The Body of Christopher Creed

Bibliography: Plum-Ucci, C. (2000). The body of Christopher Creed. San Diego: Harcourt.

ISBN: 015-2023887

Genre: suspense, horror

Reading Level/Interest Age: 12+

Plot Summary: Life has been pretty easy for high school junior, Torey. He’s smart, popular, athletic and wealthy. Like everyone else at school, he’s curious when the class freak, Christopher Creed, goes missing. Ali, who lives next to Chris, confides to Torey that she may have valuable information--that Chris’ mom has something to do with the disappearance. She thinks that his mom’s obsessive and extremely restrictive parenting has driven Chris to the point of running away. When Ali’s bad boy boyfriend, Bo, shows up, they make a decision that will pull them all into the mystery as possible suspects in Christopher disappearance. Torey has to find answers or Chris’ body or any clue at all to help convince the authorities that he and his friends are innocent. His search for information leads him to a psychic who portends that Torey will a find a body in the woods. He’s torn between rational thought and unlikely scenarios, terrified of the unknown. But in order to save himself and his friends, he need to follow all the clues, regardless of the terror that tracks his every move.

Critical Evaluation: I thought Plum-Ucci's writing style was a bit muddy. I found it difficult to read in places as it lacked the fluidity to guide me from one sentence to the next. "I probably should have reminded Alex about me in sixth grade" (65). While this is conversational and very much the Torey’s tone of voice, it sounds awkward. I had to re-read it to make sure there wasn't a grammatical error. I was tripped up by similar word order and choices several times throughout the novel. The pacing of the story was very slow. Every chapter, I waited for something major to happen. There were a lot of questions, a lot of theories, a lot of possible catalysts. Torey's phone call, for example, propelled the story forward, but not once did I actually care or become interested in what was happening. It wasn't until two-thirds of the way through the story that I felt it truly began--the rest all felt like rather unwieldy background information. Despite all the build up, the climax was brief and unsatisfying. Character development also lacked. The characters had no depth and therefore lacked realism. Without creating an emotional connection between the characters and the reader, the author has lost the purpose of the book. There was never any reason like the protagonist, Torey. He was a typical high school kid who had once bullied another kid. The reader finds out (ineffectually) later on in the story that he is sensitive. But neither of those personality traits are enough to make a reader actually care. I did feel sympathy towards Ali, but again, her character was never developed enough for a true bond to form. Bo, the bad boy we expect to hate, was the only person with any character depth, making him much more interesting than any of the other main (yet still peripheral) characters. The Body of Christopher Creed may be an award winner many times over, but I feel it lacked the qualifications to be a truly great novel.

Reader’s Annotation: Torey’s whole word is ripped apart when a classmate disappears. Proving his innocence is going to take more than just courage--it might just take his sanity.

Author Information:

Carol Plum-Ucci’s seven novels have drawn many awards and honors. Her first publication, The Body of Christopher Creed, earned her a Michael L. Printz Honor Book Award in 2002, and she was named a finalist in the Edgar Allan Poe Awards. Her second novel, What Happened to Lani Garver, was a Printz nominee, and the book was named Amazon Editor’s #1 Choice in Teen Lit. By late 2008, Plum-Ucci had received seven citations from YALSA, the young adult division of the American Library Association for three of her four releases. Two novels have been named to Best Books for Young Adults, and she’s also had two nominations. She was again an Edgar Allan Poe nominee for The Night My Sister Went Missing.

Plum-Ucci received her bachelor’s in communication from Purdue University and her master’s in arts from Rutgers. Her fiction utterly reflects her roots as a South Jersey islander.¹

Curriculum ties: Native Americans (Lanapes, stereotypes)

Booktalks: Do you believe in ghosts? Is there a negative Native American connotation?

Challenge issues: crime, bullying, graphic content

Challenge resources (for usage in a challenge situation):

• Library Selection Policy

• Rationale explaining why the item was chosen for the collection
• Active listening skills
• Awards
• Reconsideration form (as a last resort)
• Illinois Library Association (Banned Books Listings)
• National Council of Teachers of English “Right to Read”
• Positive and negative reviews: expert, parent, student
• ALA Strategies and Tips for Dealing with Challenges to Library Materials
• ALA Bill of Rights on Intellectual Freedom

• Books and other library resources should be provided for the interest, information, and enlightenment of all people of the community the library serves. Materials should not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation.
• Libraries should provide materials and information presenting all points of view on current and historical issues. Materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.

Reasoning: Library mission statements express the desire to educate, enrich and inspire. The Body of Christopher Creed provides an impetus for teens to think about why a person is perceived in a certain way. It provides readers a perspective on what happens in other people’s lives. Everything might seem perfect, but life behind closed doors can be dark and heartbreaking. What happens at home inevitably shapes a person into who they are and ultimately become. Author Plum-Ucci, having won multiple awards for The Body of Christopher Creed and her other titles, should be a staple in every library.

References:

The Body of Christopher Creed. (n.d.). Retrieved November 15, 2015, from http://www.amazon.com/Body-Christopher-Creed-Carol-Plum-Ucci/dp/0152063862

¹Plum-Ucci, C. (n.d.). About Carol. Retrieved November 3, 2015, from http://carolplumucci.com/about-carol/