Skinny Dip

Skinny Dip

by Carl Hiaasen

Warner Books, 2006

ISBN 0446615129

512 pages

3 (out of 5) STARS

Plot Summary

Joey's husband takes her on a romantic cruise for their two year anniversary and then proceeds to push her overboard. Chaz completes expects Joey to drown in the ocean. He plays the part of the grieving husband. Chaz miscalculates the ocean currents and Joey is a great swimmer and she is able to survive. She is rescued by a retired police officer named Mitch.

Now Joey has a conundrum. She can report Chaz's crime to the police but she knows that it will only be her word against his word. Or she can take matters into her own hands. Joey's parents died when she was young and she inherited millions from them.

Joey decides to get revenge on Chaz in her own way. She has millions of dollars at her disposal and Chaz believes she is dead. First, she wants to find out why Chaz dumped her over the edge of the cruise ship and then she wants pay back.

Critical Evaluation

I greatly enjoyed this book. Even though the actual subject matters of the book - murder, bribery, blackmail, dishonesty, etc. are serious they are treated in a lighthearted humorous manner. The only real serious topic is that of preserving the everglades in Florida. This is a common theme in Carl Hiaasen's books. He often interjects environmental issues into his book in a nonthreatening, unpreachy manner.

The characters are fairly predictable, stagnant people. The good guys are good and the bad guys are bad. Only one character really changes during the course of the book and that is Tool. Tool becomes Chaz's bodyguard once Chaz realizes something strange is going on. Tool has worked as a hired thug for years now but changes his ways and becomes kind, sort of! Chaz's character so lacks any type of integrity and is so self-absorbed he is nearly unbelievable. But he does make for a good laugh.

This book is definitely adult fiction rather than young adult. But it would make an interesting crossover novel. Although many young adult novels have swearing and sex, this book is different because all the characters are adults and the approach to the sex and swearing feels different than what one would find in a young adult novel.

Reader’s Annotation

Joey is thrown overboard by her husband but she survives. Joey seeks to find out the reasons behind her attempted murder and to get revenge.

Information about the author

"Carl Hiaasen was born and raised in Florida, where he still lives with his family.

A graduate of the University of Florida, at age 23 he joined The Miami Herald as a general assignment reporter and went on to work for the paper's weekly magazine and later its prize-winning investigations team. Since 1985 Hiaasen has been writing a regular column, which at one time or another has pissed off just about everybody in South Florida, including his own bosses. He has outlasted almost all of them, and his column still appears on most Sundays in The Herald's opinion-and-editorial section. It may be viewed online at www.miamiherald.com or in the actual printed edition of the newspaper, which, miraculously, is still being published. "

http://www.carlhiaasen.com/bio.html

Genre

YA crossover, humor and maybe even some mystery

Curriculum Ties

This book has some excellent areas for curriculum use; such as environmental issues, agriculture, pollution, and the Florida evergreens.

Booktalking Ideas

*What would you do if someone wronged you and you could seek revenge? What would you do? If you inherited thirteen million dollars, what would you do with it?

Reading Level

Grade 10 and up.

Challenge Issues

No challenge issues for an adult novel. But as a crossover novel there is quite a bit of swearing and sex.

Why Included?

I included this book because I wanted some crossover titles in my selection. I had also read the book Hoot by Carl Hiaasen which is an actual young adult book and was curious to see what his adult novels were like. I found this title on list of suggested adult fiction reads for young adults located at http://colchestervt.gov/Library/attachments/CrossoverFiction.pdf.

The Book Thief

The Book Thief

by Marcus Zusak

Knopf Books, 2006

ISBN 0375831002

550 pages

4.5 (out of 5) STARS

Plot Summary

In Germany during WWII Liesel Meminger is sent to live with foster parents. Her father has disappeared, her mother can no longer care for her and her brother dies en route to the foster family's home.

When Liesel first arrives at her foster family's home she does not know how to read. But her father teaches her and Liesel learns to love reading. She loves it so much, in fact, that she often steals books. Liesel also goes to school and makes friends with the neighbors on her new street. As WWII progresses, life gets harder for the German citizens. There is not enough food or work. Liesel's family hides a Jew in their basement. Liesel's foster father is sent to war. And as nearly all WWI novels go, the ending is unhappy.

Critical Evaluation

I loved this book. I had actually tried to read it two times before and could never get interested in it. The narrator is death and it is a bit odd at the beginning of the book. But this time I pushed through the beginning as I was getting used to the narrator and then I could not put it down.

Most of the WWII books that I have read have been from a Jew's point of view. And while those books are not to be diminished. It was interesting to read a book from a German citizen's point of view. Essentially WWII was not pleasant for anyone.

I enjoyed the theme of Leisel stealing books. She met the mayor's wife who had a wonderful library full of her personal books. The mayor's wife had lost her only child and never recovered. Not only was the book narrated by death but death is one of the books themes. Everyone was touched by death and each character dealt with it differently.

Reader’s Annotation

While living in Germany during WWII, Liesel Meminger copes with the horrors of war by stealing books.

Information about the author

Australian author Markus Zusak grew up hearing stories about Nazi Germany, about the bombing of Munich and about Jews being marched through his mother’s small, German town. He always knew it was a story he wanted to tell.

“We have these images of the straight-marching lines of boys and the ‘Heil Hitlers’ and this idea that everyone in Germany was in it together. But there still were rebellious children and people who didn’t follow the rules and people who hid Jews and other people in their houses. So there’s another side to Nazi Germany,” said Zusak in an interview with The Sydney Morning Herald.

At the age of 30, Zusak has already asserted himself as one of today’s most innovative and poetic novelists. With the publication of The Book Thief, he is now being dubbed a ‘literary phenomenon’ by Australian and U.S. critics. Zusak is the award-winning author of four previous books for young adults: The Underdog, Fighting Ruben Wolfe, Getting the Girl, and I Am the Messenger, recipient of a 2006 Printz Honor for excellence in young adult literature. He lives in Sydney.

Genre

historical fiction

Curriculum Ties

history. WWII

Booktalking Ideas

*State some things you know about WWII? Have you read a book about WWII that was not a Jewish story? *How would you describe death, if it were a person?

Reading Level

age 12 and up

Challenge Issues

N/A

Why Included?

I have been wanting to read this book for years. I also kept hearing wonderful things about it. And I was not disappointed!