Paper Covers Rock
by Jenny Hubbard
At the beginning of his junior year at a boys' boarding school, 16-year-old Alex is devastated when he fails to save a drowning friend. When questioned, Alex and his friend Glenn, who was also at the river, begin weaving their web of lies. Plagued by guilt, Alex takes refuge in the library, telling his tale in a journal he hides behind Moby-Dick. Caught in the web with Alex and Glenn is their English teacher, Miss Dovecott, fresh out of Princeton, who suspects there's more to what happened at the river when she perceives guilt in Alex's writing for class. She also sees poetic talent in Alex, which she encourages. As Alex responds to her attention, he discovers his true voice, one that goes against the boarding school bravado that Glenn embraces. When Glenn becomes convinced that Miss Dovecott is out to get them, Alex must choose between them. (description from Amazon.com)
I have to be honest and admit that I did not enjoy this book at all. I began it as an audiobook and hated it. Part of the problem for me was how slowly the book was going and that it seemed to lack cohesion...I picked up the physical book hoping that being able to see the breaks in Alex's "journal entries" would help me focus through the rest of the book. That didn't even help that much, though. Things went faster, but I still just could not get into the story. I found it mostly implausible and frustrating. I thought that Alex made a lot of poor decisions, letting himself be swayed by the wrong people, and that most of the bad actions in the book led to no consequences.
I guess this was just not the book for me.
Full disclosure: Audiobook received to review for SLJ
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