Set in the small town of Rachetville, Arkansas, Bette Greene's The Drowning of Stephan Jones is a clichéd story of a girl who must stand up for what she believes in. While it carries a good message of doing what's right instead of trying to fit in, it is completely predictable and the writing is poor at best.
Ill-structured sentences plague the book, which might have been a worthwhile read had it not been so poorly written. The Drowning of Stephan Jones follows high school student Carla Wayland as she gains the “perfect” boyfriend, Andy Harris, who is homophobic and persecutes the new gay couple in town. Taught by her strong-willed mother to love and not hate, Carla at first sticks up for the couple but then realizes that her desire to be with her boyfriend is stronger than her resolve to protect the couple.
The ending is less than satisfactory and the entire book has an air of hopelessness. Greene did a much better job with Summer of My German Soldier. As for The Drowning of Stephan Jones, it is not a worthwhile read.
Ill-structured sentences plague the book, which might have been a worthwhile read had it not been so poorly written. The Drowning of Stephan Jones follows high school student Carla Wayland as she gains the “perfect” boyfriend, Andy Harris, who is homophobic and persecutes the new gay couple in town. Taught by her strong-willed mother to love and not hate, Carla at first sticks up for the couple but then realizes that her desire to be with her boyfriend is stronger than her resolve to protect the couple.
The ending is less than satisfactory and the entire book has an air of hopelessness. Greene did a much better job with Summer of My German Soldier. As for The Drowning of Stephan Jones, it is not a worthwhile read.
This piece has been published in Teen Ink’s monthly print magazine.
elizabethlaura
TheGothicGunslinger
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