Word: jeanings
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...wells, the Johnsons are isolated from their extended family and ruthless towards each other, each one capable of horrible acts of cruelty. The main culprit is the father, Bill Sr., a vicious drunk who between jail stints beats his wife and children and sexually abuses his daughter Jean. Billy Jr., the dead man of the title, responds to the abuse by becoming his father's replica, repeating his father's acts first with Jean, then with his own family. Jean, the youngest and most vulnerable member of the family, becomes the toughest of the three siblings, "the only person...
Part of the problem may be that Reardon, attempting to be original, has eschewed using the vengeful, violent Jean--who in her viciousness somewhat resembles the protagonist of Bastard, Ruth Anne Boatwright--as the narrator, instead picking her ineffectual brother Ray. This could have been an interesting switch in points of view, and the structure of the novel, as a series of flashbacks illuminating the present-day situation, could have worked...
Unfortunately, the patches of annoying or simply bad writing mar the novel considerably. For example, Ray continually has "conversations" with inanimate objects, ghosts (such as Billy's) and animals. These are included, in some cases, for no discernible reason, such as this "exchange" with Jean's stuffed animal, the poodle Bojo: "'Scared, Bojo?' I ask him. `No,' he answers, staring straight forward." The author also leaves the reader in unnecessary suspense about what happened during the crucial "perfect summer, awful summer," includes characters with dubious importance to the plot and tells the reader too much about them. This...
Dating, like we really need to tell you, is the cause of much stress among us girls today. Further complicating matters is the fact that, while our digestive tracts were created just like those of our male counterparts, our social roles and expectations were not. Reader Jean Tooskonski, 14, from Cranston, WI, writes, "I hate the stupid double standards our culture uses towards farting. When a guy farts on a date, it's kind of cool, but when I do it, people run for the aisles." Luckily for Jean, when danger arises, Teen FM is there to save...
...High student achievement is accomplished with nurturing from the home and enrichment by constant use of library cards!" RUTH JEAN SHAW Anchorage...