Book Reviews

Forever… tells the story of Katherine, an 18 year old senior in high school, as she navigates her relationship with her first love, Michael. Katherine and Michael go through a lot together that year – but most of the focus is on their budding sexual relationship. Katherine’s family is rather progressive, with a grandmother who insists she go to Planned Parenthood after guessing that she’s become sexually active, and parents who encourage her to date other people besides just Michael. However, Katherine is completely enthralled and dedicated to Michael. That is, until she goes away to work at camp for the summer and meets the older, handsome Theo. The secondary story is that of Erica, Katherine’s best friend, who starts dating Archie, Michael’s best friend. Their story contains themes of suicide and homosexuality, and unfortunately, we do not get much closure on their stories.

This is a classic teen text that has long been the subject of scorn and that has been banned from classrooms countless times for its themes of teenage sex and mentions of homosexuality. This book has been banned for all the wrong reasons. It is foolish to act like teenagers do not engage in sex. However, there should be discourse on whether the sex that is portrayed in this book is truly consensual sex – and I do not think that it is. This is tricky, because I do believe that teens should be allowed to see what coerced sex looks like so that they can recognize, critique, and avoid it. But I do not think that’s what this book is showing. Instead, Blume presents Michael as “the typical teen boy” of the 70s, i.e. he’s constantly begging Katherine for sex, and each time she has to deny him. Blume portrays this as the norm, and worse yet, as not harmful. While it’s true he never forces sex on her, there is never a critique of how his constant whining, pushing, and “Oh come on, Katherine’s” really affect her decision-making process. Another problem is that this book pushes the antiquated idea of having a virginity, and needing to “lose it.” In the end, however, it is also a text that encourages sexual exploration and independence of young women – as Katherine makes the hard decision to break up with Michael in the end (if only to start dating another boy guilt-free…). For all these reasons, I would not recommend this text for purchase. It is a classic, yes, but it would be best if only teens with the ability to discern coerced sex from consensual sex were able to read it – and there is no way to make this guarantee.

Blume, J. (1975) Forever…. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, Inc.

ISBN: 9780671695304; paperback; $6.99

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Before We Were Free by Julia Alvarez

Before We Were Free is the story of the climax and ending of the Trujillo dictatorship in the Dominican Republic as told through the eyes of 12-year-old Anita. She begins to notice that everyone in her family, and her country, is acting strange – they’re speaking in strange metaphors and whispers, she’s finding unfamiliar men huddled around her Tio Toni who look worried when they realize she’s there, and her beloved nanny and housekeeper Chucha keeps predicting that Anita and her family will soon fly away to the United States. She slowly comes to realize that her father and uncle are involved in a plot to assassinate the ruthless dictator Trujillo, also known as El Jefe. When El Jefe is discovered dead in the trunk of her father’s car by the secret police shortly thereafter and he is arrested, Anita knows her carefree days of childhood are over. She quickly goes into hiding with her mother, while her brother, sister, and extended family have already fled to the US. Anita writes in a secret diary daily and tries to maintain hope that her father will be freed and her family will once again be reunited in their beautiful country. Soon after her and her mother flee to New York, however, and they learn that her father has been murdered by the corrupted state. She takes solace in the thought that his death is not in vein and that he died a hero, as their country is soon after liberated from the horrific dictatorship.

I recommend this novel for purchase. It is a fascinating and compassionate telling of a difficult time in history – one that many teens may not even know occurred. While the gory details of the dictatorship are mostly left out, there are still some mentions of extreme violence that may be disturbing to a younger reader, and for that reason I recommend this novel for readers 13 and up.

Alvarez, J. (2002) Before We Were Free. New York, NY: Random House, Inc.

ISBN: 9780375915443; hardback; $8.99

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When Plague Strikes: The Black Death, Smallpox, AIDS by James C. Giblin

When Plague Strikes is a compelling non-fiction book that explains how three of the most horrible plagues in human history came to be and the effects they had on the world. With compassion and loads of interesting facts, Giblin explains how the Black Death, Smallpox, and eventually AIDS invaded humanity and became plagues that killed large portions of the population. Giblin uses accessible language to explain the science behind these terrible diseases, explaining complicated terms and circumstances in ways that teens can easily understand. 

While this book is outdated, having been published in 1995, the facts and science still hold true today. The only thing that would improve it would be to have more updated information on HIV/AIDS, since treatments for the disease have come a long way since 1995. However, it is still a very compelling telling of the history of these diseases and one that I think teenagers would enjoy reading. I recommend this book for purchase for readers 13 & up.

Giblin, J. C. (1995) When Plague Strikes: The Black Death, Smallpox, AIDS. New York, NY: HarperCollins Children’s Books.

ISBN: 9780064461955; paperback; $9.99