My Fifth-Grade Book Review | Teen Ink

My Fifth-Grade Book Review

March 11, 2009
By Sandy Pleeter SILVER, South Plainfield, New Jersey
Sandy Pleeter SILVER, South Plainfield, New Jersey
8 articles 0 photos 1 comment

In fifth grade, my class read Julie of the Wolves'a horrible book, in my opinion (despite the fact that wolves, an animal I was fond of, played a significant role in the story). At one part, the main character became so upset in her home that she fled to the Alaskan tundra. At the time, I wondered why she had reacted so strongly to a seemingly unremarkable incident. It was not until years later that I realized that this incident was a rape committed on the protagonist by her new husband. (The fact that both were very young only added to the trauma.) In retrospect, I do not think that this book was at all appropriate for fifth-graders because, even if some, unlike me, understood what had happened, those children should not have been forced to think about such things. Maybe I'll sue the school for mental damages'


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on Mar. 19 2009 at 2:07 am
Sandy Pleeter SILVER, South Plainfield, New Jersey
8 articles 0 photos 1 comment
Sorry. After I submitted this I realized I made a mistake: in this book, there was an attempted rape, not an actual rape. However, my opinion on giving this to fifth graders still stands.