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3.11 AVERAGE
3.11 AVERAGE
Love, obsession, and revenge all come together in this dizzying and sensuous tale. In her senior year of high school, Carolina “Nine” Livingston falls hard for her new English teacher, the beautiful, poetry-loving Mr. Mann, who quotes Emily Dickinson all the time. Mr. Mann makes Nine feel things she didn’t even know she could feel, and she believes that the two of them will one day live together, marry, and go on their dream honeymoon.
Then a sudden announcement from Mr. Mann changes everything. Nine is left floundering in a world that’s suddenly too big and too small at the same time. Her emotions spiral out of control and she can hardly control them, eventually endangering the lives of Mr. Mann, her best friend, and even herself. When will she learn to stop just doing and to start thinking?
TEACH ME is poetic and scary and reminds me a lot of Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak. The characters stayed with me long after I had put down the book. Everything in Nine’s world feels eerily real; you will feel like screaming at her for her actions while at the same time feeling her hurt. The author has done a beautiful, near-perfect job of portraying a devastating affair between student and teacher. If you are not faint-hearted, then pick this book up.
Then a sudden announcement from Mr. Mann changes everything. Nine is left floundering in a world that’s suddenly too big and too small at the same time. Her emotions spiral out of control and she can hardly control them, eventually endangering the lives of Mr. Mann, her best friend, and even herself. When will she learn to stop just doing and to start thinking?
TEACH ME is poetic and scary and reminds me a lot of Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak. The characters stayed with me long after I had put down the book. Everything in Nine’s world feels eerily real; you will feel like screaming at her for her actions while at the same time feeling her hurt. The author has done a beautiful, near-perfect job of portraying a devastating affair between student and teacher. If you are not faint-hearted, then pick this book up.
I’ll be honest, I almost DNF’d this book but struggled through it in hopes it would redeem itself. Did it? No, this might be one of the worst books I’ve ever read, the characterization was all over the place, the pace was choppy and the entire plot felt underdeveloped. This is one of those books where the concept is interesting but the execution makes me want to pull out my own teeth then recommend anyone read this.
I don't remember when I read this book.
And I actually hadn't added it until now even though I know I read it years ago.
But it sure left an impression...
And I actually hadn't added it until now even though I know I read it years ago.
But it sure left an impression...
Good for what it is, and Nelson captures really well the longing of a student for a teacher.
The synopsis? A smart, pretty, very tall loner senior joins a poetry class to kill time. The result is one teacher she can't ignore; he is everything she sees in a man and their love affair is a tension-building, romantic fantasy come true. "Giving every notion of right and wrong" their affair takes a tumble after Mr. Mann leaves her and marries. The result? A compulsive obsession with extreme focus.
The protagonist is Carolina "NINE" Livingston. A young woman who is super focused and practices observation as an art. She is bright, different and has one friend, Schuyler. Her mind is a work of pulleys, levers, cogs and thoughts of stars and galaxies. She is fast, linear and you are reading through her thoughts. The affair begins as a tension filled friendship, playing cat and mouse with much uncertainty but once their union is complete it is obvious that this is ...love. She can't help it, this is what it is...
I have so much feeling about this book. I can't begin to describe it. Firstly the protagonist, Nine, is so fast paced, so eloquent and technical and such a dreamer. She is so focused, almost to an OCD level. She is amazing. And what starts as a crush develops one can see how multi-layered Nine is.
Mr. Mann the teacher is an amazing subject as well. He plays real, he seems fair and the way it is told he does seem perfect... no he is perfect. He's beautiful and loving; sweet and manly. Nine and Mr. Mann REALLY love each other and that is what gets me. This book is so intense, fast paced and catastrophic in every page.
I think what I love about this book is the truth it holds; the wonders it tells of how a human works. We can become obsessive about what we believe we love or about what we care about, what we hold important. We see justification in our insane actions and rambling thoughts. We have love and it leaves us, for better or for worse. Mr. Mann and Nine's relationship is so extremely different from that of any book or movie I've seen. It is so real and fresh and scary and intense through the pages. I can feel their love and passion, I can see their tension and relate to a feeling so indescribable, yet Nelson executes it perfectly.
