She asks him to look over her manuscript, and after several refusals, he eventually agrees to, as well as introduce her to his agent. Lasdun is a creative writing professor at some college in NYC when he meets Nasreen, an Iranian student in his class who he believes shows talent in her writing. Stalking has always been a subject that’s received considerable attention, so I read it. Review for “Give Me Everything You Have: On Being Stalked” by James Lasdun (2013)īeing the curious person I am, the title drew me in. For a book that aims to engage reluctant readers, this book succeeds, but that’s about it. I still don’t feel like I know anyone any better than I did when I first started. Travis, Mom, Dad, Chyvonne, and “the twins” (Travis’ sisters) all seem to move about this story with no real solid sense of purpose. Like just.stop already.Ĭharacter development is also lacking here, big time. These are tired, boring metaphors that don’t really portray cutting as the harmful action that it truly is. We don’t need to read about “beauty” swirling down the drain, or the smooth surface of a razor being “like ice, like glass” to understand what you’re referring to. I also did not like the way that the act of cutting was romanticized either. Pushing a piece of paper in front of them to cut instead of their bodies is an interesting prospect, but hardly a ‘solution’ to resolving the anger, pain, and depression that drives them to cut in the first place. I am not a person who self harms, but I do know people who do. For such a large problem that cutting can be for a person, the resolution here just seemed too convenient, too simple. The suggestion that art is a better form of therapy than cutting is suggested as a resolution here, but further details beyond this are left out.

While I appreciate the author’s attempt to write a book about boys who self harm (an important subject that doesn’t get written about much) the ending seemed forced and terribly unfinished.

Inspired by an unconventional teacher and his new friend, he eventually takes up the art of paper cutting as a way to avoid harming himself. He becomes friends with a girl at school, Chyvonne, and eventually reveals his secret to her. Cutting himself with a razor blade is the one way he finds relief from his anguish and a way to control his pain. The rundown: Travis is bullied in school and ignored by his parents at home. Three stars is out of the question, two is being generous here. In addition to simply liking the genre, I often I select YA books to see how they deal with particular issues in our society. Review for “Cutter Boy” by Cristy Watson (to be published in September 2016)Īs I’ve said earlier, the 10 years I spent as a 7th and 8th grade Language Arts teacher guides my reading choices.

Epic Fail by Cristy Watson