By: John Marsden Publisher: Fawcett Average Rating: Binding: Mass Market Paperback Label: Fawcett Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 128 Publication Date: July 29, 1990 Reading Level: Young Adult Release Date: July 29, 1990
Product Description: Winner of Australia's Book of the Year Award. Set in Australia and written in the form of a diary, this is the tragic story of the effects of divorce and her parents' anger on a young woman's life. "Remarkable...few readers will come away from the portrait of Marina's ordeal unshaken. "--Publishers Weekly
Amazon.com: After what happened to her face, Marina stopped talking. Completely. Even the people at the hospital couldn't help her find her voice again. In an almost hopeless, last-ditch effort, Marina is shuffled to a boarding school--where she's required to keep a journal. Ugh! Slowly, though, the secrets begin to pour from her spirit onto the paper. The more shape she can give to the nightmare, the more she is released from it. This is one of the most intelligent, realistic novels about post-traumatic stress ever written for young people. Marina's transformation will inspire any teen who has ever struggled to find his or her voice.
Amazing This was such an amazing book. I loved how the story unfolded. The ending was perfect and I hope that this author has more books soon!!
Young Fiction that Connects John Marsden is an award winning international writer of young adult fiction.
This is an important piece of writing as the tale connects to young adults, particularly young girls, because the central theme of this work is "fitting in", having experienced a horrific trauma, (which the author never specifies) learns to speak again as her only form of communication is through a diary which she is forced to write in the boarding school she is cruelly placed.
The reader does not discover the narrator's name until the end of the tale.
We are only permitted to see her past through her pain, the trauma, and it is vague at best.
The story wanders, spinning off on many tangents that are irrelevant to the plot. Teenagers, though, do the same thing: talking about their parents, their close calls with the opposite sex and the obligatory rebelliousness which most Middle School girls' experience. So Much to Tell You is about the thoughts, feelings, fears and hopes of a little girl whose face has been terribly disfigured; we do not know how her face has been damaged and through the entire diary, only catch glimpses of the past.
The text rambles as a young person does. The text is an effort to connect to young people and, from the classes that I've run on the text with these young people, captures their naive and evolving minds.
My only criticism is the major issues in the novel, that is to say, her relationship with her father and mother, as she hates her mother but loves her father though he is in jail; the reason being something connected to her "accident", and her mother disconnecting, opens the door to a task of creative writing for the class.
Interestingly, the young women whose task it was to "fill in the blanks" as it were; in other terms answer the questions the novel fails to do, the young women in my class actually seemed to at least, write `better' than Marsden.
Why?
Because a middle-aged man, no-matter how taletent he is will never write like a 13 year old girl. He did a marvellous job, exceptional in fact, but when I read the actual, he came close but did not hit the mark.
So Much to Tell You is a good piece of young adult fiction that captures a 13 or 14 mind of a teenager on the brink of adulthood.
Marsden upon request wrote a play based on the novel and high schools across Australia have preformed to a successful outcome.
One of the better young adult novels.
So much to tell you I enjoyed this book. I think the story line was great, But the things I didn't like was the dairy entrie form that john marsden wrote out in because it made me feel like im reading someones journal than an actual book. I also found that the book was quite slow and in some diary entries marina didnt really write much which made me anoyed but still i couldnt bring myself to put the book down as it made me want to know more. I reccomend it because i think it was good how you could be able to know what marina feels but at the same time i would prefer to hear the oppinions of the people around her eg; her friends and people in the dorm. the ending was pretty good and it was a very good improvement for marina to talk again, exept i do admit that i would like to know more about what happened with her friends and her mother.
Amazing read for all ages John Marsden has yet to let me down. His writing is always thoughtful, poignant, realistic and adventurous.
"So Much to Tell You" is definitely up to par. I've always found it unfair that his writing is considered at the teenage level, so many people in other age brackets can benefit from the perspective his characters experience.
The story is one people have heard before; a story of a young girl hurt by her family. However, the way Marsden puts you inside of her head is amazing and unique. It's almost to the point you can't tell if he's an author writing about a girl... or an author who has discovered a notebook lying by the side of the road.
This novel is a great exploration of coping with issues, and a highly recommended read for adults as well as teens.
So much to review! I found so much to tell you an extremely moving story; it presents a highly original story in an interesting format (journal layout). This is a book which is set as compulsory reading material at our school, and I think that this is a really good piece of reading material; its short direct style is new and refreshing. Mariana (the main character) though not speaking, is very perspective and insightful, through her journal we get detailed descriptions of the people around her, family and friends and how people interact with her, for the duration of the novel, Marina gradually becomes more open about he life and we can understand her feelings of isolation and depression, even though we may not be able to relate to them. The main themes in this book are Adolescence, Child abuse, domestic violence,depression,family,relationships,councelling,self image and trust, all these combined ensure a truly emotional read.
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