4E1 English Blog

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes reading childhood hardships stories.

Jane Elliott fell into the hands of her sadistic and brutal stepfather when she was 4 years old. Her story is both inspiring and horrifying. Her family and neighbourhood were all terrified of Jane’s stepfather so no-one held out a rescuing hand. Hence, she had to help herself, alone.

What I like about the story is that, it goes on to detail most of the mental, physical and sexual abuse that Jane has to endure almost every day of her life, and come to accept it as normal. The abuse is such that the whole family is abused in some way or another.

This book is interesting as it goes on to show how even when Jane leaves home, her step father still has a tight hold on her.

The book is set into 12 chapters with an epilogue at the end. The story is set out so that it is in lots of short paragraphs which makes it easy to read and easy to stop at any time. (This means that you will not have to rush through the entire chapter just to get a natural break, like pouring yourself a cup of water.) Although as mentioned, the story is anticipating.

In My Darling, My Hamburger, they talk about many topics amoung teens today. In the book a senior named Liz faces problems like: I love my boyfriend, but do I love him enough to have sex with him; and if I do get pregnant what will I do? Will I have the baby or get an abortion? Paul Zindel did a great job writting this book. It expresses many problems that teens face today like dating, sex, teenage pregnancy, and many others.

The story setting is more on the western side, also Zindel writes from the viewpoint of Liz, the female lead character. For me, some part of the story is predictable and cheesy. Nonetheless, the story goes out to teenagers.

I would recommend this book to teenagers who like reading about typical romance (Something that is not to difficult to figure out) Yet towards the end, the story moved me.

Want to find out more?

GO BORROW THE BOOK. Under [ZIN - teenager section]