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Bad ground -
W. Dale Cramer.
Table of contents
Minneapolis, Minn. : Bethany House, c2004.
382 p. ; 22 cm.
Reviews:
- Kathy Egner, Ph.D. (Children's Literature)
Widely acclaimed as a work of Christian young adult fiction, this novel centers on Jeremy, a seventeen-year-old boy whose mother has just died. Before dying, she gave him instructions to go to his uncle Aiden because there was something they each had that they could give to one another. Uncle Aiden turns out to be a tough miner who had been injured in the same mining accident that killed Jeremy's father. Jeremy undertakes the perilous journey necessary to find his uncle, who, predictably, does not want him to stay. Unfortunately, the character of Uncle Aiden does not ring true. When the reader first meets him, he is as mean and ugly as he could possibly be. Soon thereafter, he quickly and unrealistically softens to a more mellow meanness. In addition, the author has the African-American people in Atlanta always talking in very stereotypical black dialect and he often describes people by their race: "a stumpy, elderly black lady," "the Hispanic man," "five black women," etc. He uses writing technique of telling instead of showing in many other instances with the result that the characters all end up seeming less than real. I also found the inevitable conversion at the end of the book rather forced. Regrettably, I do not recommend this book for anyone who is looking for excellent writing. 2004, Bethany House, $12.99. Ages 14 to 18. Subjects:
- Teenage boys Fiction.
Accident victims Fiction.
Orphans Fiction.
Uncles Fiction.
Miners Fiction.
Southern States Fiction.
Christian fiction.
Bildungsromans.
| Language | Call Number | LCCN | Dewey Decimal | ISBN/ISSN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English (eng) | PS3603.R37 B33 2004 |
2004002023 |
813/.6 |
076422784X (pbk.) 9780764227844 |