I took a break from my run of Children's Classics to read this teen novel, which I am going to teach starting next week. It was quiet good, as far as teen books go; there was enough language and sexual themes to hook teens into reading, but not too much to make it awkward to discuss is class. It's unfortunate that sex and language is something teenagers look for in novels, but I would do just about anything to get my classes to read and enjoy a novel. More importantly, The Body of Christopher Creed actually has quite a few insightful passages, and explores many important themes.

Our narrator is Torey Adams, a popular football-playing boy in grade 11. He lives in a small, idyllic town where everything is perfect and nothing bad ever happens - until the day when Chris Creed, the high school weirdo, disappears. Did Chris run away? Did he kill himself? Did someone else kill him? These are the questions that the townspeople start asking themselves. Though Chris Creed is never actually seen in the novel, his presence hangs over the other characters. As the town tries to deal with what has happened, secrets are revealed, lives are ruined, and answers are never really given.

Heavy issues like stereotyping, bullying, lies vs. truth, and judgements run through The Body of Christopher Creed. Torey is a very intuitive narrator, and his character progresses a lot throughout the novel. He is especially focused on the idea of reality - do adults create their own reality? Do we construct "truth"? Can someone hang onto a lie for so long that it becomes their truth? These ideas are very easily presented for teens, and I am looking forward to discussing them with my class. ( )

17-year-old Torey Adams recounts the events following the disappearance of a socially awkward boy in his little hometown. Gossip leads the kids of the town to speculate on suicide or murder, and the parents’ fear and memory of a disappearance from their youth, along with the town’s mistrust of the kids from the “boons,” lead to the accusation of murder for Torey’s friend’s boyfriend Bo. Torey, Bo, and Ali try to figure out what happened to Chris - did he just leave due to his mother’s overbearing nature, did he kill himself, or was he murdered. In the process, Torey is forced to emphasize with people outside his own click, and is ultimately subjected to the traumatic experience of finding the preserved body of the disappearance from the late 70s. His trauma and the rumors that he killed Creed force him to leave the town and attend a private school elsewhere. Talk of sex, some violence, explicit language (including “fuck”), teen drinking. Ages 13+.

Very suspenseful mystery. ( )

in a sentence: A class reject mysteriously disappears and the while the whole town gossips about what could have happened to him, a select few try to find out why.

This story is a very solid read for young adults. The plot is both strong and believable, as are the characters. The main character is the "typical teen" and allows for a "typical teen reader" to relate easily. However, Torey (the main character) is more caring than most, and we as the reader feel sympathetic towards that and his efforts. The high school drama and cliques are all too real, and the author does an outstanding job of character development while staying true to the reality of high schoolers - meaning there are no abounding epiphanies within the novel. The main character and a choice few progress, but the majority remain in their snobby rut. The reader is always drawn deeper into the dark mystery of what happened to Christopher Creed while being intrigued by the dirty little secrets of the town. Young Adult readers will be reluctantly drawn into the gossip, showing them how easy and sneakily that can happen to even the most conscious among us. The setting of the novel takes place in "Smalltown USA", with the amazingly vivid backdrop of thick woods and a spooky Indian burial ground which makes for an easy transport of the reader into the character's experience.

While this novel packs a lot of wonderful qualities, there are a few which I believe disqualify it from the level of the Printz award. While the author was pretty consistent with the characters and avoidance of stereotypes, I thought she did slip into some associated with the "boons" in the novel by associating verbal abuse, physical abuse, and neglect present in all the families from the other side of the tracks. The dialogue between the characters and the main character's thoughts are sometimes broken or trying to be too current or edgy, which might kick some Young Adults out of the story. While presenting the moral of the story - to treat others as we wish to be treated - in a new and very creative way is one that all readers should hear and will be able to relate to, it does come off as a bit preachy. This is a book that can and will be enjoyed by Young Adults for sure, but has some flaws which I feel keep it from being the level of the Printz award. ( )

Chris Creed, a high school aged boy goes missing and a few of his classmates begin to feel guilty for bullying him so they attempt to find out what happened to him. In his attempt to help find Chris, Torey Adams learns more about himself and the unfortunate stereotypes that he has lived around his entire life. It takes a whole village to raise a child, but what does it take to force him away? ( )