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241 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1983
In first picking up this book, I noticed its rather dark cover and the contrasting red car. Obviously, this car is important, and cars in general must have some role in this story because of the junk yard depicted on the front cover. However, all of these details made me feel disconnected because they seemed rather male oriented; because of this, I was a bit apprehensive in getting into the text.
As I read the text, I found myself motivated to continue because I wanted to know more about the protagonist, Barney Snow, and the true nature of the hospital they inhabited. I had questions that needed answers. Barney seemed so normal, but there must be a reason for his being at the hospital – what is it? Additionally, what was the real nature of the tests conducted by the hospital? Sure, we find out about Barney’s guinea pig status, but what about the others, Mazzo, Billie, Allie – what kinds of tests were being performed on them? I felt that Cormier did a good job of pulling the reader along with little bits of information here and there. I never felt frustrated at the lack of information I was receiving. I do feel my initial apprehension of this being male oriented text was confirmed, but it is not so much so that it turned me off from reading. I think Cassie Mazzofono’s character helped bring some female interest to the text.
With all this said, upon completion of the book, I was a bit dissatisfied. It does bring up some thematic topics that could be useful in the classroom, but other than that, I’m not sure I see the point in bringing a rather depressing outlook on life to my students’ desks. In the end Barney and Mazzo proved to themselves that they still had some fight in them, but what does it matter, they still die. Furthermore, they die in a manufactured reality. The question of ethics and the topic of personal triumph are what I see being useful in a classroom, but I might choose a different book than this to get to those concepts.