The Underneath by Kathi Appelt
Monday, February 9, 2009
This book is for children?
Its happy yellow cover with the doggy and the two kittens on the front aside, there is nothing child-like about this story. Here's a conversation with a member of my family:
"What are you reading?"
"The Underneath. Newbery Honor Book."
"Oh, any good? What's it about?"
"Well, it is about a cat whose owners dump her in the woods just before she's about to give birth and she follows the singing of a hound dog to a house owned by a horrible man. Named Gar face. Abused as a child, abandoned by his mom, and an alcoholic. Listen to this! (I then read a very graphic paragraph from the book to him about what it feels like to drink cheap vodka.)"
"You said this was a Newbery?"
"It gets worse. Gar Face totally shoots his own dog and now he keeps the poor thing chained in the front yard 24/7 and doesn't feed him half the time. And the cats have to hide under the porch so Gar Face won't drown them or something. He also beats the dog."
"Good god!"
"Also, for no reason I can discern, there's a funky subplot about some snake-woman who has been trapped in a jar for a thousand years. Also lots of trees."
"And this is for children?"
Really. I couldn't have said it better myself. At least it ends on a redeeming, if gruesome, note. Beautifully written, though. I do have to admit that. Supposedly it is for ages 9-12. Girls or boys, I suppose. Please read this one yourself first, though.
Its happy yellow cover with the doggy and the two kittens on the front aside, there is nothing child-like about this story. Here's a conversation with a member of my family:
"What are you reading?"
"The Underneath. Newbery Honor Book."
"Oh, any good? What's it about?"
"Well, it is about a cat whose owners dump her in the woods just before she's about to give birth and she follows the singing of a hound dog to a house owned by a horrible man. Named Gar face. Abused as a child, abandoned by his mom, and an alcoholic. Listen to this! (I then read a very graphic paragraph from the book to him about what it feels like to drink cheap vodka.)"
"You said this was a Newbery?"
"It gets worse. Gar Face totally shoots his own dog and now he keeps the poor thing chained in the front yard 24/7 and doesn't feed him half the time. And the cats have to hide under the porch so Gar Face won't drown them or something. He also beats the dog."
"Good god!"
"Also, for no reason I can discern, there's a funky subplot about some snake-woman who has been trapped in a jar for a thousand years. Also lots of trees."
"And this is for children?"
Really. I couldn't have said it better myself. At least it ends on a redeeming, if gruesome, note. Beautifully written, though. I do have to admit that. Supposedly it is for ages 9-12. Girls or boys, I suppose. Please read this one yourself first, though.
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