'Poo, Todd?'
Yes, I know it's random but the line in my subject is from a novel I am currently reading called 'The Knife of Letting Go.' It caught my eye in Borders, with a bright gold and crimson jacket scrawled with words, and a quote on the front that said something to the effect of 'The whole novel lives up to the first line.' Now, since I am of the creative writing school that firmly believes that a story or novel must unravel itself from within the perfectly crafted first line, any novel that can catch me with that first line is a crucial part of my collection. Sure enough, once I skipped to the first page and read that line, I was hooked. It involves a young boy, Todd Hewitt, and his 'ruddy good dog,' Manchee (who speaks, thus the subject line), who have to face up to the fact that the world they live in is a lie that only they can amend.
I am entranced by the novel for a reason beyond its craft, and that is because, lately at least, I have felt that my best friend is probably my dog, Grimm. Sure, he's a staffy. Not the brightest of breeds, although the most loyal, loving, strangest and amusing, certainly. Lately, since I have had a few days off of work from stress, Grimm and I have bonded to the point where I am often to be found having a full-fledged conversation to me. To which he replies. Often with a disdainful sigh, but more often than not, by squeezing himself next to me, even if there's no space on the one-seater sofa chair, and demanding room. He 'farts happily,' as does Manchee in the novel, and loves picking things up when we're out on walks. His favourite thing to play with is his own lead, which he steals from my back pocket if he can manage to sneak up behind me by waiting in the bushes until I walk by. Then he trots off triumphantly down the road, high-stepping to avoid the end of the lead which is dragging between his front paws, his head held high to try and hold it off the ground, and his bum wagging. His bum is always wagging. When he eats, he wags his tail. So it's *bite*, wag, *bite*, wag. It takes him forever to get through the whole bowl.
It's a novel you must pick up. I am scouting it for my department, as we are currently running on some pretty boring, tatty novels in Year 9, and everyone feels we should get something new and exciting to work with. Year 9 is a hard year to buy novels for, however. My department head, though, won't consider getting a new novel in unless it is on his desk with a working unit plan with it, so it's my secret mission to find at least two or three good novels over the next few months and deliver them to him with unit plans so that he can't back out on buying the books. So, if anyone has a good reccomendation, send it my way.
I am entranced by the novel for a reason beyond its craft, and that is because, lately at least, I have felt that my best friend is probably my dog, Grimm. Sure, he's a staffy. Not the brightest of breeds, although the most loyal, loving, strangest and amusing, certainly. Lately, since I have had a few days off of work from stress, Grimm and I have bonded to the point where I am often to be found having a full-fledged conversation to me. To which he replies. Often with a disdainful sigh, but more often than not, by squeezing himself next to me, even if there's no space on the one-seater sofa chair, and demanding room. He 'farts happily,' as does Manchee in the novel, and loves picking things up when we're out on walks. His favourite thing to play with is his own lead, which he steals from my back pocket if he can manage to sneak up behind me by waiting in the bushes until I walk by. Then he trots off triumphantly down the road, high-stepping to avoid the end of the lead which is dragging between his front paws, his head held high to try and hold it off the ground, and his bum wagging. His bum is always wagging. When he eats, he wags his tail. So it's *bite*, wag, *bite*, wag. It takes him forever to get through the whole bowl.
It's a novel you must pick up. I am scouting it for my department, as we are currently running on some pretty boring, tatty novels in Year 9, and everyone feels we should get something new and exciting to work with. Year 9 is a hard year to buy novels for, however. My department head, though, won't consider getting a new novel in unless it is on his desk with a working unit plan with it, so it's my secret mission to find at least two or three good novels over the next few months and deliver them to him with unit plans so that he can't back out on buying the books. So, if anyone has a good reccomendation, send it my way.