Looking for the title and author of a book I read as a child. I
believe I read the book around 1990. The cover looked like a black
and white marbled child's notebook. It was in the children's section
of the library but was probably young adult and was science-fiction.
Plot summary follows-
A teacher takes her students to the park to see grass. This is a
major event, as an event has occured that has made grass very rare.
Perhaps war- I can't remember. The children run their hands through
the grass and fight the urge to pick some pieces. A strange rain
starts to fall and the teacher rushes her students to a small shed on
the park grounds. I believe the shed isn't supposed to be there. I
believe they all fall asleep in the shed. When they wake up they are
in a fortress like area guarded by men who refuse to talk. They don't
know why they have been taken or for what purpose. The men guard them
and prevent escape but don't interact directly. The teacher struggles
to keep her students alive as one by one they fall victim to various
traps. One such trap involves the children seeing a pond on a
sweltering day and running in to go swimming. A metal top closes over
the pond and some of the children are drowned. That's the only trap I
really remember. The teacher meets a young man who claims to be the
only living member of a previous class. He tells them that if you
live long enough they stop trying to kill you and just ignore you.
The teacher and the students are given very little food but the young
man is given more, as they increase your food if you live. The
teacher falls in love with the young man and he tries to help them
escape. However, there is a chance he is really only a guard sent to
lead them into another trap. I also remember a very vivid scene where
the children spy on the guards in their breakroom and see them
relaxing and making love to each other (I absolutely swear I am not
making this up). The teacher is pleased to hear about this, as it
means the emotionless guards are human and perhaps can be reasoned
with. The book ends with them escaping through a tunnel but we don't
know if they really make it out or if the young man isn't just a
guard.
I believe the book may have been part of a series considering the open
ending. I think it was from the point of view of one of the students.
Though it was violent and quite dark, I think the details are toned
down enough to make it a young adult novel but I very much doubt it
was a children's book. I know it was not written by William Sleator
or Robert Cormier. It is not Battle Royale. I am looking for the
specific title and author of this book, not lists of science fiction
books or places to post questions. Been there, done that, still
searching. I have been looking for over ten years and it has become a
burning quest that keeps me up at night. |
Request for Question Clarification by
tutuzdad-ga
on
13 Mar 2006 14:10 PST
Could one of these be the book you remember?
CITY OF EMBER
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0375822739/102-2686905-5899308?v=glance&n=283155
Or the sequal book: THE PEOPLE OF SPARKS
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0375828257/ref=pd_sim_b_1/102-2686905-5899308?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=283155
This series of books was written by Jean DuPrau:
http://www.jeanneduprau.com/index.shtml
http://www.jeanneduprau.com/books.shtml
Please let me know.
tutuzdad-ga
|
Clarification of Question by
villis-ga
on
13 Mar 2006 18:06 PST
After looking at the summaries, I am positive it is not City of Ember
or People of Sparks. Thanks for trying, though!
|
Request for Question Clarification by
juggler-ga
on
14 Mar 2006 18:01 PST
Hi,
I notice that on another board you estimated the year in which you
read the book to be 1988. Could you provide us a range of years from
absolute earliest possible to absolute latest (e.g., 1986-1991)?
|
Clarification of Question by
villis-ga
on
14 Mar 2006 19:40 PST
Hmmm. The date issue is hard for me so any estimate is a guess at
best. I've never been good at remembering things by date- I can't
even remember when I graduated college or high school. I'm positive
that 1988 is the earliest possible date, because that's when I started
going to that library. I'd say 1994 is the latest, because that was
about the age I moved on to the other library. However, I think 1991
or 1992 are more likely.
|
Request for Question Clarification by
juggler-ga
on
17 Mar 2006 16:54 PST
Was the teacher the heroine of the story? How old were the children?
Were they teens or pre-adolescents? Usually, "young adult" novels
feature teen protagonists, but your description makes the teacher
sound like the main character.
This is one of the most challenging book identification questions I've
ever seen on Google Answers. Nonetheless, as a book published in the
last 25 years or so and popular enough to have been in a library, the
book shouldn't be impossible to find. Have you tried going back to
the source and contacting the library where you first found it?
|
Clarification of Question by
villis-ga
on
17 Mar 2006 20:32 PST
I believe that the novel is actually from the point of view of one of
the children. I believe the POV character was female. However, I am
not positive about this- but the more I think about it the more sure I
become. I think it may have been in first person. I think the
children are young- I'm sure they are not teens. When they describe
what happens in the breakroom to the teacher they say that the men had
their heads in each other laps and such- they don't actually
understand what they are witnessing. The deaths are described the
same way. The teacher is the main focus but one of the children may
actually be the main character, as I think we are seeing the story
through that child's eyes.
Actually, I did go back to the library and searched book by book
through the entire library. It took me about a week. I questioned
the staff and no one had any memory of this book. The only reason I
am sure I didn't just dream it is that my mother remembers seeing the
book when I had it out. Someone out there MUST have read this book
beside myself!
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