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A review by justagirlwithabook
Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Holy cow. @craigsilveyauthor, my heart might never recover.
Where do I start with this one? Have you read it? Can we please, please talk?
I really don’t know how to describe the book other than that it’s a coming-of-age mashup of To Kill a Mockingbird + Huckleberry Finn + The Catcher in the Rye + Bridge of Clay + The Sandlot, but set in 1965 in small-town Australia in the midst of all the hopes of putting a man on the moon, fears of communism, and the ongoing devastation in Vietnam.
Charlie Bucktin is the main lead, a 13-year-old bookish boy with a good heart who’s stumbling through his little town like a new foal learning its legs. Jasper Jones is our Huck Finn, an outcast and scapegoat who feels the everyday weight of racism and inequality (along with Charlie’s other friend, Jeffrey Lu, whose parents are from Vietnam).
So when Jasper comes tapping at Charlie’s window unexpectedly one night to get some help with a body, Charlie’s world turns upside down. While having to cope with holding heavy secrets, he also battles problems at home, discovers young love for the first time, and also watches his friends struggle to deal with their own varied battles every single day. It’s a lot for a teenage boy to navigate.
This one took me on an emotional rollercoaster. It’s heartbreakingly beautiful and captures so exquisitely the highs and lows and complexities of adolescence and what it means to be human. It doesn’t at all shy away from tough topics, but these kinds of stories are the ones that we learn from, that spur on deep conversation, and that stay with us long after we’ve read the last page. These kinds of books are few and far between, and they’re the important ones.
If you’ve read it, please let’s talk. Slide into my DMs immediately. I’ll be sitting with this one for quite a long time.
Content Warning:
heavy use of profanity throughout, suicide, sexual harassment and assault, child abuse (implied physical violence, implied rape and assault), racism, violence toward others
[www.instagram.com/justagirlwithabook]
Where do I start with this one? Have you read it? Can we please, please talk?
I really don’t know how to describe the book other than that it’s a coming-of-age mashup of To Kill a Mockingbird + Huckleberry Finn + The Catcher in the Rye + Bridge of Clay + The Sandlot, but set in 1965 in small-town Australia in the midst of all the hopes of putting a man on the moon, fears of communism, and the ongoing devastation in Vietnam.
Charlie Bucktin is the main lead, a 13-year-old bookish boy with a good heart who’s stumbling through his little town like a new foal learning its legs. Jasper Jones is our Huck Finn, an outcast and scapegoat who feels the everyday weight of racism and inequality (along with Charlie’s other friend, Jeffrey Lu, whose parents are from Vietnam).
So when Jasper comes tapping at Charlie’s window unexpectedly one night to get some help with a body, Charlie’s world turns upside down. While having to cope with holding heavy secrets, he also battles problems at home, discovers young love for the first time, and also watches his friends struggle to deal with their own varied battles every single day. It’s a lot for a teenage boy to navigate.
This one took me on an emotional rollercoaster. It’s heartbreakingly beautiful and captures so exquisitely the highs and lows and complexities of adolescence and what it means to be human. It doesn’t at all shy away from tough topics, but these kinds of stories are the ones that we learn from, that spur on deep conversation, and that stay with us long after we’ve read the last page. These kinds of books are few and far between, and they’re the important ones.
If you’ve read it, please let’s talk. Slide into my DMs immediately. I’ll be sitting with this one for quite a long time.
Content Warning:
heavy use of profanity throughout, suicide, sexual harassment and assault, child abuse (implied physical violence, implied rape and assault), racism, violence toward others
[www.instagram.com/justagirlwithabook]