Poison Ivy
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- 47,99 zł
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- 47,99 zł
Publisher Description
"IwithVY: I told Ms. Gold about how The Evil Three have been after me, feeding off me since fourth grade.
MARCO: It isn't a very pretty story, so if you're looking for 'nice,' you better ask someone else.
ANN: We just have to come up wiht some witnesses for our side. Think! Does anyone owe you any favors?
BRYCE: I figure, Dude, why not make a little spare change on the side? A buck a bet. All's I has to do was explain that liable was civil for guilty, and they swarmed like flies."
Eight first-person narrators give different versions of the same event. Lessons about the inner workings of the judicial system pale beside the insights into human nature. With pathos and a great deal of humor, Amy Goldman Koss keeps you turning pages.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Koss (The Girls), with a fascinating premise, uses the authentic voices of eight diverse teens to create a "mock trial" in an American Government class. When loner Ivy confesses to her teacher that she has been taunted and teased for years by pretty, popular Ann and her sidekicks ("The Evil Three have been after me, feeding off me since fourth grade"), the woman sees the situation as an opportunity to model their study of the judicial system. The names of the lawyers for the plaintiff and defendants are randomly chosen from a paper bag, followed by the rather tedious process of selecting a jury. Distinct personalities emerge from the narratives of the principle players: self-protectively aloof Ivy, who frequently uses fish analogies to describe herself ("so I swam upstream, alone against the current"); painfully shy and insecure Daria (the "best student"), who reluctantly assumes the role of Ivy's attorney; reflective, even-handed Marco, who is simultaneously entranced and disgusted by Ann; and the manipulative villainess herself, a study in superficiality and spite. The interactions among the students in and out of the "courtroom" offer readers intriguing and often disturbing perspectives on popularity, peer pressure, bullying and fairness. In the end, Marco best articulates the outcome: "Beauty wins and truth is irrelevant. Grim, isn't it?" Yes. And, in these pages, it's all too convincing. Ages 11-up.
