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5.0 out of 5 stars
Last December - a great read., January 24, 2012
This review is from: Last December (Hardcover)
Last December is the story of Steven, a 15-year-old boy caught between adolescence and the start of manhood. Full of hope and full of despair, the story told as one long letter/ suicide note as he endeavours to provide guidance for his sister that he may never see. Powerful but understated, Beam's writing is at its best when it deals with the ins and outs of every day life and delving into the depths Steven's psychology. Strong, unflinching in its desire to reach the truth of humanity, Last December treads a fine line between the desire to understand the universe and our own place within it.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Courtesy of Teens Read Too, February 27, 2010
This review is from: Last December (Hardcover)
When his mom's boyfriend takes off, Steven's relieved. He never really liked Mike. Unfortunately, Steven's mom is pregnant. She says she's having a girl, and they begin calling her Sam.
Steven's dad died when Steven was only one. He doesn't know a thing about him. Now, about to have a little sister who also won't know her dad, he sets about trying to explain things to her. He begins to write Sam a letter. He's not sure when or if she will ever read it, but he writes about everything that's happened to them last December.
There was the new high school and Steven's desire to be part of the hockey team. There was a fight with a group of skinheads and the threat that they might come back for more. There was the irresistible Jenny and new best friend, Trevor, who got Steven involved in the high school social scene. There was Byron, the Ms. Pac-Man playing stranger, who always seemed to show up at the Donut Hole. All of these are intertwined in Steven's letter, along with the stress and pressure of being the man in the family for his pregnant mother and his soon-to-be little sister.
LAST DECEMBER describes Steven's struggle to adapt to the normal ups and downs of being a teen at the same time he comes to terms with being there for a mother about to become a single mother of two children. Using the concept of a letter, author Matt Beam takes his readers directly into Steven's thoughts as he attempts to provide history and guidance for his unborn sister.
Reviewed by: Sally Kruger, aka "Readingjunky"
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Last December, an outstanding young adult novel!, January 27, 2010
This review is from: Last December (Hardcover)
I really enjoyed this book because it surprised me with some of the themes important to adolescents that were introduced. The book is written as an epistolary (told as a letter) novel, written to the main character's unborn sister. It is really interesting how he writes to her and even admits that he may not be so excited about her birth.
The main character, Steven is a fifteen-year-old freshman in high school in 1982, living in Toronto, Canada. He has just moved to a new school and is in the process of attempting to fit in to the new environment. He even tried out for the school hockey team and didn't make it. However, in the process of trying for the team he does make some new friends which lead to a series of significant events in his young life. These events include drinking and smoking for the first time, meeting and attempting to date a young lady, and even having a fight with a school bully.
I like how Beam addresses the difficult issues of adolescence in this little book. He addresses the stresses of peer pressure, the desire to find intimacy with a girl and the stresses of living with a single mother who is pregnant. This would be an excellent text to place in the hands of a reluctant reader because the scenarios presented by the author are realistic and contemporary enough to capture the interest of similar age students. One concern for some readers may be the use of profanity. In the beginning of the text, Beam never uses the "f-word" and instead substitutes the term "effin'." However in the last chapter, he does use the real word; this could be a concern for some.
On a final note, I found this text captivating because I was also an adolescent in the 1980s. Some of the video games, music and styles of the 80s were realistically incorporated into the text. I really enjoyed this because it brought back some memories of those "good old days." However, a good story is a good story no matter what the time period and I believe this is a good story!
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