let her be in just give her some extra trouble? How far will they have to go to get in this club? How dangerous will the stunts be? How far will the leaders push their limits to the beyond and farther? I think you should read this book and I promise you will enjoy this book The Battle of Jericho!

A Disappointment.......2006-01-16

The Battle of Jericho is exciting. Unfortunately, what began as a book with a lot of potential has a disapointing ending, poorly developed characters, and heinously bad writing.

Josh, who we are obviously supposed to like, has no depth--his only role is the main character's cousin. Arielle, as Jericho's girlfriend, is similarly undeveloped; she's nice, she's funny, she's pretty...boring. The only character I felt sympathy for was Dana, who is not all that realistic--too much of a super-heroine--but at least is more developed and interesting.

Draper doesn't pursue a lot of loose ends in the plot, either. Jericho turns down a scholarship to Julliard in favor of the Warriors of Distinction--how does that make him feel? What are the consequences? Apparently, this major life decision has none, or maybe Draper's just too lazy to tell us what they are.

Her writing is terrible; some of the dialogue literally made me wince. Her use of slang feels canned and fake; her descriptions of the characters' thoughts are similarly artificial.

Although I realized long before the end that the book did not deserve the Coretta Scott King award which it won, the one thing that kept me going was hope of a good ending. I was once again disappointed. Draper gives laughably obvious clues as to how it will turn out...they're drinking whisky, they're going to take "a leap of faith"--let's guess how this is going to end. I admit I was surprised at who the victim was, but I found that I really didn't care--Draper never did anything to make me feel sympathetic to him.

This book has a lot of potential; the plot is not terribly realistic, but it is exciting. If only it could have been rewritten and developed into something more than a good idea.

Great storytelling.......2005-11-27

A hazing incident culminates in loss of life at a high school where select teens compete to become members of a prestigious and long-standing community service organization. Jericho is excited to be chosen and happy that his circle of friends are also being invited into the inner circle, but as the initiation events become more intense, his discomfort level increases. Not only must Jericho examine his priorities (belonging to a social club verses preparing for his future career) but he also calls into question his personal ethics. Do girls deserve the same chances as boys, even when their emotional and physical well-being is threatened? Does being a man mean you shut up, or stand up?

The realistic plot raises many issues for discussion, including sex roles, peer pressure and hazing. The ending has a clever twist, with Draper manipulating the reader into thinking another character might be lost. However, reading this book was frustrating on several levels. Something about the dialogue, peppered with slang, didn't quiet ring true for this reviewer; it could be the subject of the conversations isn't always believable (boys having one-on-one conversations about the objects of their affection), and the use of black dialect is sometimes distracting to the story.

Above all, it is disconcerting that a seasoned author who makes a major mistake of first time writers won a major children's book award for The Battle of Jericho. "Show not tell" is the first rule of good writing, and throughout the entire novel, Draper tells the reader how the characters are feeling and directs the reader how to take their comments by using language such as "Josh hooted" and "Arielle laughed." She also modifies the "saids" with adverbs ("Rudy added ominously") instead of conveying the thoughts and feelings of the characters through their actions and words. Hopefully, the next book by this dynamite storyteller will have a better editor.

Candida and Her Friend (Misadventures of a College Professor - Two Acts) and Suicide Club (A One Acter)

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Candida and Her Friend (Misadventures of a College Professor - Two Acts) and Suicide Club (A One Acter)

Manufacturer: Samuel French
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000FX36WG

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde & The suicide club (Arco juvenile library)

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Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde & The suicide club (Arco juvenile library)
Robert Louis Stevenson
Manufacturer: Arco Pub. Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0006BLY9O

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Dracula: The suicide club
Steve Jones
Manufacturer: Adventure Comics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0006OUEFG

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The Final Act
Walter G. Oleksy
Manufacturer: Ace Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0441235301

Greatest Short Stories, Deliverance, the Outlaw, the Duel, the Hanging At La Piroche, the Gray Nun, the Fete At Coqueville, a Work of Art, the Bit of String, a Scandal in Bohemia, Love and Bread, the Suicide Club (Volume 4,)

Average customer rating:

Greatest Short Stories, Deliverance, the Outlaw, the Duel, the Hanging At La Piroche, the Gray Nun, the Fete At Coqueville, a Work of Art, the Bit of String, a Scandal in Bohemia, Love and Bread, the Suicide Club (Volume 4,)

ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000EYS4C8

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