*Summary:
When 16-year old Poe Holly’s mother leaves to South
Africa to provide medical care in a third world country, Poe is transplanted
from her home in Los Angeles to Benders Hollow, California. Benders Hollow is a
very conservative suburb, where everyone looks and acts the same. Poe stands
out like a sore thumb with her punk rock style and attitude. Upon moving in
with her dad (who she has never met before now), Poe meets a boy named
Velveeta. Velveeta is the brunt of the school’s bullying, particularly by the
town’s prodigal son Colby Morris. The bullying seems just a part of life until
it becomes deadly. Poe has to decide whether she will just be a bystander and
let Velveeta continue to get mercilessly bullied, or if she will stand up for
what is right.
*Bibliography:
Harmon, M. B. (2009). Brutal. New York, N.Y.:
Alfred A. Knopf.
*My Rating:
This book was pretty good. It was an enjoyable read, and
there were definitely moments of laughter and suspense throughout. I wouldn’t
say this is a book that is all that memorable, or that would really change my
life. I could see teenagers being able to relate to the main character in this
book, but I’m not sure it is all that special of a book.
*Reviews:
Sixteen-year-old Poe Holly is "the outcome of a
sperm donor program called Poor Choices and Bad Mistakes." Her workaholic
mother has taken a year off to practice medicine in South America, unloading
Poe into the custody of a father she's never met, a straitlaced counselor at
Poe's new school. The pierced and mohawked Poe mostly abhors the homogeneity
and elitism of her suburban classmates, though she finds two exceptions: the
whip-smart punk-rocker son of the town mayor, and Velveeta, the troubled pariah
on the hit list of Colby, the school's untouchable bully. There is little
earth-shattering here, but that's part of the book's low-key charm; Harmon's
dialogue is crystal clear and authentic, his youth characters intelligent, and
his adult characters finely drawn. The central conflict-the growing hostility
between Colby and Velveeta-leads to an ending of contrivance, but that should
not take away from an admirably realistic portrayal of a rebel coming to
realize that rebellion can be elitist, too. - Daniel Kraus
Kraus, D. (2009). Brutal. The Booklist, 105(9),
64. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/235569452?accountid=7113
*Uses in a library:
This book would be great to have in a high school
library. The librarian could create book
trailer for Brutal and show it to the
student council or administrators and see if a school-wide anti-bullying rally
could be held. The library could also hold a workshop about Cyberbullying for
students to attend. Excerpts of Brutal
could be helpful in this workshop or as a resource to give students who are
experiencing problems like this.
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