Take a photo of a barcode or cover
claudiaswisher 's review for:
Bruiser
by Neal Shusterman
Within the first 50 pages, I predicted this would be about bullying, about sibling rivalry, about child abuse...I was wrong. It is soo much more! Bronte and Tennyson (parents are English professors), fraternal twins, know their family's about to blow up, but neither can really face the facts. Tenny throws himself into lacrosse; Bronte tries to fix people. Into their lives comes Bruiser...Brewster...a loner. Surly, mysterious. A kid who just 'isn't right' somehow.
The twins soon find out there's something magical and horrible about Brewster's strange ability to absorb the hurt and pain others feel...the injuries, the diseases. But at a horrifying personal cost. His body is scarred and bruised. His soul is isolated and protective. When he begins to care, really care, about another person, he suffers beyond measure.
The four narrator voices tell very different stories; I loved how Brewster's voice is poetic; there is so much more to him than the loser others see. Like in UNWIND, Bronte, the girl, is strong and true...Shusterman does a wonderful job of writing in her voice, with all the nuanced concerns a girl is likely to have. At the same time, Tenny and Cody's voices also ring true. Each has so much to learn, and I think they're on their way to insights.
It was all I could do to keep from sobbing at the end...tears did drip off my chin. Magic, love, caring, personal responsibility. The place of suffering in our lives...all are explored here in a book I'll be sharing enthusiastically for a long time.
The twins soon find out there's something magical and horrible about Brewster's strange ability to absorb the hurt and pain others feel...the injuries, the diseases. But at a horrifying personal cost. His body is scarred and bruised. His soul is isolated and protective. When he begins to care, really care, about another person, he suffers beyond measure.
The four narrator voices tell very different stories; I loved how Brewster's voice is poetic; there is so much more to him than the loser others see. Like in UNWIND, Bronte, the girl, is strong and true...Shusterman does a wonderful job of writing in her voice, with all the nuanced concerns a girl is likely to have. At the same time, Tenny and Cody's voices also ring true. Each has so much to learn, and I think they're on their way to insights.
It was all I could do to keep from sobbing at the end...tears did drip off my chin. Magic, love, caring, personal responsibility. The place of suffering in our lives...all are explored here in a book I'll be sharing enthusiastically for a long time.