Review of A Bloody Book
Posted: 24 Apr 2023, 13:38
[Following is a volunteer review of "A Bloody Book" by Chris Bowen.]
A Bloody Book, written by Chris Bowen, is a provocative story told from the perspective of thirteen-year-old Maxx. Maxx’s story focuses on his middle school years in a class he calls “Reading Hell,” which is a remedial class where troubled students such as himself have been placed. This class is described as a place where troubled kids have been forgotten about and, as a result, they continue to fail and struggle in their classes. Many of these students, Maxx included, have become apathetic to their own plights. They begin to take joy in upholding the negative reputations they have built for themselves over the years. That is, until their new reading lab teacher, Mr. Foxx, employs a new teaching strategy to try to encourage these students to care about their futures again. Maxx is spurred by Mr. Foxx’s thought-provoking questions and begins to rethink how he views his potential as well as his life.
Overall, I loved this book. One thing I liked about this book was the comedic aspect that came from the story being told from Maxx’s perspective. His first-hand experience dealing with teachers and typical middle-school bullies lent a lighter tone to the otherwise heavy subject matter. It also felt like Maxx was personally telling me his story. I felt like I was learning how life isn’t fair right along with him. Another thing I liked was the maturity of Maxx as he narrated his story. It showed how fast he had to grow up in order to survive his circumstances.
While I thoroughly enjoyed this book, I found a lot of errors while reading. Most of these were minor spelling and grammatical errors. However, I did find more than ten of these errors throughout the entire novel, so I did take a point off my rating for that.
I would rate this book 4 out of 5 stars. I really loved this story and was really surprised by the ending. I appreciated the humor, drama, and the suspense that built up towards the end. This story really makes you think about how disadvantaged kids like Maxx often get ignored and forgotten about. I found it easy to care for the characters, as the author’s preface asks the reader to do. Despite all the good things about this book, I have to take a point off my rating for the amount of errors I found while reading.
I recommend A Bloody Book to students who are thirteen years of age and older. It tends to have a more mature theme, so that is why I think that age would be appropriate. I would also recommend this book to parents, teachers, and anyone who works with kids. I think reading this book could help people to better understand the circumstances of their peers or students.
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A Bloody Book
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
A Bloody Book, written by Chris Bowen, is a provocative story told from the perspective of thirteen-year-old Maxx. Maxx’s story focuses on his middle school years in a class he calls “Reading Hell,” which is a remedial class where troubled students such as himself have been placed. This class is described as a place where troubled kids have been forgotten about and, as a result, they continue to fail and struggle in their classes. Many of these students, Maxx included, have become apathetic to their own plights. They begin to take joy in upholding the negative reputations they have built for themselves over the years. That is, until their new reading lab teacher, Mr. Foxx, employs a new teaching strategy to try to encourage these students to care about their futures again. Maxx is spurred by Mr. Foxx’s thought-provoking questions and begins to rethink how he views his potential as well as his life.
Overall, I loved this book. One thing I liked about this book was the comedic aspect that came from the story being told from Maxx’s perspective. His first-hand experience dealing with teachers and typical middle-school bullies lent a lighter tone to the otherwise heavy subject matter. It also felt like Maxx was personally telling me his story. I felt like I was learning how life isn’t fair right along with him. Another thing I liked was the maturity of Maxx as he narrated his story. It showed how fast he had to grow up in order to survive his circumstances.
While I thoroughly enjoyed this book, I found a lot of errors while reading. Most of these were minor spelling and grammatical errors. However, I did find more than ten of these errors throughout the entire novel, so I did take a point off my rating for that.
I would rate this book 4 out of 5 stars. I really loved this story and was really surprised by the ending. I appreciated the humor, drama, and the suspense that built up towards the end. This story really makes you think about how disadvantaged kids like Maxx often get ignored and forgotten about. I found it easy to care for the characters, as the author’s preface asks the reader to do. Despite all the good things about this book, I have to take a point off my rating for the amount of errors I found while reading.
I recommend A Bloody Book to students who are thirteen years of age and older. It tends to have a more mature theme, so that is why I think that age would be appropriate. I would also recommend this book to parents, teachers, and anyone who works with kids. I think reading this book could help people to better understand the circumstances of their peers or students.
******
A Bloody Book
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon