Review- On My Honor

Pic courtesy goodreads.com

On My Honor
Written by Marion Dane Bauer
Published by Yearling books, an imprint of Random House Children's books.
Ages: 8-12, 12+

Peer pressure. Everyone faces it, children more so. It looms large in their small world, often leading to literally life-and-death situations.

Twelve year old Joel and Tony are 'best friends', very different in temperament, often squabbling and bickering, but inseparable.

Tony- exuberant, fun-loving, risk-taking, with a devil-may-care attitude. Joel, the more cautious of the two, introspecting, sensitive to undercurrents in a situation, a foil for Tony.

On the way to a cliff-climbing trip, (which Joel had earlier tried to wriggle out of, hoping his father would not give him permission to go), the irrepressible Tony had decided he wanted to go swimming in the river instead. The turbulant, treacherous Vermillion river, known for its rapids. Inspite of having promised his father 'on his honor', that he would not do anything dangerous, Joel falls for the bait when Tony accuses him of being over-cautious.

"Sometimes, Bates, you sound just like your old man."
Joel could feel the heat flooding his face. "What's wrong with that?"
" 'Be careful in that tree, son,' " Tony mimicked, " 'you might get hurt. Watch Bobby when he crosses the street. Those drivers never pay any--' "
Joel had been moving closer to Tony as he spoke, and now he gave him a hard shove.

Tony keeps needling Joel, driven by bravado and dare-devilry, goading him to challenge Tony to a swimming race to a sandbar a hundred yards away. With terrible consequences.

Peer pressure. Wanting to fit in. Misplaced confidence. A sense of being indestructible. A devil-may-care attitude. Inability to lose face. Unwillingness to be perceived as a 'coward' when being just sensible and careful. A recipe for disaster?

Marion Dane Bauer has written a fast-paced, racy, but sensitively told story based on a real incident that happenned in the town where she grew up, at the very same place as described in the book. A very short, 90 page book that is very hard-hitting.

Bauer's potrayal of Joel's effort to get out of what is very clearly a fool-hardy venture, without losing face- first hoping that his father would not give his permission, then trying to make Tony see sense is very realistic. It happens ever so often in our own kids' peer-group. The disaster comes on unexpectedly, chillingly, with everything else seemingly the same, unchanged.

The potrayal of Joel's survivor guilt is heart-wrenching. The disbelief, denial, anger, dissociation, grief, a desire to hide, not face the parents, an obsessive 'washing-off of the stench of the river', are powerfully written. It helps, that his father is understanding, trying to help him let go of the paralysing, mind-numbing grief.

The wracking sobs flowed out of him like water.
His father held him for a long time, saying nothing, until Joel's tears came without sound and his breaths were quivering gasps. Even then, his father held him.
"Do you believe in heaven?" he asked at last. "Do you believe Tony's gone there?"
"I don't suppose anybody knows," his father answered gently, "what happens after...I believe there's something about life that goes on. It seems too good to end in a river."

It is a Newbery Honor winner, 1987, and the William Allen White Childrens' book award winner, 1989. A wonderfully written book, that chills me on each reading. Given a thumbs-up by A.

Crossposted at Bookreviews and Saffrontree.

Of a charity, challenges, and promises to be kept!

Here is a call for charity. Zoe at playingbythebook.net has listed some of her favourite book charities, and will be donating one GB pound per comment, up to a max of 30 pounds to one of these charities, or books worth the same to her daughter's school. So do click on this link to go to her post.

Also, back home, Spastics Society of Karnataka  is holding a Christmas Carnival on the 18th of December. Please visit, and have fun while supporting the cause. You may donate in cash or kind. Items should be in a saleable condition. A friend has a differently-abled child, and regularly volunteers at this NGO. Please do donate!

It is that time of the year when we look back and introspect. I have had my good, bad and ugly moments, contributing altogether to a kaleidoscope of experiences. Here's hoping that the next year will be better than this one.

I began blogging in March this year, and this is my 67th post. It opened up a completely new world for me, one in which I made new friends. My blog gives me a platform to write about anything that interests or touches me, book-related and other talks with my daughter A, and most importantly, a space where I can share my thoughts on a book that really interested me. Along the way, I also joined my favourite kid-lit-blogging site Saffrontree as a contributor, and have learnt much there. I also joined another site, bookreviews, where one can access a whole lot of reviews of books on myriad topics, in all genres.

I took part in the International Postcard Swap for families and the
Perfect Picture Books by post hosted by my good friend Zoe, at playingbythebook.net.

Also took part in a reading challenge, the Flashback Re-reading Challenge. I joined quite late in the year, so I could manage only the basic challenge.

For next year, I would like to join two challenges. Both of which are very interesting.

One is the 2011 Global Reading Challenge. I will be joining in at the easy level. The rules for this are as follows.

Read one novel from each of these continents in the course of 2011:

Africa
Asia
Australasia
Europe
North America
South America (please include Central America where it is most convenient for you)

The Seventh Continent (here you can either choose Antarctica or your own ´seventh´ setting, eg the sea, the space, a supernatural/paranormal world, history, the future – you name it).

From your own continent: try to find a country, state or author that is new to you.

The second challenge is the 2011 South Asian Challenge. Read about it first at Monika's World.

The rules for this are as follows.

(1) A book must be by a South Asian author.  For these purposes, South Asia includes the following countries: India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, and the Maldives.  There are no limitations on what the book can be about.

(2) A book must be about South Asia.  In this case, it can be set in a South Asian country or be about South Asians living abroad.  It can also be a biography or memoir of a South Asian, or of a non-South Asian traveling or working in South Asia.  In this case, the author does not need to be South Asian, as long as the subject matter focuses on the region, peoples, or cultures in some way.

Any type book qualifies, as long as it meets one of the two guidelines above - a cookbook, short story or essay collection, travel guide.

I would be aiming for the South Asian Explorer level, which requires me to read at least 5 books under the rules.

There are also a couple of promises to myself that I would like to declare here.

One is that I need to do more of reading than I have managed in this year. I have been doing fine as far as reading with A is concerned, but need to invest more time in reading just for myself.

Two is that I need to start on an exercise regimen ASAP. I've become pretty lazy on that front. There was a time when I was quite regular, but of late I seem to have become more of a couch potato. It has begun to tell on my knees (twinges of pain now and then, problems getting up from a low seat-just won't do. I have miles to go yet- A is just 9!) and lungs (huffing after having climbed a few flights of stairs- NOT good!) The weighing scales too have their own tale to tell. So- exercise, and WATCH THAT PLATE!

Other resolutions- well, let's just say that they'll keep.

Will be taking off for the rest of the year, and will probably post only in the new year. We're travelling over the Christmas vacation. Where to? Well, all I'll say here is that we'll probably have a white Christmas, and A will be able to indulge in her wish for a snowman. She has taken to wondering if Santa will deliver away from home. Speaking of which, we have already received one gift- a book from Zoe! Thanks, Zoe. I'm sure we'll enjoy it. Will post about it after we've been through it.

So have a good vacation, and a great New Year!