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Book Summary
Book Summary
In this novel Crutcher immediately sets readers in the midst of conflict. Young Paulie admits to his girlfriend Hannah that he was unfaithful, establishing feelings of resentment, betrayal, and inner conflict, and regret. Logs is there to help Paulie pick up the pieces and mentor a group of high school students, one of which goes missing, twice.
As the plot emerges, Mary is introduced as a seemingly successful student, albeit with some daddy issues and deep secrets. Arney, the student body president, after being caught in a series of untruths, appears to be somehow involved in the troubling disappearance of Mary and the arson of another student's home.
After Hannah and Paulie decide to reconcile their differences, Paulie and Logs find themselves in the middle of a dark plot that neither one of them could have ever imagined would take root in their town, and they inadvertently drag Hannah into it.
Everyone survives, though everyone is forever changed, some more severely than others.
Crutcher, C. (2013). Period. 8. New York, NY: Greenwillow Books
Response to Reading
Response to Reading
This was my first novel by Chris Crutcher, and I was not disappointed. I was immediately hooked. The plot unravels quickly and I was happy to find myself lost in a book. It was a bit predictable at times, but there was one character that I did expect to have a darker side emerge and it never happened.
I think Crutcher did a great job incorporating the inner dynamics of high school students and of a high school love story while still maintaining the integrity of the plot. After the last page, I couldn't help but think, you really have no idea what someone is capable of.
Connections
Connections
This novel is definitely for mature readers. There is profanity along with mature content. I would not recommend this as a book to students, but that might be due to my own comfort level and thoughts of what would be appropriate for a teacher to recommend to a student. I would not discourage a student from reading this as it is a very good book. I'm an elementary school teacher, and I would be more likely to recommend this book to a friend than a student if they were looking for a quick suspenseful read to get lost in.
I would select a chapter to read aloud and ask students to either come up with a before and or after to the chapter I read. Perhaps Chapter 15, when the high school is informed of the arson of Kylie's home and Paulie received the second text message from who appears to be Mary. Students could create a plot line that includes the happenings that led to Kylie's home being burned down. They could also choose one character from the chapter and create a short imaginative bio on them.
You could also have a mini-lesson on text safety protocols. Have a discussion with students about what they would or should do if they ever received a text message like the ones Paulie received.
Chris Crutcher has written 14 books, to include a collection of short stories.
Athletic Shorts: Six Short Stories
This is a video of Chris Crutcher talking about the main character in Period.8.
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