Review
I’m in the minority. You should probably read Please Ignore Vera Dietz…Everyone else thinks you should…But I didn’t love it. I’m not going to booktalk it. I am disappointed. I could possibly be the only person on the internet brave enough to say so.
Please Ignore Vera Dietz is a Printz Award Honor book. I had such high hopes! I love the Printz, rarely do the picks for this award fail me. On top of its award status, other readers loved this book…five-star-loved this book. And I’m with them to a point…
I did find Vera to be funny. She’s a self-deprecating, dry humored kinda gal and I like that. Right from the start of the book I found her to be realistic and funny. I enjoyed listening to her voice. Vera is a smart kid, intelligent and aware of herself. She’s just lost her best friend Charlie during a night when the local pet store also burned down. And the story centers on Vera’s trouble dealing with life after his death. Charlie has been blamed for the fire and from the beginning of the novel the reader knows, that Vera knows, that Charlie didn’t do it. Charlie asked for Vera’s help, he’s left evidence to reveal the truth to her. Because of this Vera is being chased by her own demons (talking, Charlie shaped demons) to reveal the truth of that night.
This is where I think I lost my enjoyment of the story. Perhaps I misunderstood the point of this novel, I focused too much on the secrets surrounding the death of Charlie. I was distracted with the ‘knowing the truth’ part. I assumed the truth would be worth the wait…a suprise of some kind. It’s Not. The truth surrounding Charlie’s death is not the major break through of this novel. Be warned. When you pick this title up forget about the secret, forget about the thing Vera’s supposed to find in the tree, Save Yourself! Find enjoyment and satisfaction in this book!
This book is all about Vera growing up and facing her demons. She has more than the ghost of Charlie on her plate. Vera’s mother abandoned her at the age of 12 cutting off almost all contact with Vera. Add to this tragedy the facts that Vera’s parents were teens when they became pregnant and married, her father suffered from alcoholism, and her mother was a stripper at a local joint for the first year of Vera’s life. Much of the emotional play of the novel is due to these filters, even how she handles Charlie’s death and the night of the fire. We watch as Vera basically crashes and burns a few months after Charlie’s death. She’s drinking, dating the wrong type of guy, and attempting to go completely ignored at school. Vera is realistically messed up and realistically finds her way out. This is why the novel is a Printz Honor.
My problem with it all was that the author had me waiting for a big reveal (it never comes), and while I liked Vera in the beginning I found her kinda odd by the end of the story. I’m not sure I’d be friends with her, and I’m not convinced I was totally rooting for her. A lot of people out there connected to this book. I didn’t. I could have stopped halfway through and been just fine. I’d love for someone to convince me otherwise…restore my blind faith in the Printz…but this one just wasn’t my favorite.
Rating: 5/10
Sara O
thelibrarianreads 