Crutcher, C. (2013). Period 8. New York, NY: HarperCollins.
Paul Baum, AKA Paulie Bomb, is a 17-year-old who attends
Heller High School and is a distance swimmer that has confessed to his
girlfriend Hannah that he cheated on her.
Hannah breaks up with Paulie and is being sought after by his supposed
friend Arney Stack, who is a psychopath and somehow managed to manipulate Mary
into sleeping with Paulie. Making this
story it into a teenage love triangle. Lunch
is Period 8 and students hang in Mr. Logsdon (Logs) classroom during that time
where they are free to talk about personal feelings, and problems, eat or just
listen, in return get advice from him. The
problem is that straight “A” Mary Wells goes missing right after Hannah and
Paulie confront her about something.
Characters in this realistic fiction book are from all walks
of life, although they discuss their problems with ease, many of us can
relate. The athletic side of this novel may
appeal mostly to male YA readers. It’s great to have that one adult teacher
during your high school years that you can relate to. Maybe that’s why they
were so open with their personal problems like when Mr. Logs is talking to Paulie and he says “There’s not a good reason to lie to anyone about the important things, particularly to people we love or care about. And we should honor our commitments.”
The language in the teenage dialogue is that of young adults trying to fit in and be cool, “your honey,” and “fuck.” The cheating in relationships and telling the truth is something all of us can learn from. I wish more guys and girls where like Paulie, when he’s asked why he chose to tell the truth, “‘most guys’ are exactly who I don’t want to be.”
They say there’s always three truths, your truth, the other person’s truth, and then the real truth, so which one do you believe? This book is from the required YA authors.
The language in the teenage dialogue is that of young adults trying to fit in and be cool, “your honey,” and “fuck.” The cheating in relationships and telling the truth is something all of us can learn from. I wish more guys and girls where like Paulie, when he’s asked why he chose to tell the truth, “‘most guys’ are exactly who I don’t want to be.”
They say there’s always three truths, your truth, the other person’s truth, and then the real truth, so which one do you believe? This book is from the required YA authors.
- Here Chris Crutcher talks about Period 8 book interview uploaded by Harperteen.
- This link contains review questions to discuss with students as they read Period 8.
- Other books from Chris Crutcher include, Athletic Shorts, Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes, Running Loose and Chinese Handcuffs.
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