D'Arcy's dad had a special game he played with her. "The five minutes more" game. Whenever she didn't want to be somewhere he would say "just five minutes more and then we'll leave". It really helped her get through many situations. Unfortunately, the game didn't work while she was at the funeral home making arrangements for his burial. Why did he have to go and die? Was his death an accident or was it suicide?
Now D'Arcy can't stand anything for five minutes more. Not school, her boyfriend, Brendan, her half sister Claire or her mother. No one seems to understand. That is, except for Seth. He is different. He seems to know just what to say and do. There is something about him, but what is it?
D'Arcy eventually finds out something about Seth and wonders if that is what has drawn them together. What is the mystery to their attraction? She feels that he understands her grief. D'Arcy hopes that through their friendship she will learn to come to terms with her father's death.
Things don't exactly turn out how D'Arcy imagined. In fact, things came crashing down and her world continued to spiral out of control. How can she make sense of everything that happened?
Five Minutes More is a sad story that deals with the death of a parent. There are many different twists and turns throughout the book but that adds to holding your interest. Although it is a difficult topic to deal with, it is appropriate for young adults to read. Death is inevitable and it is important for young adults to read and learn about it in the classroom. This book is appropriate for young adults in Junior High on up.
4 comments:
The death of a parent takes a huge toll on a child. Suddenly, they are forced to do things that kids shouldn't be doing (such as making funeral arrangements). Unfortunately, there will be at least one of children in our classroom that has experience this. Or maybe a handful that have a parent that is very sick. There are so many emotions associated with death, young adults can probably relate to the feelings that D'Arcy expresses (whether an aunt, grandparent, relative, etc.).
I believe this book could be very beneficial to students. It is sad, but in today's society people are dying younger and younger. This summer one of my student's dad had a heart attack and died at 41. Very sad. It is more than likely that we will have students in our classroom who have had a parent pass away. Those students, and others who have also experienced loss, will be able to relate to D'Arcy.
Like you said, death is inevitable and we all need to be able to deal with it.
This seems like a great book to read and help deal with situations like this because sometimes kids just ball up their emotions and do not want to deal or talk about their problems, so having something to read can help them know they are not the only ones out there that are affected by this.
I have read a lot of books dealing with deaths of parents, and I feel like those books help with giving the reader a sense of closeure at the end. Seeing a character going through the same difficulties as you, and then overcoming them, gives hope to the young readers that they can do the same. This book seems a little different though, by offering the idea of suicide as a possibly outcome. I think that may make some readers uneasy while reading.
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