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queenoflimbs 's review for:
Ugly
by Robert Hoge
I stumbled across this book in a thrift store. It's one of the few Australian YAL texts I've picked up. A few notes:
-I love that this is a memoir. I had no idea who Robert was, and I'm so glad that I do now (and that I got to hear it from him). I feel like the reality of this story is what makes it so important.
-The actual writing/format of this book is disappointing. It's really erratic, moving from piece to piece to piece. I also cannot quite decide who the target audience is - Most of the description/sentence structure feels very babyish, while there are other portions of the book that require some adult background knowledge to understand. It's really corny, but without the warmth and whimsy to appeal to younger readers.
-There was a huge disconnect with the people in Robert's life. I couldn't tell if he felt close to any of them (maybe he doesn't, and that's the point). The only person who even remotely made an impression in his story was his bowls coach.
-I probably wouldn't recommend this as a YAL text. It doesn't stand on its own as a memoir, and there are many other books out there about physical differences that have better readibility/use language that resonates with young readers.
-I love that this is a memoir. I had no idea who Robert was, and I'm so glad that I do now (and that I got to hear it from him). I feel like the reality of this story is what makes it so important.
-The actual writing/format of this book is disappointing. It's really erratic, moving from piece to piece to piece. I also cannot quite decide who the target audience is - Most of the description/sentence structure feels very babyish, while there are other portions of the book that require some adult background knowledge to understand. It's really corny, but without the warmth and whimsy to appeal to younger readers.
-There was a huge disconnect with the people in Robert's life. I couldn't tell if he felt close to any of them (maybe he doesn't, and that's the point). The only person who even remotely made an impression in his story was his bowls coach.
-I probably wouldn't recommend this as a YAL text. It doesn't stand on its own as a memoir, and there are many other books out there about physical differences that have better readibility/use language that resonates with young readers.