Lodestar Books
March
1997
$16.99 US
192p hc
ISBN: 978-0525675488
The Taking Of Room 114: a hostage drama in poems
Mel Glenn
from the book...
What's up?
Is this a joke?
I gotta go to the DMV
And pick up my plates.
You crazy, man?
Put that thing down.
Students in Mr. Wiedermeyer's senior history class are in for a shock when they attend one of their last classes of the year. Held hostage by their gun-toting teacher, they all wonder if this might be not only the end of school but the end of their lives.
Trapped in the classroom, the students think about their years at Tower High. Five poems about each student - as a freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior, and on the day they are held hostage - reveal their dreams, secrets, and fears of contemporary teens in an urban high school.
As police, school administrators, and frustrated parents and spectators try to understand the puzzling and bitter notes that the teacher slips under the door, the hidden life of the high school comes to light. Readers will be gripped by the suspenseful story and will find their own lives reflected in these honest, hard-hitting poems by an award winning author.
If you have read this verse novel and would like to share your opinion of it with other readers please send your review or comments to YARR-A
The Taking of Room 114
is similar to Ron Koertge’s The
Brimstone Journals. It mainly follows the school days of the 22
students
attending Mr. Wiedermeyer’s senior history class at Tower High. For
most
students, it is one of their last classes of the year and boy are they
in for a
big surprise. Every student who walks into the class is held hostage by
a gun
wielding psychopathic history teacher. Join all 22 students as they
evolve from
freshman to sophomore, to junior and then finally to senior and find
out what
their darkest secrets and their future dreams are. What will happen to
these
young adults just before they are about to leave high school? Will they
ever be
able to follow their dreams and fulfill there different futures? But
the
over-arching question is what made Mr. Wiedermeyer tick.
The Taking of Room 114
was a very interesting to read. The book involves 44 characters e.g.
teachers,
students, parents and spectators. The fact that makes this book so
interesting
is that the author shows you how opinions can vary depending on what of
person
you are. It also shows how certain decision can change the course of
your life.
I would highly recommend this book to people who like mystery and over
13 years
old.
Aazim, Year 10, Canberra, Australia