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| Plot Summary of Becoming Maren |
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Five Star, Dec 2003, 26.95, 231 pp.
ISBN: 1594140812
Siblings Maren and Ellison Emory attend the same predominately upper class white high school in the Chicago area. Their mother Vanessa is a host of the national TV show Daily Dish enabling the two African American teens to attend this exclusive school. Everything changes when a repeat DUI driver heading down the wrong side of the road crashes into Vanessa's car, instantly killing her.
Maren and Ellison move to Durham, North Carolina to live with their father, whom they have seen twice in nine years. The two teenagers not only have to adjust to their dad, they also must adapt to being relatively poor and having a grandma who does not seem to like them especially Maren. As the family struggles to accommodate one another, relationship with other individuals like their twenty-one year old step-uncle and their father's girlfriend complicates an already complex scene.
BECOMING MAREN is a superb family relationship drama that hooks the audience from the moment Maren describes the reactions of friends to how her mom died. The story line is character driven so those readers who prefer action will need to go elsewhere. Some of the relationships spin into incest that add little unneeded drama and is diverted from the core interrelationships. Readers who value a deep come together tale will enjoy the struggles of BECOMING MAREN.
Harriet Klausner
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Harriet Klausner, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of Becoming Maren |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Tone of book?
- thoughtful
Time/era of story
- present (2000-2010)
Poverty, surviving
Yes
Kind of living:
- general poverty story
Family, struggle with
Yes
Struggle with:
- Father (or standin)
- Grandma
Kind of sex:
- incest
- rape
- molestation
Is this an adult or child's book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Main Character
Gender
- Female
Profession/status:
- student
Age:
- a teen
Ethnicity/Nationality
- Black
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- very athletic
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Male
Age:
- 40's-50's
Profession/status:
- unemployed
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- a little/some
How sensitive is this character?
- mean, arrogant
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- average physique
Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings?
- 4 (a fair amount)
United States
Yes
The US:
- Southeast
Style
Person
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
Unusual Style:
- a lot of stream of consciousness
Amount of dialog
- significantly more dialog than descript
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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