cbr15bingo Violence
I misplaced my finished copy of The Bones of Me after having a slow start with it, but once I was able to sit down and read without too many interruptions, it started to move. The mixture of prose and prose poetry can be a bit off putting, but it fits the idea of things. Perhaps things can be a bit too cliché in places, but it would have been a book I loved ages (at least) 12 and up. There is some language, violence, a few triggers within the family dynamics, but overall things are well done. I did not always like the narrator but she is an interesting character. She, at times, feels a bit younger than her age, or her situation would set her up for, but that might be really the point. She has kept her innocence in the middle of everything. One small drawback might be there are some “British-isms” that might not be readily understood, but for the most part you can tell within the context of the situation.
So why did I pick this book by Kel Duckhouse as my Bingo Violence? Two main reasons. The first is boxing and it is considered violent and the second is there is an assault against a person that ends in a murder. I do not see Duckhouse being banned right away (due to not possibly being as popular as they could be) but if someone finds it, yup, we’re looking at “you cannot read this world” actions (Florida and Texas are tingling right now). And while yes, they will say things like “ blood” or “he was cut/shot/stabbed” or such, I forgot there was a beating and death of an “off screen” (far as I can tell we never really meet the kid who dies) character. Even the boxing scenes are slow and kinda dull. We’re more in the head of Molly throughout the book and since she is a typical young teen, everything is about her. What she wants, what is happening to her, why did her brother do “X, Y, Z” so it affects her. There is a smaller aspect to violence with how the father reacts to things. We’ll understand later, but a modern reader is not going to be too keen on his patriarchal attitude in places.
You would think that there would be more edgy to things going on. The characters are working class people in a lower neighborhood. And you would think that in the boxing world with mob influence there would be more. But it is really tame. Not that I want “blood guts and gore” I was just thinking how did Molly hide she was boxing when you get at least bruises even in practice? (Of course, a few plot points do answer that, but still it would be a stretch).
