King, A.S.,
(2010), Please ignore Vera Dietz. New York: Random
House Children's Books.
House Children's Books.
Our protagonist, Vera Dietz, is dealing with the death of
her best friend, Charlie. Vera’s
friendship with Charlie goes back many years and they even built a treehouse
together. Charlie began hanging out with
the wrong crowd and his friendship with Vera was essentially over prior to his
death. Vera is now trying to figure out
why their relationship changed so drastically, plus she is dealing with her
absent mother. Vera’s father is distant
and unable to cope with being a single father.
Vera begins to drink and spending time with older boys much
to her father’s dismay. When there is a
fire at the pet store, Charlie is blamed and has been declared dead. Vera now ventures out to find the truth and
ultimately decides to come clean and say that Charlie was not responsible for
the fire and was ultimately killed by his then girlfriend, Jenny. Vera finds out that Charlie left messages for
her in their treehouse that Jenny is the cause he stopped being Vera’s
friend. Jenny was also to blame for
Charlie’s questionable decisions, including making sex tapes with Jenny for
money.
This book tackles a very serious topic regarding the choices we make and how they affect those around us. Vera and her father are affected by her mother’s absence and Charlie’s choice in friends ultimately damages Vera’s perception of men and friendship. Havighurst’s Developmental Task of undergoing changing relationships with parents is what Vera faces throughout the story. This book is best read by young adults with similar issues or the maturity level to understand these situation. Suggested readings include The raven boys, The Chocolate War or Annie on my mind, all of which deal with difficult choices.
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