Mr. Mann and Nine's relationship totally got me... I don't know what it is. The unfairness of how it ended... how he loved her and it was true. How simple it was for them to join-- but in one swift mistake it was all gone. No explanations, just a bitter, empty and changed Nine.
This book makes me cry when I think about it. Nine is so passionate and truthful. She explains her hurt so well I can feel as if it is happening to me...that I am Nine. I feel her pain and her despair. I see the justice in her actions, the wrong of it all. She loves him, isn't it all that matters!?
Honestly I cannot believe how much this book impacts me. Nine shows just how desperate we humans get when we do not want to believe, when we can't take something in and when we have last hopes that leave us empty. I can feel with Nine, I am scared with Nine.
I can write more and more about how I feel. This book is an amazing piece.
The protagonist is Carolina "NINE" Livingston. A young woman who is super focused and practices observation as an art. She is bright, different and has one friend, Schuyler. Her mind is a work of pulleys, levers, cogs and thoughts of stars and galaxies. She is fast, linear and you are reading through her thoughts. The affair begins as a tension filled friendship, playing cat and mouse with much uncertainty but once their union is complete it is obvious that this is ...love. She can't help it, this is what it is...
I have so much feeling about this book. I can't begin to describe it. Firstly the protagonist, Nine, is so fast paced, so eloquent and technical and such a dreamer. She is so focused, almost to an OCD level. She is amazing. And what starts as a crush develops one can see how multi-layered Nine is.
Mr. Mann the teacher is an amazing subject as well. He plays real, he seems fair and the way it is told he does seem perfect... no he is perfect. He's beautiful and loving; sweet and manly. Nine and Mr. Mann REALLY love each other and that is what gets me. This book is so intense, fast paced and catastrophic in every page.
I think what I love about this book is the truth it holds; the wonders it tells of how a human works. We can become obsessive about what we believe we love or about what we care about, what we hold important. We see justification in our insane actions and rambling thoughts. We have love and it leaves us, for better or for worse. Mr. Mann and Nine's relationship is so extremely different from that of any book or movie I've seen. It is so real and fresh and scary and intense through the pages. I can feel their love and passion, I can see their tension and relate to a feeling so indescribable, yet Nelson executes it perfectly.
Mr. Mann and Nine's relationship totally got me... I don't know what it is. The unfairness of how it ended... how he loved her and it was true. How simple it was for them to join-- but in one swift mistake it was all gone. No explanations, just a bitter, empty and changed Nine.
This book makes me cry when I think about it. Nine is so passionate and truthful. She explains her hurt so well I can feel as if it is happening to me...that I am Nine. I feel her pain and her despair. I see the justice in her actions, the wrong of it all. She loves him, isn't it all that matters!?
Honestly I cannot believe how much this book impacts me. Nine shows just how desperate we humans get when we do not want to believe, when we can't take something in and when we have last hopes that leave us empty. I can feel with Nine, I am scared with Nine.
I can write more and more about how I feel. This book is an amazing piece.
Forbidden love that leads to betrayal, obsession, and finally realization.
I felt Nine in a lot of ways. While reading this book I never got the answer of why my boyfriend broke up with me. Hopefully it didn't end the way it did for her. I guessed the his reason right off the back. Even though this was a teacher/student relationship which shouldn't have happen but it did. I think their relationship could have been great - they connected.
Nine did spiral out of control and half the things she did is out there and wouldn't have even cross my mind. Read this book and if you had a connection with a loved one past or present you will get it and can't hate the teacher.
Nine did spiral out of control and half the things she did is out there and wouldn't have even cross my mind. Read this book and if you had a connection with a loved one past or present you will get it and can't hate the teacher.
wavering between 3 & 4 stars on this one. the writing was so lovely and i truly liked the main character, carolina/"nine." i felt for her even as her behavior became more erratic and horrifying. but goodness, was it horrifying.
I would gather to say that this was the most interesting book that I read as a teen.