<h3>The Body of Christopher Creed</h3>

Plum-Ucci, C. (2000). The Body of Christopher Creed. NY: Harcourt. ISBN: 0152023887.

Plot Summary: Torey Adams’ perfect world is shattered when an unpopular classmate, Chris Creed, disappears and he sees his own name mentioned in Creed’s farewell note. Speculation by the neighborhood begins about what the note means. Some think it’s a suicide note, while others think it’s a runaway note. Others think a kid from the wrong side of the tracks, named Bo Richardson, killed Creed. But Torey wants to know the truth. His friend, Ali, lives across the street from Creed and has witnessed many of Creed's unusual behaviors because she can see into his house from her bedroom window. They know about Creed’s hidden diary and are convinced the answer lies within those pages. Ali reveals that she is romantically involved with Bo and the three of them hatch a plan to steal the diary while keeping their controversial relationships under cover. The plan succeeds, yet they are picked up by the police for harassment and extortion. Determined to discover the truth, Torey and Ali investigate Creed’s life while working to prevent Bo from taking all the blame.

At the end, Torey uncovers the truth about his own neighborhood’s history, secrets, tragedies and hypocrisy. He never does find Creed and changes schools to avoid the town's prejudice, but still holds onto meaningful friendships and learns much about himself in the process. He still believes Creed is alive and pursues his hunch by contacting people with names he assumed Creed might be using. By the end, he receives some cryptic replies that allow him to remain hopeful that Creed is alive and happily choosing to remain hidden from his former life.

Critical Evaluation: The novel starts out a mysteriously and there’s little to engage the reader. But when the story of Chris Creed’s disappearance soon becomes revealed, the story becomes unquestionable absorbing. Most remarkably, we see how Torey’s world of typical teen concerns changes from being petty, superficial and judgmental into something much more complicated and deeper. He sees that relationships are not always what they seem, bad reputations are not always what they seem, exemplary adult behavior is not always what it seems and that his priorities are not always going to be the same. Readers see him slowly mature from being a popular jock in school who would join in the cruelty aimed at Creed into being a sensitive, thoughtful, intelligent young man who cares deeply about how he sees the world and how he conducts himself towards others. His relentless search for Creed becomes a search for himself and by the conclusion he has a greater understanding of the world around him.

Reader’s Annotation: Rumors start circulating around school when an annoying, unpopular kid named Chris Creed vanishes. Did he run? Commit suicide? Was he kidnapped? Murdered? No one knows for sure, but Torey Adams is determined to find out, especially since his name is mentioned in Chris Creed’s farewell note.

Information About the Author: Carol Plum-Ucci is a young adult novelist, freelance
writer, critic, speech writer, and essayist. Many of her novels take place in Southern New Jersey, where she resides with her husband and two children. She studied at Purdue University and Rutgers University. Following her education, she worked as a writer in Chicago and was employed as a producer, writer and editor by the Miss America Organization. A recipient of several journalism awards, Plum-Ucci has also worked with groups that funded the smuggling of classic literature behind the Iron Curtain. The Body of Christopher Creed has won the Michael L. Printz Honor Book Award in 2002, was named a finalist to the Edgar Allan Poe Award and is among ALA’s Best Books for Young Adults.

Genre:
Teen Issues: Crime and Criminals, Outsiders, Missing Teens
Contemporary Life: Coming of Age
Mystery and Suspense
Multicultural Fiction: Multiple Cultures and Culture Clash

Curriculum Ties: English Class, Psychology class, Book Clubs, Social Clubs, Recommendations for Young Adult Male Readers

Booktalking Ideas:
1.) Has a teen ever gone missing from your school? What did people do? What did they say? What happened to that missing student?
2.) Does someone in your school have a bad reputation? Do people say mean things about different groups of students and assume things about them? Did you ever find out that some of it isn’t true? Or if it is true, there’s more behind the story than people know?
3.) What happens when someone from the popular group becomes friends with another person from an unpopular group in high school?
4.) Have you ever tried to protect a friend from getting into trouble?
5.) Have you ever been mean to someone in school and later regret it?

Reading Level/Interest Age: Grades 9-12

Challenge Issues/Defenses:

Potential Challenges:
• Portrayal of violence and suicide
• Graphic depiction of dead bodies
• Content includes conversation with a psychic
• Inclusion of teen promiscuity and adult sexual activity
• Content includes mentions of homosexuality
• Adult language

Defense Strategy:
• Provide our Collection Development Policy (which includes Young Adult scope): http://ww2.cityofpasadena.net/library/collection.asp
• Refer to awards earned by this book:
http://www.carolplumucci.com/honors_awards.html
• Refer to book reviews by actual readers of all ages:
http://www.amazon.com/Body-Christopher-Creed-Carol-Plum-Ucci/dp/0152023887
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Body-of-Christopher-Creed/Carol-Plum-Ucci/e/9780786816415
• If needed, provide a website link to resources that explain teen behavior in the midst of loss, death, grief and divorce
http://www.nasponline.org/resources/crisis_safety/griefwar.pdf.
http://kidshealth.org/teen/your_mind/families/divorce.html

Why This Book Was Included: It was recommended on a list of recent award-winning YA fiction. At first, the novel did not engage me, but by persevering into further chapters, I discovered a multi-layered story with useful content for teens about how to cope with different groups in high school. It really explores the ideas of how bad cruelty among teens can become, how reputations can effect teen life and how every neighborhood has its own adult secrets. Plum-Ucci’s stories have depth and complexity and her characters are never simple and perfect. A good book to recommend to male teens and older adolescents.