After the Death of Anna Gonzales

Rating:
Summary: The book that changed my life
Review: The book I read was "after the death of anna gonzales" by Terria Fields. The book has poems from her peers and the teachers about her.The poems may be confusing for younger children. Some of the poems are a page or two long. They might be a couple lines long. The book is only 100 pages long. So this could be read in a couple hours for better readers. Some poems got mad because they acted like they did not even know who she was or anything about her.After all the book is her. I would say this is a book for ages 12 and up but could be read at the age of 10. I gives this book 5 stars.

Rating:
Summary: Give it a chance
Review: This is a fine book. I have read selections from it aloud to my students and they loved it. I think that many of the poems in this book are wonderful. Mrs. Fields is able to get into the minds of the characters and we are treated to many rich and varied voices. Mrs. Fields visited our school and spoke to our students sharing much of her experiences in writing the book, which was very interesting.
The book's purpose is to steer young people away from suicide as a permanent answer to a temporary problem.
What I would like to address is, does the book fulfill its purpose? In other words, what does the book really teach us about not committing suicide? It seems that by the time we finish reading we feel sad and think Anna should not have killed herself. The problem is that we learn that the only reason not to commit suicide is because of the possible adverse effect it will have on others. Is this answer good enough? I don't think so.
Many of the characters in the book tell the reader that they are hurt and confused because of Anna's death. So, because of this "grief of others", one shouldn't escape his or her pain and confusion by suicide. Isn't this only a temporary answer to a desperate problem?
Don't get me wrong; I do believe that suicide is an unacceptable, permanent, and selfish answer to a temporary problem. But aren't the suicidal entitled to some real and concrete answers? They need to know true answers that don't change with the situation. There are nice sounding phrases from the characters like these: "you don't stop playing.", "Anna, who had health, Chose death. How could you?", and "How could you check out before the good stuff ever started?" These solutions are situational. Basically, the characters that state them are in a situation where they see no reason right now to commit suicide. If their situation changed, it is probable their answers would too. Statistics show that almost all young people seriously think about suicide sometime in their life. This is because of the situation they are in at the time. They must have a higher reason to keep them from committing it.
The flaw I am writing about is that there seems to be no people of faith in Mrs. Field's book. How can this be? Is there no one with answers that go beyond this life? Not one character gives a grander perspective as to why we are here on earth or a real purpose for living. I find that strange because I run into people of faith all the time, coworkers, students, friends, and acquaintances.
In this real world and in the book it is easy to see that selfishness runs rampant in the human race in one-form or another, but no one in the book believes in a "higher cause."
There are a few mentions of a "God" in the book. One is the idea that God makes girls with nice bodies and bad senses of humor, and another mention is a last desperate gasp of confusion, as in "Oh God..."
Again, why was Anna supposed to choose life? Was it just to keep all these people content?
Would the answers that the characters offer in the book solve a suicidal situation like the following? "I don't care anymore. So what if people will be upset if I kill myself...isn't that just tough for them? I'm sick of feeling this way...with this emptiness inside. I just want it to stop, I gotta get out."
Granted, that example is a selfish and spiteful solution to a selfish problem. Does the book give a solution to this suicidal problem? I don't think it even comes close.
It is a pleasant enough book but I do not really see it having any lasting answers. The book doesn't go far enough.

Rating:
Summary: What can we conclude?
Review: This is a fine book. I have read selections from it aloud to my students and they loved it. I think that many of the poems in this book are wonderful. Mrs. Fields is able to get into the minds of the characters and we are treated to many rich and varied voices. Mrs. Fields visited our school and spoke to our students sharing much of her experiences in writing the book, which was very interesting.
The book's purpose is to steer young people away from suicide as a permanent answer to a temporary problem.
What I would like to address is, does the book fulfill its purpose? In other words, what does the book really teach us about not committing suicide? It seems that by the time we finish reading we feel sad and think Anna should not have killed herself. The problem is that we learn that the only reason not to commit suicide is because of the possible adverse effect it will have on others. Is this answer good enough? I don't think so.
Many of the characters in the book tell the reader that they are hurt and confused because of Anna's death. So, because of this "grief of others", one shouldn't escape his or her pain and confusion by suicide. Isn't this only a temporary answer to a desperate problem?
Don't get me wrong; I do believe that suicide is an unacceptable, permanent, and selfish answer to a temporary problem. But aren't the suicidal entitled to some real and concrete answers? They need to know true answers that don't change with the situation. There are nice sounding phrases from the characters like these: "you don't stop playing.", "Anna, who had health, Chose death. How could you?", and "How could you check out before the good stuff ever started?" These solutions are situational. Basically, the characters that state them are in a situation where they see no reason right now to commit suicide. If their situation changed, it is probable their answers would too. Statistics show that almost all young people seriously think about suicide sometime in their life. This is because of the situation they are in at the time. They must have a higher reason to keep them from committing it.
The flaw I am writing about is that there seems to be no people of faith in Mrs. Field's book. How can this be? Is there no one with answers that go beyond this life? Not one character gives a grander perspective as to why we are here on earth or a real purpose for living. I find that strange because I run into people of faith all the time, coworkers, students, friends, and acquaintances.
In this real world and in the book it is easy to see that selfishness runs rampant in the human race in one-form or another, but no one in the book believes in a "higher cause."
There are a few mentions of a "God" in the book. One is the idea that God makes girls with nice bodies and bad senses of humor, and another mention is a last desperate gasp of confusion, as in "Oh God..."
Again, why was Anna supposed to choose life? Was it just to keep all these people content?
Would the answers that the characters offer in the book solve a suicidal situation like the following? "I don't care anymore. So what if people will be upset if I kill myself...isn't that just tough for them? I'm sick of feeling this way...with this emptiness inside. I just want it to stop, I gotta get out."
Granted, that example is a selfish and spiteful solution to a selfish problem. Does the book give a solution to this suicidal problem? I don't think it even comes close.
It is a pleasant enough book but I do not really see it having any lasting answers. The book doesn't go far enough.