Reviews

Mark Shulman’s Scrawl is unlike any book I’ve read before. Scrawl follows a teenage bully named Tod Munn, and his experience in detention where he is required by a guidance counselor to write about himself in a journal. In the journal, Tod describes his struggles with his low-income family, low self-esteem, and his behavior at school. Tod is in detention, having been caught doing something we don’t learn about until later and sentenced to a month there with the guidance counselor, Mrs. Woodrow. Tod is forced to keep a journal after school every day while Rex and Rob, Tod’s accomplices, clean the school property in the freezing cold as their punishment. 

Being forced to write changes something in Tod. Although he desires to remain invisible he finds himself describing the school, his home, and his life in detail. Without spoiling the entire book, Scrawl is about a kid who only does bad out of necessity, and feels the world is rigged against him, and justifiably so. Tod’s voice is unique but completely believable, and his narrative is humorous and immediately engaging. So many books are about good kids that end up in bad situations, but this story wasn’t so predictable and had me reading for hours. 

I would rate Scrawl a 9 out of 10, because it wasn’t perfect, but it was pretty darn close. I’d recommend this book to mature middle school and high school students, but adults could have a lot to learn from Scrawl as well. The book is 240 pages long, and while not a short read, it will feel that way because of how captivating it is. Make sure to read Scrawl by Mark Shulman over summer break!