My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I’m part of the White Pine Steering Committee this year for the Ontario Library Association’s Forest of Reading. Part of my role was to read Sadie, and develop teaching resources for it. I enjoyed it on so many levels. Did you ever see that episode of Friends where Joey has to put Stephen King’s The Shining in the freezer when it gets too scary? That’s how I felt about Sadie. As a parent and a teacher of teens, this book was so suspenseful. The other thing that Summers does really well, is to write violence. There are moments when Sadie has to approach a violent act, she knows it’s coming and yet she feels powerless. I’ve had nightmares over and over again like that where I want to attack, but all my strength suddenly leaves me. I felt like this psychological thrill was almost too much, the way Summers writes, and so I’d have to put the book back in the freezer. I’m so glad that she actually developed the podcasts to go with it too, and I can’t wait to hear what teens think about it.
threadbare beauty 