Round 2 Far Rockaway vs Fishtailing

The judge for this round was Ms Angela Doherty.

Far Rockaway is a great idea for a story. While on holiday with her parents visiting her grandfather, Cat Manno is saved from death by her grandfather Victor as they are both hit by a truck while crossing the road. Both end up in the hospital with Cat falling into a deep coma. As her parents keep a vigil by her bedside, Cat enters an adventure world of her grandfather’s stories – a professor of Literature – the world of the Last of the Mohicans, Treasure Island and Kidnapped.

The book switches between the hospital and the adventure world with Cat and Victor’s struggle to remain alive in the real world mirrored in a range of exciting episodes and encounters with characters from the books.

Although I really liked the concept of the book I have not read any of the books referred to and so probably missed out on the significance of some of the exploits and escapades which to me seemed very long and drawn out. There were a few exciting and tense moments but I didn’t think it was pacy enough although I did enjoy the final chapters of the book in both the real and adventure worlds which brought the story to its bitter sweet conclusion with some thoughtful reflections and life and death.

Fishtailing is a short book which consists mainly of poems created by the four main teenage characters Tricia, Natalie, Kyle and Miguel in their English class, interspersed with comments from the teacher and the school counsellor in response to the content of the poems and the behaviour of the students.

The setting of the book is a school in Vancouver; two of the characters have relatively regular teenage lives, the two new arrivals with much darker experiences of life. Their lives intertwine, initially in expected ways which then develop and gather pace. Risks lead to tragic consequences.

The student’s poems, with sparing language, vividly convey their attitudes, experiences, hopes and concerns and contrast dramatically with the adult perspective - the teacher’s homework feedback and the e-mails and notes between the teacher and counsellor expressing their concerns about the students (and also their hopelessness in not being able to address their highly complex needs).

I didn’t think that I was going to enjoy the book but I was soon gripped by the characters and narrative and completed it in under an hour; I think this is the only way to read this book. The characters and story stayed with me. I read it again – highly recommended for older teenagers.

My choice is Fishtailing.