Diary of a Witness

Diary of a Witness
by Catherine Ryan Hyde
Rating: Great!
Pages:208
*Publishing Date: August 2009
*Song Cry: Loser by Beck


Synopsis

One day, something’s going to snap. . . .


Ernie doesn't have a lot of friends at school. Just Will. They have stuff in common—like fishing. But more important, they have common enemies: the school jocks, who seem to find bullying just another sport.

For the most part, Ernie and Will take life at high school in stride. Until Will has one very bad day. Now nothing is remotely funny. Ernie finds himself a witness—to loss, to humiliation, and to Will’s anger—an anger that’s building each and every moment.

Ernie doesn’t want to believe his best friend is changing, but he can’t deny the truth. Soon he has a choice: join or die. Or can he find another way?



Review

Diary of a Witness is a terribly real, heartfelt novel about the persistance of two young boys just trying to make it through some horrible situations. Ernie is such a loveble, understandable character. I see kids like him everyday getting picked on and tormented. The way Catherine captures it is absolutely heartbreaking! Ugh! I can't even think about it to much! The thing about Ernie that i admire most though is his willingnes to like, look on the brightside. He always tries to rise above his circumstances, which seriously makes him better then the brutal joks that make fun of him.

Will is the tragic hero in this story, everything seems to go wrong for him and it really feels like he just can't catch a break! Eversecond of Diary of a Witness you find yourself grimacing at the poor kids terrible luck. Catherine must have gotten bullied when she was younger becuase you can't get as raw as this. Diary of a Witness is a serious literary break through, it captured the cut throat side of High School that i haven't seen since Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. You need to read this!


*P.S. You might've noticed that my review template is a little different, that's because after many months and many books reviewed i have finally exhausted my itunes library! These days it's hard to find good music that is relatable to a story and i can now usually only find about one to two for each review, so i decided to just feature one song (a song cry)  that i think best reflects each story! Also instead of putting how difficult a story is I decided to just feature the Pub. date since that seems alot more important. If you have any questions of suggestions please email me at flipthepageplease[at]gmail[dot]com! I'd love to hear your comments!