Customer Reviews

The Brimstone Journals

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4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

I loved this book. I connected with all the different characters, they were just like kids at my own high school. This is a must read for any teen, and even any parent of a teen. It seemed so true. Almost as if the author wrote it from being a student at my school.

Welcome to Branston High, nicknamed Brimstone by it students. As in "fire and brimstone." As in Hell. And if they don't act fast, a demon will break loose.

Through a series of short, journal-like poems, acclaimed author Koertge catapults us into the lives of some Branston students. The cast of characters is all too familiar and almost too dysfunctional --- each with their own burdens to bear. There's the fat kid, the smart kid, the rich kid, the anorexic, the jock, and so on. Rounding out the mix is Boyd. Left to his own devices by his alcoholic father, Boyd has became a white supremacist with a major chip on his shoulder.

Tension within the school is mounting. Mercilessly, Boyd compiles a list of people he hates, his "hit list," student by student. And around him, everybody else's problems are ripping them apart. You'll have to read this inventive and engrossing poem-novel to find out what ultimately happens. THE BRIMSTONE JOURNALS explores the timely and all too real topic of teen violence in a story that is as haunting as it is illuminating.

--- Reviewed by Tammy L. Currier

Robert Koertge's book Brimstone Journal is remarkable. His choice of format (journals) was very effective. It allowed you as the reader to understand each character emotionally and personally, as well as draws you into the fictious world of Branston High School. Brimstone Journal is written as a collection of journal entries from what seems like 15 typical high school students: the cheerleader, the jock, the promiscuous girl, the rich boy, the fat kid, the smart one, the lesbian, the anorexic.... and the ANGRY Boyd who has created a list to get rid of anybody who ever blew him off or made him mad. However, as you engage yourself in each entry, you discover the hidden demons that are eating these students alive bit by bit. Boyd who has just met a new and dangerous friend Mike has developed a list of enemies and with Mike's help has devised a plan to take them all out. Many characters begin thinking of joining Boyd and his plan, and others find themselves wanting to buy weapons from him to put an end to their problems. Entry by entry you become closer and closer to the Big Day when Boyd will put his plan into action. Will someone tell? Will Boyd succeed? Will they survive? You will never know unless you read Brimstone Journal. The characters in this book would appeal to high school students. Due to some of the content and language, I feel this book would be appropriate for grades 9 and up. Through the eyes of 15 teenagers, this frightening situation becomes reality. 5 stars all the way!

I really liked Ron Koertge's book, The Brimstone Journals. It was an interesting quick read about suburban high school kids and it gave me some insight into the mindset of kids who plot shooting rampages. I was equally intrigued by what the author wrote at the back of the book, "Usually I choose characters and settings that are humorous and off beat. The Brimstone Journals, however, chose me. I began the book before the tragedy in Colorado, and the characters woke me up at night."

There are fifteen haunting student voices. All are seniors at Branston, a suburban high school. This story, written as journal entries, focuses on the many problems that suburban teens find themselves struggling with. The journal opens with the geeky kid, Lester, playing with his father's gun and toying with the idea of "getting back" at the jocks and girls at his school who have "dissed" him. Damon is one of those jocks and is also very controlling with his girlfriend, Kelli who is struggling to break his hold on her. Then there is Sheila, who wonders if she's a lesbian because she loves her best friend, Monica. Boyd is an outcast at school and neglected and abused at home by his alcoholic father. Joseph is an environmentalist and the offspring of two "weird" parents who "drink a lot of wine and boogie to the Grateful Dead". Allison is being sexually harassed by her stepfather, who her mother makes excuses for when she complains. Kitty is the fat girl, Jennifer, a religious zealot and Meredith has "loose morals". Neesha, Tran and Carter are the minorities. Neesha has black revolutionary leanings, Tran, Vietnamese, is under pressure by his immigrant father to fulfill the American dream and Carter is a rich black kid who flaunts cashmere sweaters and drives an expensive sports car. The plot centers around a plan by the geeks to do a "Columbine" at their school targeting the minorities, jocks and anyone else who crosses their newly-formed secret brotherhood. Interesting, easy to read, good insight into suburban high school life.

Branston High School, nicknamed Brimstone by its occupants, is a typical suburban high school in America. You have the jock, the nerd, the fat kid, the lesbian, and every other "label" high school students give each other. In The Brimstone Journals, Koertge gives readers a glimpse into the personal thoughts of each of these fifteen students by recording their thoughts and feelings in journal form.
What joins the students together, whether they know it or not, is Boyd, an angry young man with a list of "everybody who ever blew me off, flipped me off, or pissed me off" (Koertge 51). When he meets Mike, Boyd begins to plan a Columbine type event where he gets revenge against all those he thinks offended him. Other students are sucked into his plan either by joining in the attack or having their name added to the list. One student bravely thwarts Boyd's plan, and the aftermath of the "event" showcases teenagers at their best: living in the moment. Although a few students have their lives changed like Sheila opening up to her mother about her struggle and Allison telling the counselor what her stepfather is doing to her, most students immediately go back to the frivolous cares of high school. Damon, the controlling boyfriend jock, immediately goes back to wondering when his girlfriend will come back to him. Rob still doesn't understand why he was on the list. Even Lester, the hero of the book, contemplates his actions for a minute and then immediately thinks about going to prom with Meredith. Boyd exemplifies this even further as with one sentence he is choosing to help kill his peers and in the next, he's thinking about a tattoo.
Boyd
I was gonna drop out of school until
Mike got me to see how we need
People who can lead the foot soldiers.
Somebody the grunts can look up to.
So I'll march up there and shake some total
phony's hand.
Plus, Mike's springing for a tattoo when I
get my diploma.
(Koertge 31)


Although Koertge gives a voice to the average high school students in this book, the book felt incomplete in some way. Because there were fifteen voices to hear in only 113 pages, some voices were not developed completely nor did their few entries do their stories justice. However, the many voices join together cohesively to tell the unified story of a high school on the edge of an attack by one of its students. Each unique voice tells a different side or perspective of the story that the reader would not have seen if the story had been written in standard prose. The pattern of the poems (some one sentence in length while others two pages) resonates the disjointed feelings of teenagers.
Each day, millions of teens around the country go to school with different problems and situations in which they feel isolated and alone. In this book, Koertge gives them a voice. High school teachers could use either individual poems or the book in its entirety to start discussions about these problems too many people want to sweep under the carpet. The book is a quick read that would spark great discussion and self-reflection as students could write about their own lives. In addition, the poems lend themselves to discussions about character traits, development, and change throughout a story.

[...]

This is a book of poems written from the points of view of students at Branston High School. Their school is pretty diverse--some students are religious, some are into video games, one is a member of an immigrant family, and they are of all different races. Despite living within such a diverse community, though, the students are narrow-minded and some have some pretty serious problems.

We as readers see tension building. A few students are collecting weapons and planning an attack on some of their classmates. Many students have heard about these plans and know that there is a list of students who will be targeted, but will any of them take this plan seriously enough?

I liked the idea behind this book. I thought it was a great way to show how a school system could foster such anger in its students, and how difficult it might be to stop a terrible tragedy. However, I was upset at the thought that teachers could be as angry and willing to buy into hate as the students.

This book is a quick-read, which is good, because it's poorly written. There are many sterotypes and it should offend many groups. Many of the entries are in poor taste and at least two of the characters' entries are filled with profanity. I don't understand why this book would be recommended by anyone; especially in light of the recent college tragedy.