Spider's Song
By Anita Daher
Toronto: Penguin Books, 2007
213 pages
Recommended Grade: 7-9
Will anybody find me somebody to love? The Anatomy of the Victim in Spider's Song
The Summary:
AJ, the protagonist of Anita Daher's Spider's Song, is a victim. Living in Yellowknife with her grandmother, AJ laments the loss of her parents: her dad seemingly taking off when she was a little girl and her mother pursuing a Bachelor of Education in Edmonton. With no friends, and a crippling sense of lonliness (although she exchanges emails with her mother), AJ, to ease her pain, goes "to her special place, an abandoned shack, and [does] things [cuts herself]" (13). AJ's life starts to turn around when she enters the school division's year-end photo contest. Teaming up with classmate and eventual friend, Mark, AJ initially joins to beat class rival Alex Murdock. While taking photos at a festival in Yellowknife, AJ meets a travelling musician, named Ed, who suggests that he is her long lost father. Overjoyed, AJ shares her thoughts on her blog (Cherry Blossom) and proceeds to take pictures of Ed for the contest, although he is less than enthusiastic. In a dramatic twist, Ed is revealed to be jilted lover from AJ's mother's past, who faked his own death in order to put AJ's father behind bars for murder. Ed, who wanted AJ to go away with him, is eventually caught and AJ is reunited with her father who is released from prison.
The Analysis:
AJ's vulnerability is pronounced throughout the novel. She feels completely alienated and alone. Mark says it best, when winning over AJ's friendship, in proclaiming, "freaks of the world unite" (9). Feeling that she has no one to talk to, AJ begins blogging about her life. Seemingly oblivious to the potential worldwide audience, AJ reveals her lonlieness and her desire to have a closer relationship with her mother and father.
Armed only with the name of AJ's mother (Cherry James), a "vaguely familiar face" (37), and an old photo of himself, Cherry and another man, Ed utilizes AJ's vulnerability to get close to her. Presented with these three items, AJ proclaims that Ed must be her father and immediately fantasizes a close relationship with the man he thinks his her father.
Clearly the novel highlights the dangers of identity and the internet. Ed fosters in AJ the idea of running away with him. Enthralled with Ed, AJ turns against her mother, writing on her blog that she is "unfair," "not so perfect," and at fault for how AJ's life developed (138). Even when Ed's true identity is revealed, AJ is oblvious to the fact that Ed used her blog to get information and get close to her.
While the novel presents several serious issues: self-mutilation and internet predators, it glosses over them to get to the next plot point. The novel begins with AJ cutting herself, but the scars from her affliction go unnoticed and her habit is hardly mentioned from there on out. The importance of AJ's blog for Ed is also glossed over. Ed uses AJ's blog to get close to her and nearly abduct her. The issue is dropped, however, in favor of nourishing an elaborate plot of a staged murder (which landed AJ's father in prison and out of her life).
Recommendation:
Spider's Song is a suitable read for teens between the ages of thirteen and fifteen. While the plot may be engrossing for teens of this age range, I do not think that the novel offers enough depth to be studied in school.
Dear Joel,
ReplyDeleteThis seems like an interesting book that examines many important aspects of teenage life. I believe that it is important to openly talk about the dangers of the internet and depression. Although the book may not be ideal for class use, it is important for students to learn about these serious concepts.
Evan Pasternak