von Nelia Lücke und Lea Nieswitz (9a)
Im Zuge ihres Englischunterrichts hat die Klasse 9a vor den Osterferien zwei Romane behandelt: Robert Swindells’ „Stone Cold“ und Patrick Ness’ „A Monster Calls“. Wenn auch ihr mal wieder Lust auf ein englischsprachiges Buch habt, könnt ihr hier erfahren, worum es in den Romanen geht und ob diese das richige Lesefutter für euch sind.
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
Are monsters really just fantasy?
This highly readable story, narrated from the point of view of Conor, a 13-year-old boy, combines reality and fantasy in one extremely entertaining book.
The novel depicts Conor’s struggles concerning his Mum having cancer and his dad living in America with a new family. The story portrays the feelings of this teenage boy, making the book very emotional.
While reading, you get into the character and can relate to Conor being hurt, which makes the story on the one hand gripping and on the other hand heartbreaking. Being on his own, he learns to push his feelings into the background. But Conor is hurt and this all comes to light at night, when meeting a monster he himself has conjured.
I strongly recommend the novel because it makes you question whether monsters are really just fantasy or maybe something more, and it reveals what you can do to yourself by keeping your feelings locked away.
Stone Cold by Robert Swindells
Criminal x Homeless – Is that an interesting combination?
The novel “Stone Cold”, written by Robert Swindells, relates an incredibly fast-moving but also highly gripping story, which takes place in the streets of London and roughly tells the story of Link, a young adult who leaves home due to some unfortunate circumstances and becomes homeless. While reading, you realize that there is a second point of view focusing on a mysterious person.
After leaving home because of his mother’s new boyfriend, who is abusive and an overall nasty person, Link ends up all alone and homeless on the streets of London. He tries his best to get off the streets and get a job, but the authorities blame him “for making himself homeless”. But things get better when Link makes friends with Ginger, an experienced homeless person.
At the same time, there is another character named Shelter, who is planning something big and cruel. We get to know that he is an ex-soldier and that he seems to be pretty upset about having been thrown out of the army. He has the dream of creating his own army and the way he means to fulfill his dream is frightening.
Things start to get scary, homeless people are disappearing, but none of the “normal” people care since they tend to avoid the homeless. Ginger also disappears and Link gets worried. However, after Ginger fails to return, Link meets a homeless girl and they become really close. Link and Gail, the homeless girl, want to call attention to the vanishing homeless people, but the police don’t believe them because they are homeless and also underage. Choosing to find the cause of the disappearances himself, Link gets into serious danger…
I personally enjoyed reading this novel a lot, since the storyline is highly thought-provoking and action-packed. It offers a different perspective on life, considering that it’s told by a homeless teenage boy, and gets you thinking about the issue of homelessness. I can recommend this read to everyone who is interested in action and crime fiction with a kernel of truth.
