I honestly have been reading - I just haven't been reviewing. I can so easily get wrapped up in a new book and feel that by writing notes down I am spending time on that when I could be reading more and finding out what happens next. I've actually read about 7 or 8 books since my last review. I guess I know what I need to work on.
__________________________________________________________________________________
In Other News by Dale
Robbins. (2019)
Published by Seventeen
Press.
Intended audience:
16-18 years old (according to Amazon)
This review is
providing a trigger warning in response to the content of this book, which
deals with sexual assault.
I received a complimentary copy of the book from the author via Voracious Readers Only.
SUMMARY
In Other News is a very emotional and realistic story, despite that it is a work of
fiction. The story is focused on a young
gay man, Marlon, who recently survived being sexually assaulted by a straight
male classmate. We follow Marlon as he tries
to restabilize his life while dealing with the backlash in response to his
bravery by coming forward to name his attacker.
Marlon shows us how resilient survivors can be, and more importantly,
how survivors are not victims. It is an emotional journey alongside Marlon and
his return to school, intense invasions of privacy, aggressive behaviour by his
peers, difficulty in developing trust, victim-blaming and public criticism, and
the trial. This is a moving
roller-coaster of a read, guaranteed to have you experiencing deep and raw
emotions. This book will make you question
our world and our society.
THOUGHTS & REVIEW
In all honesty, it is really difficult to write a review for this book
that will actually do it justice.
Despite the pages of notes and thoughts I recorded as I read, it is not
easy to formulate them into a coherent review that could possibly demonstrate
the greatness of this book to you.
Robbins brings the characters to life in a way that is unique and
comforting – and you come to know them almost as if they were your own
friends. The characters are truly one of
the strongest parts of his book. Anna is
someone I would want to have as a friend because of her intense loyalty and
ability to be there for Marlon when he needs her –and even when he doesn’t
think he needs her. She is a strong
female character who owns her sexuality, which is something that is too often
missing from young adult literature. Robbins
created layers of confidence and ownership in his characters that shone brilliantly
– all things that should be modelled for teenagers and young adults today.
Robbins writes in such a way that I felt an actual physical reaction to
how Marlon was treated by his classmates.
In between wanting to reach through my ereader and shake these people by
the shoulders, I had a pit in my stomach as if I could feel Marlon’s stress and
anxiety. A horrible part of this is
knowing that this isn’t really fiction – people who come forward after an
attack will need to deal with how other people will not only not believe them,
but judge them, talk about them behind their back, and make their lives hell –
attacks, threats, verbal and/or physical assault – demeaning behaviour that continues
to contribute to already existing trauma.
This book demonstrates how when someone tries to move on with their life
after surviving trauma, all of their actions are scrutinized. Everything is questioned. There is so much judgment placed on how
someone moves on – their trauma becomes public knowledge and public property
that is discussed, dissected, and dismissed.
Society decides how a victim “should” act, and if those actions do not
fit into particular categories, then it must not have happened.
We learn at a young age to tell an adult, tell someone, when we have
been hurt. The person responsible for
causing that hurt is supposed to face the consequences of their actions and
receive some form of discipline. So why
doesn’t this happen? Why does the one
who got hurt have to be the one who continues to be hurt?
Finally, one of the most important parts of this book was addressing how people
respond to others’ trauma by making “silver-lining” statements. So often it happens that society will use
someone else’s pain and experience as a springboard for getting dialogue to
happen, for getting people to talk about “what happens.” When you hear someone say, “well, at least
this got people to talk about this”, remember that it came at the expense of
someone else. These are things that should
already be talked about.
CONNECTION
This book reminded me a little of Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. It follows the survivor after a traumatic
event and shows us how there are many ways that survivors heal from their
trauma. It shows us how our society and peers
respond to someone after reporting assault.
It will make you think of the Me Too movement. This book should make you think hard about
what you know – or what you think you know about trauma. If you cannot identify with Marlon and his
journey, then you should be reflective of it.
If you can identify with him more personally, then I hope Marlon’s
discovery of his own strength helps you find strength in yourself.
TEACHER THOUGHTS
The book is easy to read, making it perfect for younger audiences (that
is, high school age). The reading level
is entirely appropriate for young adults, age 14 and up (this is my
professional opinion as a high school English teacher). Robbins uses accessible language, making
Marlon’s story available to a wide audience.
This is the kind of book that makes me want to write an entire unit to go
along with it to encourage teachers to use this book in their curriculum.
There are many things that teachers look for when reading a novel before
deciding how to teach it. Apart from the
incredible conversations that could emerge out of reading this book because of
its topic, Robbins has provided teachers with a story that would allow students
to understand the art of characterization.
Not only do we become acquainted with the different layers of the main
characters, but we witness how even the minor characters are brilliantly dynamic. Robbins expertly uses FAST (Feelings,
Actions, Sayings, Thoughts) – instead of explicitly naming an emotion, we know
how a character is feeling because of their facial expressions or how they move
their body.
RATING
There is honestly no question about this. If I need to explain to you why I rate this book the way I did, you clearly didn't read my entire review.
5/5 stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
5/5 hearts 💛💛💛💛💛
Extra ratings:
1 tear for sadness 💧
1 bicep for strength 💪
1 rainbow for hope 🌈
