Hubbard, Jenny. Paper Covers Rock. 2011. Delacorte Press, 183 pages. $16.99 ISBN: 9780385740555
Plot Summary:
Paper Covers Rock begins after the death of Alex’s best friend Thomas, who drown after drinking. Alex and his friend Glenn, who was also present when Thomas drowned, fear they will be expelled and agree to lie about having also been drinking at the river. Alex is guilt ridden and slowly reveals the truth of what happened that day through his journal entries and vague confession to his young and beautiful English teacher Miss Dovecott. Glenn is concerned that Miss Dovecott’s interest in Alex means that she suspects they were lying about Thomas’s death and pushes Alex to help him sabotage their English teacher. Alex feels torn between his desire to confess not only the truth about Thomas’s death, but also his love for Miss Dovecott and the need to keep his and Glenn’s secret and protect himself from being expelled.
Critical Review:
Paper Covers Rock is a reflective and lyrical work that is told through Alex’s journal entries, essays and poetry. Alex is experiencing several conflicting emotions at once. He is grief stricken and guilty about his friend Thomas’s death and his decision to lie about what happened. He is also experiencing feelings for his English teacher and perhaps misreading her concern his well being as signals of her interest in him. Paper Covers Rock also subtly discusses the issue of being homosexual at an all boys school, what it means to be labeled as gay by classmates and the desire to hide who one really is. Overall, Paper Covers Rock is an elegantly written, emotionally complex novel.
Genre:
Realistic Fiction
Interest Level/Reading Level:
Grade 9 and up/Grade 6 and up
Similar Books:
Looking for Alaska by John Green
Subjects/Themes:
Grief
Death of a friend
Boarding Schools
Homosexuality
Awards/Honors:
Booklist Editor’s Choice, Books for Youth 2011
Horn Book Fanfare 2011
School Library Journal Best of 2011
William C. Morris Award Finalist 2012
Author’s Website:
Annotation:
Paper Covers Rock is a layered and compelling novel about a young man’s grief and guilt over his friend’s drowning.
Book Talking Ideas:
Hubbard’s elegant writing speaks for itself; a great way to promote this book is to read teens one of Alex’s poems from the book. “The Way Boys Read” on page 172 would be a good poem to share, as would “Goldilocks” on page 154.
Why I chose to include this book:
I chose Paper Covers Rock because of its focus on Alex exploring his grief and guilt over his best friend’s death. Paper Covers Rock. Additionally, the twisting storyline and desire to uncover the truth made this a page turning novel.
Potential Challenges:
On potential challenge to Paper Covers Rock is an inappropriate student/teacher relationship, though this relationship never moves beyond one kiss.
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