Customer Reviews

Facts Speak For Themselves

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Linda, the thirteen-year-old survivor of a disastrous family life, tells her story in this realistic and unblushing account. At the beginning of the novel, we find Linda going into protective services following a bloody and climactic debacle in which her alcoholic mother's sometime boyfriend commits suicide after shooting to death, in Linda's presence, Linda's middle-aged seducer/lover, who was also Linda's mother's employer. The novel is made up of Linda's subsequent telling of her life story to her caseworker.

CHARACTERS: Linda--A born survivor: capable, brave, resourceful, and cunning. In spite of all the appalling neglect and abuse to which she is subjected, one ends the novel with the impression that she is equal to the task of getting on with her life.

Sandra--Linda's mother: Good-looking, a doctor's daughter, and a complete mess. She is vain, self-centered, self-pitying, uncaring, alcoholic, depressed, willful, and incapable. She is, in fact, an exceptionally destructive train-wreck of a person, unable to manage her own life, to say nothing of the lives of her children.

COMMENTS: The book is exceptionally well written in straightforward and realistic first-person language. Caution: Four-letter words are used and sexual situations are frankly described.

"The Facts Speak for Themselves" was a pretty good book. I wouldn't recommend it for younger kids who can't handle sex or violence though. I'd probably recommend it to teens 13-18.

The story is told in Linda's point of view. It is different because the story actually starts out with the conclusion, and the rest of the story tells what lead up to what is in the beginning (that sounds confusing, but once you read it, you will understand). Linda is a thirteen year old girl who was witness to the murder of her lover, who is twice her age. The killer, was actually her mother's boyfriend who was living with them. Linda tells the events in her life from the time she was little up until the murder, consisting of a very dysfunctional family life and a lot of moving around. The book was good all-in-all, but not really for children.

A strong, yet disturbing story of a 13 year old girl who experiences events in her young life which no one would wish a child, or adult, to experi- ence. She loses her chance of childhood while living with a dysfunctional mother, who, in turn, draws dysfunctional people into her own life and therefore Linda's. Unlike "The Goats", which was a story of innocent love, Mr.Cole makes his main character a victim of sexual abuse. She is not aware of the harm that this is doing to her now or in the future, nor do I feel the author injects anything into the story to help her under- stand that she is a victim. I feel that a stronger statement regarding the abuse should have been made by the author. I am concerned that a young person reading this book would not fully comprehend the psychological damage that has been done to Linda

: This book is extremely well written and affecting. Since this book contains a realistic portrayal of sexual and emotional abuse, The Facts Speak For Themselves would be an excellent choice for bibliotherapy. I would recommend that a teenager have someone trusted to talk over the subject matter of this book. In fact, this book could be so upsetting that a person who reads this book might need a professional counselor.

Evaluation: The Facts Speak For Themselves by Brock Cole contains a sad and powerful story. Cole writes in a beautiful and simple style that gives us access to Lindas inner thoughts. The protagonist in this book, Linda, is a victim of years of psychological, sexual and emotional abuse. This abuse is so normal for Linda that she does not recognize it as abuse. As she describes her situation Linda writes in a flat tone about taking care of her little brothers, being molested and watching the murder of her adult lover. It is heartbreaking to see adult after adult either abuse Linda or not offer her any help. Although this is a sad book, in the end Linda is removed from her situation and in a group home. Linda seems relatively happy in the home and she is grateful for the small things like having access to pencils. This ending puts a happy ending on the book that otherwise could make a reader lose all hope.

This book had a nice flow, I finished it in about two days. Very interesting, but a little too explicit for innocent teenagers.Its a sad story, the way this young girl is unwanted by any female in her family.She is a pretty tough chic though, always finding a way to survive.

Sex, violence and other mature themes can all be found within the pages of The Facts Speak for Themselves by Brock Cole. This book tells us the story of a young girl by the name of Linda who is 13 years old. She tells the of her life for the last couple of years because of the death of two family friends. During this Linda lives in various southeastern states and attends various schools. The main problem she is dealing with is the separation from her mother and two younger brothers. This book fits into the young adult fiction, another book I've read in this genre is Go ask Alice. Some of the things these books have in common are that they are both young adult girls (teenagers), they both live in modern times and they both deals with the death of others in the book. One of the reasons that I chose this book is because it looked like it might be interesting and I had to read a book for class. This book should be read by a mature teenager or young adult because of the sexual content of this book. Due to the writers plot development I found the book hard to put down.

TFSFT is the story of a thirteen-year-old girl, named Linda, who gets herself mixed up in all kinds of trouble. It starts out with he witnessing a murder/suicide and being sent to a Christian run home. After the first chapter or two, the entire book is all the past leading up to the murder and why it took place.

This one won many awards, including the School Library Journal's "Book Of The Year" award. This is one of those books that you sit down to read a chapter, and two hours later, you realize your still reading it. Linda's narration was truly funny at times, and truly sad at times. But the entire time, this story was REAL. You could imagine it all taking place. It may not have been a true story, but it sure could have.

A great story here...well worth the read.

In The Goats, Brock Cole showed us the resourcefulness children can summon when faced with incredible adversity. But Howie and Laura's journey was a walk in the park compared to the story of Linda, Cole's heroine in The Facts Speak for Themselves. Linda survives the death of her father, the attentions of her mother's series of boyfriends, the death of her stepfather, until she is finally at the scene where the older man with whom she is having an affair is murdered by her mother's ex-boyfriend who kills himself after committing the murder. Like Catcher in the Rye, this book is the confession of a survivor, in this case 13 year old Linda, who is finally in a position to begin to exert some control over her life. Cole's ability to read a young girl's mind is uncanny, and his feel for interior dialogue exquisite.

For me, this book follows the title to the letter. It is told through the eyes of Linda, a sexually active 13 year old of low to average intelligence. She has been forced to grow up at an astounding rate due to the indifference of her mother, raising her brothers and taking care of one of her step fathers after he has a stoke. She is unaware that any of the molesting and emotional damage to her is abuse.

I grew fond of her as the story unfolded but I never loved her. I don't think she quite had the charisma I wanted although I think she certainly had the potential

It might have been because of the way the story was written. It seemed completely stripped of emotion, as the title suggests. But I think this would make it much easier for people to read who haven't come across the subjects before. For example, when she is raped there is very little description other than, "When he was inside me I didn't like it. I hit him. I said hurry up."

I did enjoy this book but I think it seemed a bit mugged in places. It also doesn't use speech marks, which I found extremely annoying and confusing to read. I couldn't say what age range this book should be for. Perhaps 13 +. Some of the things in it might disturb some people but I honestly think it is told in such away that people won't feel nearly as horrified than of something which is told in detail and with emotion.

This is a very good story told entirely from linda's point of veiw. With no father and an irrisponsible mother linda is left to take care of herself and the people who are forced on her by family. There is no one to fill in the gaps for the readers of what Linda doesn't understand which makes the book more realistic. It still gives you a very good idead of what is going on in Linda's life even though she doesn't tell you everything. This is a very good book although it does leave some things unresolved at the end of the book.