On My Honor by: Marion Dane Bauer

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Publisher: Yearling

Copyright Date: 1987

Number of Pages: 96

Reading Level: 9-12

Summary:

Two friends, Joel and Tony. Tony is an exciting kid who always wants to try something new, do something crazy, and get into trouble. Joel is more reserved but goes along with Tony because they have been best friends since there were little. One day Tony has the bright idea that they should ride there bikes out to Starved Rock to go climb the bluffs, something they aren't allowed to do. Joel hesitates and Tony scoffs at him and calls him a wimp and a baby. Joel knows that they aren't allowed to, and really doesn't want to. But, Tony always gets his way. Joel, in a desperate attempt to find a way not to go, asks his dad if they can go to Starved Rock to "hike" leaving out the part that they will be climbing the bluffs. He is sure his dad will say no because he never lets them cross the street without someone watching let alone ride there bikes all the way to Starved Hill alone. His dad says yes. Joel is disappointed but can't see a way out, so they set off, Tony on Joel's new 10 speed bike.

They are riding for a while enjoying the speed, Joel nervous for where they were headed. Then they cross the bridge over the nasty, muddy river and Tony stops. Tony decides that they should go down to the river. Joel knew this was a stupid plan because the river was dangerous and disgusting. But, he was desperate for a way to get out of going to the Bluffs. Before he knew it, Tony had stripped and was in the water persuading Joel to join him. Joel didn't want to but Tony again called him a baby and dared him to come in. Joel did, careful not to submerge his head. They were there a while when they decided to race each other to the sand bar out in the middle of the river. Joel was in the lead the whole time, he never realized what a terrible swimmer Tony was. When he made it to the sand bar, he jumped up, victorious! Tony was no where to be seen. Joel, knowing Tony, was sure Tony was playing a joke on him. He was laughing at first, but then he realized that Tony's clothes were still on the bank and there was no figure of a boy crouching in the bushes. Joel started to really worry now. He jumped back in the water making a desperate attempt to find his friend. Why had Tony never told him he couldn't swim!? Why had he agreed to swim across the river? He could barely touch the river bottom and knew that was how Tony must have been getting across. But then Joel found the dropout of the river bottom. At that point he knew that Tony had drown. He swam back to the shore, threw his pants on and ran up to the deserted highway to get help. He started running up the road in the direction of home. Eventually a car came, he stopped it and it was a teenager with his girlfriend. The boy had Joel show him where Tony went under and he tried to find him himself, but to no avail. The teenager told him he has to go to the police and Joel said he would, with no intention of doing so.

He didn't know what to do. He was going to be arrested, his parents were going to hate him, he was furious with Tony for the whole situation that he didn't want to be in in the first place. He decided to ride his bike to Starved Rock anyway. On his way there, he came up with a story that would cover what happened. He decided to tell everyone that Tony had stopped at the river and that he had continued on to Starved Rock without him. When he got home, he went up to his room and lay on his bed. He could smell the fishy smell of the water on him so he took a shower. It didn't help. He laid on his bed for a long time. He told everyone in turn his "story" and for once they believed him. His insides were screaming for them to know the truth but he was afraid. His night went on normally, he did his paper route with his younger brother... When he got home, there were police at Tony's house and they asked him what he knew. He told them the lie again... But then the truth came spilling out. He blamed his dad for letting him go, he blamed everyone, he ran to his room and lay on his bed, not crying. Eventually his dad came up. He apologized for letting them go. He said, this is something we are both going to have to live with. That is when Joel started crying. His dad was relieved that he was doing so. Joel told his dad about the fish smell and his dad said that it probably would take a long time for it to leave. Joel asked his dad to stay with him until he fell asleep.

Who would benefit from reading this book/who would I recommend this book to?
I don't think I would recommend this book to anyone.

What problems/conflicts could this book potentially cause?
It is about death through and through. But, I didn't feel like there was a good resolution at the end. This is a book that is a little advanced for the recommended reading level. If I were to recommend a book about death to a kid I would probably refer them to Bridge to Terabithia rather than this one. This one wasn't happy at any part of the book. Plus the dad talked about there not being a heaven and that goes against a lot of people's beliefs. That is the last thing a kid wants to hear when their friend has died.

My Reaction:
I thought this was a horribly sad book that didn't have a clear message, nor a clear resolution. I think that if a book is going to be about death it needs to have a resolution and a message that life does go on. This ended with Joel crying on his bed. This would not be the view of death that I want my children to have. I know that they need to be exposed to this kind of thing but death isn't the end and I certainly don't want them thinking it is. I didn't really like this book at all. Joel didn't even like Tony all that much, He didn't want to go with Tony, it was Tony's fault he died, the end... you know? What is that?? Anyway. This is one I won't be picking up any time soon.