The Brimstone Journals

Koertge, Ronald. The Brimstone Journals. Massachusetts: Candlewick Press, 2001

Annotation: Meet 15 teens from any town high school, the jock, the slut, the fat kid, the anorexic, the smart Asian, the dyke, the black girl from the ghetto and the angry boy with a grudge and a gun.

Justification for nomination: The Brimstone Journals is narrated by fifteen teenager characters from a suburban high school. They all have problems and issues that most high school young adults deal with everyday, but this book describes how one boy makes a hit list and plans a day of violence to end the lives of innocent kids. Anyone who has been through high school can relate and understand the individual characters that are given a voice to speak their inner most secrets. In this realistic, quick read, themes of freedom, fitting in, not fitting in, love, going green, being superior, body image, and abuse are voiced in a first person free verse poetic style. The author uses a lot of dialect, which makes the characters voice stand out. He knits his characters together providing a deep insight into the lives of American teens. Through these voices he exposes qualities of our society that many would like to ignore. Koertge achieves a very swift characterization through language used and the language that separates the characters, but also the rhythm of how they are speaking and general slang makes this a very realistic read. The book suggests that stereotypes are dangerous and in need of a closer examination, but he relies on these types to establish his characters. Although, this poignant poetic novel evokes familiar and terrifying reality, it also provides an ideal opportunity for young adults to discuss violence in their schools.


Genre: Poetic verse novel/fiction/coming of age/realistic noves/problem novels/edgy fiction