Writing in the first person is difficult for a number of reasons, most notably a limited perspective.
It’s a brilliant device and from a craft standpoint, it’s one of the big reasons to read this book. Woodrow who asks Tod questions about the story to get us information he would otherwise have no reason to give us. There are occasionally comments from Mrs. The entire story is told in excerpts from Tod written during his detention after this mystery event. What did they do? Esteemed Reader, you know I don’t spoil books, but you find out late in the game. The situation is Tod and his buddies have done something very bad. I’m doing it so I don’t have to pick up trash in the school courtyard like certain deviant so-called friends of mine who also got caught. Not for history and not for scientific research and definitely not to let out my inner demons. The reason this intentional vagueness works is Tod himself is telling the story: This is my first book, and I’m writing it for one reason only. Already I've been asked if I have any characters of color in the book, and I replied that I have something better: characters of no color. Also, as a point of interest, Tod isn't defined by race or color or anything. UPDATE: Here's a little clarification on this point from an email I recieved from Mark: You're right - Tod has no age, no grade.
Shulman has found a perfect way to market a book to everyone. There’s nothing so bad younger readers shouldn’t read it, nor will older readers find it condescending. There is no content too adult and no swearing, except for the occasional opposite-of-heaven, he-double hockey sticks.
And the best thing is readers from all age groups are likely to see themselves in Tod. I’m hoping Tod’s age isn’t specified somewhere as there will be egg on my face, but I’m 95% sure I’m right about this.Īnd even if I’m wrong, Tod felt like he could have been a few different ages, which is certainly not something that works in every book, but it works very well here. He has to be in middle school or high school, which makes this book upper middle grade to young adult. I’ve searched online and in the text, and I believe it’s left intentionally vague. I can’t tell you for sure how old Tod is. Congratulations, we’re entrusting you with the mascot of our school. Congratulations, you just put your new plant on a baking-hot radiator in a room that overlooks a brick wall in a crappy part of town. Congratulations, you retired and didn’t die of boredom teaching the same idiocy to idiots who care less about what’s in your mind than what’s in your car. The ribbon says “Congratulations,” but who the hell knows why? Congratulations, you finally got a low-paying teaching job. It’s got a red ribbon hanging off it like you would find on the corner of a diploma or if you won the Spelling Bee.
#Scrawl a novel cracked#
What else is in the room? There’s a cracked brown flower-pot with a dead stick in it. As with the main character in Amy Reed’s Beautiful, you likely won’t agree with everything he thinks and says and on some things, you will likely vehemently disagree, but I feel that Tod’s viewpoint is challenging and worth considering. He’s cynical to a degree, but there is a lot of truth to his observations about his school and about the world in general. He’s an overweight bully who extorts money from the weaker kids. Silly or not, I do have an obligation to tell you about this book and more, I want to. Also, is it just me, or do these reviews get a little sillier every week:) You can, of course, check with your local library as well. That’s three times the value, at least! So you should buy this book because it just makes economic sense. I would say I got at least $50.97 worth of story, bare minimum, maybe more.
#Scrawl a novel free#
Sometimes you pay $16.99 for a book ( Scrawl’s cover price, which I looked up on my free copy) and you feel like you only got $8.99 worth of story.
#Scrawl a novel for free#
As you know, I try to get all of my books for free through this blog, but if I were going to pay money for a book, I would pay money for this one. Scrawl by Mark Shulman is a great book and well worth reading and/or purchasing.
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