The Pact
Picoult, Jodi
ISBN-13 978-0688170523
ISBN-10 0688170528
Publisher: Harper Perennial, 1999
Genre: Adult Crossover Fiction
Reading Level: 9th and up
Interest Age: 9th and up
Reader's Annotation:
How far will you go for love? Some think Em killed herself for love and others think Chris killed her. Which is it?
Plot Summary:
This book starts with a shot fired. The reader does not know who pulled the trigger, but Em Gold is now dead and only her boyfriend Chris knows what happened. This story is about love and what happens when things get out of control. In the aftermath of the death, both Em and Chris' families struggle to cope with the loss. The two families have been close for 18 years. Em and Chris bonded as babies and started dating in high school. When the two become intimate, Em feels as though it is incestuous. She tries because both of their families expect the two to marry.
When she finds out she is pregnant, Em becomes suicidal. She does not know what to do with her life and feels at the end of her rope. The problem is, she wants Chris to pull the trigger. In the events that follow, the reader is sucked into a shocking story of what we will do for love.
Critical Evaluation:
This book captures the reader from the first page and does not let go until well after the last. Picoult has a way of throwing twists into her books to create a unpredictable ending. This book is interesting in its formatting because each character's perspective is represented. Each chapter is from another person's perspective which gives the reader a new look at the situation. This could be confusing to the reader, but each character has their own font as well. This makes the shift natural while reading. This book starts at the climax and backtracks from there. This is an interesting way to write because the reader knows how things end for Em but learning why it happened is where the interest lies. By doing this, Picoult took out the mystery of whether she would die. This leaves more time for the reader to consider the other aspects of the story.
About the Author:
Jodi Picoult has written 18 novels and co-written one with her daughter. All of her novels deal with issues that could be considered controversial or though provoking. She studied at Princeton under Mary Morris. She had two short stories published in Seventeen magazine while she was studying there. After college, Picoult worked different jobs to make it through. She went to Harvard for her Masters in Education and taught 8th grade for a while. When pregnant with her first child, Picoult wrote her first novel Songs of a Humpback Whale.
Picoult has written many books that appeal to teens as well as adults and she has won many different awards including an Alex Award from the Young Adult Library Services Association. Her books have been translated into 34 languages and four of them have been made into movies. Picould continues to write books that raise questions about the world we live in.
Curriculum Ties:
Foreshadowing, prevention of suicide, and teen pressure.
This book starts with a shot fired. The reader does not know who pulled the trigger, but Em Gold is now dead and only her boyfriend Chris knows what happened. This story is about love and what happens when things get out of control. In the aftermath of the death, both Em and Chris' families struggle to cope with the loss. The two families have been close for 18 years. Em and Chris bonded as babies and started dating in high school. When the two become intimate, Em feels as though it is incestuous. She tries because both of their families expect the two to marry.
When she finds out she is pregnant, Em becomes suicidal. She does not know what to do with her life and feels at the end of her rope. The problem is, she wants Chris to pull the trigger. In the events that follow, the reader is sucked into a shocking story of what we will do for love.
Critical Evaluation:
This book captures the reader from the first page and does not let go until well after the last. Picoult has a way of throwing twists into her books to create a unpredictable ending. This book is interesting in its formatting because each character's perspective is represented. Each chapter is from another person's perspective which gives the reader a new look at the situation. This could be confusing to the reader, but each character has their own font as well. This makes the shift natural while reading. This book starts at the climax and backtracks from there. This is an interesting way to write because the reader knows how things end for Em but learning why it happened is where the interest lies. By doing this, Picoult took out the mystery of whether she would die. This leaves more time for the reader to consider the other aspects of the story.
About the Author:
Jodi Picoult has written 18 novels and co-written one with her daughter. All of her novels deal with issues that could be considered controversial or though provoking. She studied at Princeton under Mary Morris. She had two short stories published in Seventeen magazine while she was studying there. After college, Picoult worked different jobs to make it through. She went to Harvard for her Masters in Education and taught 8th grade for a while. When pregnant with her first child, Picoult wrote her first novel Songs of a Humpback Whale.
Picoult has written many books that appeal to teens as well as adults and she has won many different awards including an Alex Award from the Young Adult Library Services Association. Her books have been translated into 34 languages and four of them have been made into movies. Picould continues to write books that raise questions about the world we live in.
Curriculum Ties:
Foreshadowing, prevention of suicide, and teen pressure.
Book Talking:
How would you handle this situation?
Challenging Issues:
If this book were to be challenged, I would go through the selection process with the challenger as well as explain the rationale for the book. There are many good qualities in this book that could be reason to have it in a collection.
Why Read this Book:
This book goes deeper into the long told story of two people who are brought together by their parents. Many stories tell the happy side of this but not many talk about what happens if one person does not feel for the other. This book explores what people will do for love and what they wont. This book would be good for teens to read and explore some of the turmoil going on through the entire novel.
How would you handle this situation?
Challenging Issues:
If this book were to be challenged, I would go through the selection process with the challenger as well as explain the rationale for the book. There are many good qualities in this book that could be reason to have it in a collection.
Why Read this Book:
This book goes deeper into the long told story of two people who are brought together by their parents. Many stories tell the happy side of this but not many talk about what happens if one person does not feel for the other. This book explores what people will do for love and what they wont. This book would be good for teens to read and explore some of the turmoil going on through the entire novel.
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