Review by kylammackay -- A Bloody Book by Chris Bowen
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kylammackay
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- Latest Review: A Bloody Book by Chris Bowen
Review by kylammackay -- A Bloody Book by Chris Bowen
[Following is a volunteer review of "A Bloody Book" by Chris Bowen.]
A Bloody Book by Chris Bowen tells the story of a middle school student named Maxx from his perspective of an assignment for one of his classes. Maxx is a student in a class that he likes to call “Reading Hell”, which is for students who have scored lower on a mandatory school test. The class is known for its troublesome ways and eventually their elderly teacher retires, leaving them needing a new teacher. When the class gets a new teacher, they get Mr. Foxx, who seemingly breaks all the rules of being a teacher. He acts unlike any middle school teacher and surprises Maxx and his classmates with his honest statements about the class. This teacher is the one that inspired Maxx’s writing and shows that a little ingenuity can go a long way in teaching. Throughout the book, Maxx tells the story of his life in order to get to the root of the lessons he learns in Mr. Foxx’s class. Maxx had to step up from a young age to take care of his sister and himself and in his heart wrenching story he tells about the hardships he faced that led him to the “Reading Hell” classroom.
I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars. My favorite thing about the book was the narration of the story; it was told in short casual sentences. This simplistic writing style made it very easy to quickly get caught up in the book and read a lot. The chapters are also short which make for easy natural stopping points. These features make this book perfect for anyone who is just getting back into reading or is a middle or high schooler who claims to believe reading just is not for them. This is also a good read for any adults who wants to go into the education field or already are education professionals. Maxx even mentions that teachers make a lot of assumptions so it would be helpful for them to read this book and look at an option for a difficult background a student might be facing. I do not have a thing I disliked most about the book! If anything I want to know more about how Maxx and his sister are doing now, but I think all the best books leaving you wanting more.
Structurally there are a few errors in the book. The main repeating error was an excess of quotation marks, but they do not interfere with the clarity of the book. There are also a few errors in carrying over of age throughout an anecdote. For example, in one paragraph he mentions that the story happened when he was nine, but in the following one it says he was eight. Again, these errors do not interfere with understanding the plot and the story, but are definitely noticeable mistakes.
The anecdotes throughout the story give hints towards everyday middle school things that make it easy to picture clearly happening in any middle school across America. Maxx jokes about taking tests and says that teachers always take way too long to explain how to bubble in an oval which every student can relate to. The style of writing as well makes it easy to picture a middle school student writing the book and talking directly to the reader.
The emotions that come from the book are very real and raw. Maxx mentions the disconnect from what is seen in posters that are advertised in classrooms and what the students in the class actually relate to. Disadvantaged youths often have different expectations and people like them are not often pictured in these “motivational” posters which can be discouraging. The class also discusses a lot of burdens that are placed on the students that are in no way their fault but something they have to overcome that other students may just be fortunate enough to not have to deal with. Maxx relates himself to a lot of people throughout the book. He connects himself early on with the struggling teacher, and later to multiple students who are struggling with different things. He clearly cares deeply about other and that makes him a character that you can truly empathize about because of the love for others.
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A Bloody Book
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
A Bloody Book by Chris Bowen tells the story of a middle school student named Maxx from his perspective of an assignment for one of his classes. Maxx is a student in a class that he likes to call “Reading Hell”, which is for students who have scored lower on a mandatory school test. The class is known for its troublesome ways and eventually their elderly teacher retires, leaving them needing a new teacher. When the class gets a new teacher, they get Mr. Foxx, who seemingly breaks all the rules of being a teacher. He acts unlike any middle school teacher and surprises Maxx and his classmates with his honest statements about the class. This teacher is the one that inspired Maxx’s writing and shows that a little ingenuity can go a long way in teaching. Throughout the book, Maxx tells the story of his life in order to get to the root of the lessons he learns in Mr. Foxx’s class. Maxx had to step up from a young age to take care of his sister and himself and in his heart wrenching story he tells about the hardships he faced that led him to the “Reading Hell” classroom.
I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars. My favorite thing about the book was the narration of the story; it was told in short casual sentences. This simplistic writing style made it very easy to quickly get caught up in the book and read a lot. The chapters are also short which make for easy natural stopping points. These features make this book perfect for anyone who is just getting back into reading or is a middle or high schooler who claims to believe reading just is not for them. This is also a good read for any adults who wants to go into the education field or already are education professionals. Maxx even mentions that teachers make a lot of assumptions so it would be helpful for them to read this book and look at an option for a difficult background a student might be facing. I do not have a thing I disliked most about the book! If anything I want to know more about how Maxx and his sister are doing now, but I think all the best books leaving you wanting more.
Structurally there are a few errors in the book. The main repeating error was an excess of quotation marks, but they do not interfere with the clarity of the book. There are also a few errors in carrying over of age throughout an anecdote. For example, in one paragraph he mentions that the story happened when he was nine, but in the following one it says he was eight. Again, these errors do not interfere with understanding the plot and the story, but are definitely noticeable mistakes.
The anecdotes throughout the story give hints towards everyday middle school things that make it easy to picture clearly happening in any middle school across America. Maxx jokes about taking tests and says that teachers always take way too long to explain how to bubble in an oval which every student can relate to. The style of writing as well makes it easy to picture a middle school student writing the book and talking directly to the reader.
The emotions that come from the book are very real and raw. Maxx mentions the disconnect from what is seen in posters that are advertised in classrooms and what the students in the class actually relate to. Disadvantaged youths often have different expectations and people like them are not often pictured in these “motivational” posters which can be discouraging. The class also discusses a lot of burdens that are placed on the students that are in no way their fault but something they have to overcome that other students may just be fortunate enough to not have to deal with. Maxx relates himself to a lot of people throughout the book. He connects himself early on with the struggling teacher, and later to multiple students who are struggling with different things. He clearly cares deeply about other and that makes him a character that you can truly empathize about because of the love for others.
******
A Bloody Book
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: A Bloody Book by Chris Bowen
