4 out of 4 stars
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TITLE: A BLOODY BOOK
AUTHOR: CHRIS BOWEN
t’s not just bloody, it is a horror story!
The book’s author is Mr. Chris Bowen, a respected and distinguished Teacher in Southern California.
He must have seen and heard it all from his students and their families, that he was able to write in the first person narrative a story that is shockingly irreverent and vicious as A Bloody Book.
Maxx, the main character in the book, is an angry and rebellious young man. He told his story from his own perspective and what happened to him when he was nine years old.
From the narrative, the readers will learn that Maxx was born and raised from a dysfunctional family of an alcoholic, irresponsible and jobless father and a mother who was too wounded and depressed to be able to give love and attention to her two young children. His father would often beat him and his mother. His sister Rosie was just a baby, and Maxx took on the responsibility to care for her because his mother needed to work to support them.
Maxx was usually absent from school and whenever he attended school, the more he saw how disparate his family life was from the other kids who were well-off or well taken-cared of by their families. His Teachers, The Public School System and even Social Services were of not much help to the well-being and psyche of a young boy living in the lethal combination of poverty and violence.
In his young mind there was only one way for him, his mother and sister to survive the hateful life that they lived, and this is where the horror story begun.
The book is a work of fiction, it is rather short with only 162 pages, but it was very well-written and the author provided an insightful discourse on the importance of quality education, possibly the overhaul of the public school system and social services in the most powerful country on earth. The author, Mr. Bowen, lent to us his voice of experience to write a book about the horrors of why the cycle of violence continue to persist among the youth, and the dreadful consequences when problems in their family life are not addressed. When children are not protected by the institutions created to provide the help they so urgently need. The life story of Maxx may just be, a metaphor, a hyperbole, or maybe a sigh of frustration from the author who has to live and breathe in the system he has very little control or in hindsight, maybe who knows, it is actually a real life story, because sometimes facts are stranger than fiction.
The book may shock the sensibilities of the readers, but I like how the author presented the story of Maxx. There was dark humor, a bit of action and suspense and a ray of hope and redemption in the end. For this I rate the book 4 out of 4 stars.
I recommend this book to young adults, Educators , policy makers, or those passionately engaged in molding the hearts and minds of today’s youth, definitely this book is a must read.
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A Bloody Book
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