Citation:
Brooks, K. (2013). The bunker diary. Minneapolis, MN: Carolrhoda
Books.
Summary:
Linus,
a 16 year old runaway, finds himself in a situation that leaves him questioning
everything he thought he knew. After being kidnapped, drugged, and placed in a
bunker with 5 total strangers, Linus uses a diary to try to keep his thoughts
straight. Where is he? Why is he there? What does his captor want? All Linus
knows for sure is that he is recording what happens in his notebook, though
even he doesn't know the point of why he is doing this. As his story unfolds,
he discovers the ugly truths and unlikely strengths of his fellow hostages and
himself, though he knows none of it will matter if they can't figure out how to
escape. This book will captivate readers as they too try to answer these
questions with Linus, with an ending that leaves readers with goosebumps.
Response:
Wow!
This is quite a book. It has drama between characters, mystery and unanswered
questions about the situation and captor, philosophical musings, and a
secondary conflict shown through memories Linus has about his estranged father.
It is a great book for discussion as it's ending and style of writing leave it
open for readers to come up with their own theories about the plot and
characters. Some of the narration in the book gets deep, like when Linus
philosophizes about what "time" really is, and other parts require
deep thinking for interpretation, such as the "deal" the captors
makes with his hostages. Not surprisingly, this book is meant for older
adolescents as it talks about drugs, kidnapping, murder and death. In fact,
some people were upset that it won the Carnegie award as it is a book too heavy
for children
Textbook Connections:
Genre: Fiction
Formatted as a diary
Topics include
whether one person’s life is worth more than another, what happens to people
when they lose all control over their situation, and the search for what
motivates people to behave and do the things that they do.
Originally written in
the UK, this book uses some British spelling and terminology.
Other Resources:
Los
Angeles Times article on the Carnegie award controversy
Goodreads book review
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