jonimnewman 's review for:

Anna and the Swallow Man by Gavriel Savit

3.0

---

I read this book with the intention of determining whether or not I would want to teach it with my junior high classes. On the whole I thought this book was decent for the YA genre. It touched on symbolism in a way that is accessible but not heavy handed. It left lots of detail up for interpretation and didn't explain everything to death. What I found somewhat unfortunate (or maybe I just missed it?) is that I couldn't figure out the point of the story in the end. So much of the story was left unclear that either I wasn't reading with enough of my literary brain on, my cold medicine head was too fuzzy to pick it out, or it just wasn't there. That meant I left the book feeling like it was good and interesting and well written enough, but I can't figure out what the purpose or point of the story in the end. Was it just a meeting and parting of two people? How did Anna grow? Where is she headed now? The whole book was a random journey to no-where with the point of just staying alive, but I would have liked for it to grow into something in the end that felt less random and more solid. Ultimately I don't think I'll be adding this book to my classroom reading lists.