Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. KingPublished: 2010 - Alfred K. Knopf
Age Group: Young Adult
Read: September 19, 2011
5 out of 5 Stars: Loved it
Reason for Reading: John Green recommended it. It's a Printz Honor book. I had heard nothing but great things. It really felt like a "must read."
On GoodReads: "Vera's spent her whole life secretly in love with her best friend, Charlie Kahn. And over the years she's kept a lot of his secrets. Even after he betrayed her. Even after he ruined everything. So when Charlie dies in dark circumstances, Vera knows a lot more than anyone—the kids at school, his family, even the police. But will she emerge to clear his name? Does she even want to? Edgy and gripping, Please Ignore Vera Dietz is an unforgettable novel: smart, funny, dramatic, and always surprising."
My Thoughts: This book was sweet, and sad, and funny. I really liked Vera and Charlie trying to figure out what happened between them and what went wrong. At times, it was really difficult to read when Charlie was pushing Vera away. The chapters from the point of view of the pagoda were placed at just the right times, and were so funny. The whole story had so many funny parts paired up with really sad parts. I think the best part was how truthful the story felt. The best relationship examined in the book is that between Vera and her father. Reading the book, I could really see them transform and become the people the other needed them to be.
Quote from the book: "I mean, I ignore plenty of stuff, like school spirit days and the dirty looks i get from the Detentionheads while I try to slink through the halls unnoticed. But there's something about telling other people what to ignore that just doesn't work for me. Especially things we shouldn't be ignoring.
Hear that girl in your class is being abused by her stepfather and had to go to the clinic? Hear she's bringing her mother's pills to school and selling them to pay for it? Ignore. Ignore. Ignore. Mind your own business. Don't make waves. Fly under the radar. It's just one of those things, Vera.
I'm sorry, but I don't get it. If we're supposed to ignore everything that's wrong in our lives, then I can't see how we'll ever make things right."
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