I really didn't want to like Lord Loss. I'm not so good with gore, and even as a teen I wouldn't read Stephen King or watch horror movies (I watched one, and it freaked me out so bad I stayed far away from any others). And I didn't like it...till the end.
The first part I really liked was the chess match at the end. I found it ironic that such a nerdy (and I say that with love, my dad loves chess) hobby would become life-saving for the werewolves. What especially struck me was Grubbs' attitude, though. He figured out that to win, he didn't have to be good, he just had to play with a carefree, if not optimistic, outlook. His attitude was the reason he won, because it was unsettling to Lord Loss. It reminded me of one of the readings we had earlier in the semester, I think it was the chapters in Zollo's book, but I can't remember for sure. Basically, teens' attitudes wavered between really serious about the world in general and saying, "Hey, why not have fun while we can?" So I think Grubbs' attitude was really true to life, and what do you know? It saved the day. I think teen readers can really appreciate and relate to that.
The second part I had to like was the very end. I nearly flipped out on the last page when Grubbs was ready to call the Lambs, and I had to reread it to make sure of the ending. I had such an adrenaline rush from reading (I read most of it in one sitting) that my heart was still pounding when I finished, even though the ending was happy. I also got mad but still had to laugh at the uncle's sick sense of humor. So to get that sort of emotional reaction out of me, even though I really hated the beginning and the goriness, I still had to like the book in the end.
1 comment:
As I read this post I thought about how your experience with a book you didn't want to read, reflects in many ways what teens go through regularly when they have to read school stuff and can't bring themselves to. In your case you had a good reaction in the end. But, that's not always the case for teens.
I'm also thinking about how hard it is for everyone - teens and adults - to try things that are beyond their basic idea of what they like and can handle. It's good to be pushed sometimes to try new things and I think teens who are given positive opportunities to push limits in their reading, a chic lit reader for example reading Twilight - where there is romance so it's not so far from the "norm" - gets a good look at who themselves and what they really know about themselves.
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