Drowning Anna [Hardcover]

Sue Mayfield (Author)

Book Description

Grade Level: 5 and up

Kim Possible and her best friend, Ron Stoppable, find new meaning in the phrase "gone bananas" when they discover the truth about world-famous scholar Lord Monty Fiske. The nobleman's obsession with something called Monkey Kung Fu has led him to spend the family fortune on costly surgery. Now he's Lord Monkey Fist, a chimp with attitude. Can Kim and Ron stop him? Or will the whole world end up in his mutant monkey grasp?

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Opening with the attempted suicide of 15-year-old Anna Goldsmith, Mayfield's (I Carried You on Eagles' Wings) intense novel unspools at a breakneck pace. Succeeding chapters alternate between the first-person narrative of Anna's only remaining friend, Melanie, entries from Anna's diary (which Anna is clutching when her mother discovers the girl unconscious) and third-person viewpoints of Anna's mother and father at the hospital as they wait for their daughter to come out of a coma. Melanie's perspective and Anna's entries dovetail as they recount the escalating cruelty of their classmate Hayley Parkin. Hayley at first befriends smart, attractive Anna, who is new to the school, then turns against her. The author wisely leaves the cause for the rift a mystery, choosing instead to examine Hayley's subtle machinations: a trip here, an insult there, always out of sight of the teachers. Readers witness the dwindling of Anna's self-esteem (a few graphic scenes describe Anna cutting herself), the tenuous friendship forming between Anna and Melanie, and the insidious ways that Hayley buddies up to Melanie to undermine Melanie's loyalty to Anna. Structurally, the shifting viewpoints detract from the drama; Adele Griffin's recent Amandine does a more effective job of portraying the psychological claustrophobia that results from adolescent power plays. Nonetheless, Mayfield's drama will keep the pages turning. Ages 10-14.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 7-10-Anna Goldsmith, 13, moves with her family from London to a northern town. Beautiful and an ace student, she is praised by her teachers, given a violin solo, and assigned to play center fielder in hockey, displacing Hayley Parkin, who is her first and seemingly devoted friend. What Anna doesn't know is that Hayley is an adept manipulator and all of her classmates live in fear of her. First she draws people in to learn their sensitivities and secrets, then launches whisper campaigns against them. Once she has totally isolated her victim via social ostracism, she launches physical attacks. When Melanie Blackwood, who really wants to be Anna's friend, gradually gives in to Hayley's pressure, Anna begins to cut herself. Upon discovering this activity, her well-intentioned but all-too-busy parents call on the teachers for help. A few superficial changes take place, and the adults work to set the "personality clash" to rights. But Hayley is just getting started. Although the vocabulary is simple, this book is complex in structure. The first chapter is told in present tense via an omniscient narrator as Anna sets in motion what will be the climax of the plot. The next chapter features Melanie reminiscing about how all of this started. Anna, who is comatose through most of the book, speaks mostly through her diary entries and letters. The shifting narratives contribute to a compelling story that will strike a chord with many young teens. Published as Blue in the United Kingdom, this book should reach large numbers of readers here as well.
Cindy Darling Codell, Clark Middle School, Winchester, KY
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion; First Edition, First Printing edition (October 2, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786808705
• ISBN-13: 978-0786808700
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #991,323 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wow!, December 24, 2004

By 

Tina "Tina" (Montreal, Quebec) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Drowning Anna (Hardcover)

Anna, a teenager moves to a new location, new school and tries to make new friends. One of them is Hayley who comes on strong at first. Then slowly, Hayley starts turning on Anna and starts making her life a living nightmare. Through all of this, Melanie, another friend hovers between the two never knowing how to deal with the situation.

I absolutely loved reading this young-adult book. While I felt, at times, frustrated, mad, sad and scared, this story, told from the point of view of Melanie was so solid and well told.

While we can feel Anna's increasing depression at the way Hayley is treating her, I found it interesting to view the character of Hayley - clearly some kind of psycho in the making. It is scary to think that these things (bullying) actually happen to our kids.

While I thought the author did a good job of fleshing out Anna's parents, they really only appear towards the end of the book, clueless as to why Anna would try to commit suicide. This also scares me - that parents seem not to know what is happening with their kids anymore.

Melanie is probably the least fleshed out for me. She comes across as weak and extremely vulnerable - which apparently she is.

This book is a gem. I wish they had these types of books when I was growing up!

Buy it.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Book, July 19, 2005

By 

Brittany (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Drowning Anna (Hardcover)

The book Drowning Anna is definatly an excellent book it kept me turning the pages. This was the first book i read by Sue Mayfield and i truly think shes a incredible author. This book really helps people understand that no matter what if people are bullying u and bringing u down or have turned there back on u there is no reason to blame it on yourself..always be true to yourself
there were moments i have to say where i cried in the book because it got so sad..but this book is definatly a must read!!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Ecxellent book but empty gaps, December 4, 2005

By 

Kristine Valentino "Bobby's girl" (Manhattan New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Drowning Anna (Hardcover)

I just finished this book. i loved it. You can feel the pain and anger of Anna and her mother and family bedside vigil, come out of the pages.
Anna Goldsmith is a young girl who is new to Yorkshire. She befriends a bitchy girl, Hayley Parkin, who pretends to be friendly but backslashes for no reason. Hayley and her henchmen abuse Anna. Anna, not knowing what to do, becomes friends with Melanie. They have their own issues. Hayley gets the 411 on Anna's x-bf Nick who is 17. Immediately, Hayley starts makeing up rumors about Anna and Nick when the relationship was totally innocent.
With all of the chaos at school, Anna feels the pleasure of hurting herself. Taking a razor and literally scratching herself up. When all of that isn't helping, Anna begins to take pills and drinks to really mess herself up.
One day from school, Anna takes some pills and vodka and gets herself knocked out. Her mom later finds her in a coma on the floor, unconcious.
Hayley doesn't realize that she is breaking Anna's spirit. In the end, Anna is okay and Haylye feels very wrong. Unfortunately Sue Mayfield doesn't fill us in at the end. Does Hayley apologize? she doesn't say. Never the less, i loved the book.