Itch

By Michelle D. Kwasney

Book Overview

After the death of her beloved Gramps, Delores Colchester, better known as ?Itch, ? moves with her grandmother from Florida to Ohio. Starting over is hard, and Itch feels like an outsider in her new school, until she becomes friends with popular baton-twirling Gwendolyn. On the outside, Gwendolyn seems perfect: talented, smart, and beautiful. But she has a dark secret, which Itch begins to suspect and soon discovers is true. ?Speaking up takes courage, ? Gramps had always told Itch, and she's about to discover just how much. Michelle D. Kwasney weaves a compelling story about child abuse, family, and friendship against the backdrop of the late 1960s.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 080508083X
• ISBN13: 9780805080834
• Release Date: April 2008
• Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.6" x 1.0" x 6.7"
• Age Range: 9 to 14 years
• Grade Range: Grades 4 to 9

Customer Reviews

Ahhhhh! Plot, characters, writing...all good.

Can it really be that I'm the first to review this? A book about child abuse/objectification of children with believable characters and understandable, if icky, motives. The characters do what they have to do, so when the grandma moves to help, it's in an ill-thought out way that nonetheless is plausible for that person. Only the dad character was a little thin, but still worked. There were certain dialogues I found unlikely--that were then revealed to be exactly right in the next few pages. Oh, it's not all sorrow and tension. The author writes about girls being girls and a believable school/afterschool life. Her voice gives even mundane situations meaning. I believe the author truly cares about kids in abusive situations and understands them well, and that this book may give certain people the strength to give appropriate help.