Travis lives in a trailer park outside a small prairie town with his aunt, uncle, and a pack of rowdy little cousins. His mother, a country-and-western singer, is on the road a lot; his father is long gone. When things get crazy at his place he can always go visit his best friend, Chantelle, a smart disabled girl. Travis doesn't mind being poor and having strange relatives. But he knows he's different from his junior high classmates in other ways, too. He loves to sew and play with puppets. He wants to become a professional puppeteer. These interests make Travis a ripe target for Shon and his friends, the school thugs. As ninth grade graduation approaches and Travis and friends (including Shon's girlfriend) create a puppet production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, the taunts and schoolyard ambushes escalate until Shon's anger, jealousy, and prejudice erupt in violence. This touching story of the trials and tribulations of adolescence resonates with young adult readers.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From School Library Journal
Grade 7-10-This dramatic novel, set in a western Canadian town, deals with some tough yet relevant issues, including bullying, spousal abuse, disabilities, and death. Travis's difficult life is examined over a period of three years, beginning in seventh grade. The only real constant in his life is Chantelle, a disfigured girl with a debilitating disease. Picked on unmercifully for no apparent reason by three bullies, Travis finds some balance through artistic expression (designing puppets and performing as a puppeteer), his encouraging teachers, some genuine friendships, and the support of his aunt with whom he lives. Plot development is mapped out well, but the characters are the strongest point here. Readers will empathize with Travis and Chantelle, and the mood of terror is caught very well. What begins as taunts of "girlie," "fruit fly," and "fag face" escalates as the bullies remove his pants and cover him with shoe polish, and later almost kill him. Quotes from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream and rich descriptions of Travis's creations help to provide some much-needed contrasting beauty in the story. The dominant theme is obvious-people who are different are made to pay for it in awful ways. Sometimes, the differences can be a pay-off, if you are lucky. Students reading this book will be grateful that Travis is one of the lucky ones.
Corrina Austin, Locke's Public School, St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Corrina Austin, Locke's Public School, St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Portrait of the Sensitive Guy,
This review is from: Stitches (Paperback)
An excellent depiction of the difficulties faced by a young boy interested in non-traditional gender roles.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
Midsummer. Those hot nights at the tail end of July, thunderstorms rolled across Acton. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
rhinestone butterflies, puppet stage, fashion studies Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Miss Riccio, Glen Huser, Midsummer Night's Dream, Shon Docker, Peter Pan, Eva Boscombe, Mavis Buttley, Cameron Coaldale, Tinker Bell, Todd Wingate, Miserable Mike, Amber Sadlowsky, Melanie Ozipko, Buttley Park, Captain Hook, Acton Hotel, Curious George, Miss Thwarpe, Shakespeare's Comedies New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Front Flap | First Pages | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Midsummer. Those hot nights at the tail end of July, thunderstorms rolled across Acton. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
rhinestone butterflies, puppet stage, fashion studies Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Miss Riccio, Glen Huser, Midsummer Night's Dream, Shon Docker, Peter Pan, Eva Boscombe, Mavis Buttley, Cameron Coaldale, Tinker Bell, Todd Wingate, Miserable Mike, Amber Sadlowsky, Melanie Ozipko, Buttley Park, Captain Hook, Acton Hotel, Curious George, Miss Thwarpe, Shakespeare's Comedies New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Front Flap | First Pages | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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