Title: The Body of
Christopher Creed
Author: Carol Plum-Ucci
ISBN: 9780152063863
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers
Copyright: 2008
Genre: Mystery
Age
Range: 15 -18
Reader’s Annotation: Torey Adams discovers more than he
wants to know when looking for the body of the missing Christopher Creed.
Plot Summary: The story begins with Torey Adams, a senior at
Rothborne boarding school, sends out emails trying to solve the mystery of
Christopher Creed from his junior year. He begins to remember the email from
Chris to the principle. The email was about why Chris disappeared and mentioned
many people from the school, including Torey, that have some piece of life that
Chris wants for his own. This mention of his name peaks his interest. No one
knows where Chris is or if he committed suicide. His friends Alex, Ryan, Renee,
and girlfriend Leandra joke about Chris's disappearance. They take it lightly
since he was considered a freak.
Ali
McDermott, an old friend of Torey’s, who is not separated from his main social
group talks to him about Chris. She lives next to Chris and observed some
details of his life. Torey finds out that Ali’s home life is awful. He meets
her boyfriend Bo Richardson who sticks up for Ali and her brother against her
mom and the mom’s gross boyfriend. Bo is a kid from the other side of the tracks
called a boon. Bo had previously injured Chris. There is a clear view into the
Creed home from Ali’s window. Chris hid a diary from his militaristic mother.
She never gave him an ounce of privacy. Ali thinks that Mrs. Creed has
something to do with his disappearance. The make a plan to get the diary. Bo
will break in and get it while Torey calls the Creeds house to draw them out.
The plan backfires as they all get dragged down to the station. Torey's mother,
a lawyer, saves them from prosecution. Bo confesses to the phone call to take
the rap. Ali and her brother spend some time at the Adams’
house because their mother is off with her boyfriend.
Bo handed
Ali a notebook at the station, they open it to find that it is Chris’ diary.
One of Chris’ brothers gave it to Bo. Chris wrote about his life. He wrote
about being afraid of his mother. He also wrote about having a girlfriend out
of town named Isabella. He writes about their intimate details and even tells
the prophecy from Isabella's psychic Aunt that one of them will die in the
woods. At school the next day, Torey distances himself from his friends and
starts hanging out with Ali, Bo and the boons. Leandra calls Torey later and
Ali picks up. Leandra breaks up with him because she thinks he is cheating on
her. Ali and Torey go to meet Bo. They run into several of Torey’s former
friends. An argument ensues and Bo reveals to Ryan and Renee that their father,
chief of police, had cheated on their mother with Mrs. McDermott, Ali’s mom.
Torey finds Isabella in the telephone book and leaves her a message. Torey
ignores his old friends and now ex-girlfriend at lunch as he sits with Ali and
the boons. Mrs. Creed and the police drag Bo away for questioning. Ali and
Torey try to explain that Chris was socially awkward but Mrs. Creed denies it.
A few days later, he receives a message on the answering machine from Isabella.
Ali and
Torey go to meet Isabella and find out the relationship is a lie. The sex part
was real, but the rest was made up. They go to meet Isabella’s psycic aunt and
she tells them that Torey will find “him” in the woods alone. When they get
back Torey and Ali go to the woods to look but find nothing. When they get back
to the house, Alex indirectly accuses Torey of being a part of Chris’ murder.
Angry, Torey stomps off into the woods alone off to find the body or spirit of
Christopher Creed.
Critical Evaluation: The
Body of Christopher Creed is a Printz Honor Book. It addresses the
realities that we live in. For a kid like Torey, he lives in the true world
where he has the things in life that he needs and wants. He is generally happy
and able to cope with certain things but breaks under the pressure of finding a
different dead body. The diary shows that Chris lived in the world that he
wanted. He invented the romantic relationship between him and Isabella. Mrs.
Creed lives in the world of what makes most sense. She is convinced that Bo is
either holding or has murdered her son. She cannot see past the reality that
she has fabricated because it makes sense to her. This novel is a good book to
have in a collection because decent mysteries are hard to come by. Plum-Ucci
has also been nominated for another Printz award in 2003 for her novel What
Happened to Lani Garver and nominated
for the Edgar Allen Poe Award for her 2007 novel The Night My Sister Went
Missing. Plum-Ucci book adds a specific taste of mystery that is
important to have in a diversified collection.
Author Information: Plum-Ucci spent her childhood growing up
on the barrier island of Brigantine, New
Jersey, where her father was a funeral director. She
lived overtop of the funeral home.
‘My bedroom was such that if the floor were made of glass, I would have been gazing down into the face of a casket dweller,’ she frequently tells audiences. ‘When people ask me how I became a writer, I say it was in the middle of nights while growing up there.’
‘My bedroom was such that if the floor were made of glass, I would have been gazing down into the face of a casket dweller,’ she frequently tells audiences. ‘When people ask me how I became a writer, I say it was in the middle of nights while growing up there.’
Plum-Ucci loves to tell her childhood funeral home antics,
which have captivated teenage audiences across America.
She attended the Brigantine
Public Schools, Atlantic City Friends
School, and Holy Spirit
High School, graduating in 1975. She earned her bachelor’s degree in
Communication from Purdue University in West
Lafayette, Indiana in
1979. She attended Rutgers
University and received
her Master of Arts degree 2004.
Plum-Ucci worked as Staff Writer and Director of Publications for the Miss America Organization in Atlantic City from 1984 through 1999. She is the third generation of women in her family to contribute to Atlantic City’s well-known fanfare. Her mother, Ellen Plum, was the first woman President, and her paternal grandmother, Ads Plum, was a member of the Hostess Committee.
She retired from corporate employ in June of 1999, ‘about two days after my advance arrived for The Body of Christopher Creed,’ she says. ‘I loved being part of something historical like Miss America, and I have many great memories of working there. But I’d spent many years trying to become a published novelist, and I wanted to started enjoying that lifestyle as quickly as possible.” Source - http://carolplumucci.com/about-carol/
Plum-Ucci worked as Staff Writer and Director of Publications for the Miss America Organization in Atlantic City from 1984 through 1999. She is the third generation of women in her family to contribute to Atlantic City’s well-known fanfare. Her mother, Ellen Plum, was the first woman President, and her paternal grandmother, Ads Plum, was a member of the Hostess Committee.
She retired from corporate employ in June of 1999, ‘about two days after my advance arrived for The Body of Christopher Creed,’ she says. ‘I loved being part of something historical like Miss America, and I have many great memories of working there. But I’d spent many years trying to become a published novelist, and I wanted to started enjoying that lifestyle as quickly as possible.” Source - http://carolplumucci.com/about-carol/
Curriculum Ties: English
Challenge Issues: Cursing; Some Sexuality; Disobedience
Booktalk Ideas: Fitting In – One could talk about the people
out there that we see but don’t recognize. One could lead into the plot by
describing Christopher Creed.
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