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Ivy #3
Rowan the Strange
Rowan knows he is strange. But dangerous? He didn’t mean to scare his sister. In his right mind, he wouldn’t hurt a fly. But there’s a place he can go where they say they can fix his mind ... As the second World War begins, Rowan is diagnosed as schizophrenic and sent away to a hospital where the latest treatments are available. But the treatments are experimental still – and nobody predicts the effect they will have on Rowan.
8 pages, Audiobook
First published April 2, 2009
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July 11, 2011
It is September 1939 and Rowan Scrivener, 13, is in the fight of his life and it has nothing to do the war between England and Germany and everything to do with the state of his sanity. Rowan has always been a little ‘strange’ but now he is hearing voices in his head. They are getting louder and stronger and they are telling him to do things that hurt people.
His parents decide to put him in an asylum with the strong belief that Rowan will be helped there. The egotistical director, however, is more interested in publishing a razzle-dazzle article on a controversial new form of therapy then in helping Rowan. Electroshock, which sends electrical shocks to the brain, is relatively new and no one really knows what it will do, so the director has brought in a German doctor, Dr. von Metzer, to do some test cases and, diagnosed as schizophrenic, Rowan is an ideal candidate for it. But when Rowan emerges from the confusion of having his brain shocked, the doctors have a really unexpected consequence to deal with – Rowan now believes he is Superboy from the planet Krypton.
Rowan, however, isn't the only test case. He shares a room with Dorothea, a very intelligent teenaged girl with a quick smart mouth, who also just happens to see people’s guardian angels, including her own – Joan of Arc.
My first reaction to this book happened when I judged it by its cover. It has one of the worst covers I have ever seen and after I finished the book, I disliked the cover even more. It completely fails to capture Rowan’s basically kind, compassionate, serious nature. And so it sat on my shelf for a long time. But when I finally started reading, I was hooked before I finished the first page.
Rowan the Strange is set during the first year of World War II – the year of the phony war when no major fighting occurred - outside the asylum. But everyone’s nerves are taut with anticipation. Inside the asylum, deep feelings of hate are running high among the hospital’s staff against Dr. von Metzer, who, they assume, is a Nazi. And I admit, in the beginning, I expected von Metzer to be a Dr. Mengele equivalent. But I soon realized that Hearn turns all our expectations about the characters upside down in this book and, like the cover of the book, forces the reader to see beyond our first impressions.
Ms. Hearn has drawn the characters of Rowan, Dorothea and Dr. von Metzer with such depth, that the loneliness they feel because of their ‘outsider’ status is palpable. But the bond that forms between these three very gentle people is so genuine that it is enviable, especially in comparison to some of the other more socially acceptable but cruel, superficial characters in the novel.
Rowan the Strange is also a YA novel that could, like so many coming of age novels, have a great deal of appeal to an adult audience. It is straightforward story and, though not predictable, it is disturbing. Ms. Hearn’s writing style is clear and concise, and the topic of mental illness well researched. There are detailed descriptions of how electroshock is done and the immediate recovery process, which I found disquieting. There is also an interesting parallel between the treatment Rowan receives in an asylum thought to be compassionate and the so-called ‘euthanasia’ certain children were subjected to in Nazi Germany at the same time.
We live in a world where mental illness is not longer hidden away in asylums, but retrograde often happens, and we go back to doing things the old way. I highly recommend reading Rowan the Strange, first because it is a good, well written story and second, to remind us that asylums are not necessarily good things to go back to. I rather agree with Dr. Metzer’s comments:
“Compassion…human kindness…the effects of these, are far more than the shocks. I have seen and can measure with confidence. Cruelty too. And just recently I have come to a startling thought: is a person’s strangeness always to be seen as such a terrible thing? A thing to be altered, hidden away or even, in extreme cases--” (pg 308)
This book is recommended for readers age 12 and up.
This book was purchased for my personal library.
Julie Hearn received the following well-deserved honors for Rowan the Strange
2009 Shortlisted for the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize
2010 Shortlisted for the CILIP Carnegie Medal
His parents decide to put him in an asylum with the strong belief that Rowan will be helped there. The egotistical director, however, is more interested in publishing a razzle-dazzle article on a controversial new form of therapy then in helping Rowan. Electroshock, which sends electrical shocks to the brain, is relatively new and no one really knows what it will do, so the director has brought in a German doctor, Dr. von Metzer, to do some test cases and, diagnosed as schizophrenic, Rowan is an ideal candidate for it. But when Rowan emerges from the confusion of having his brain shocked, the doctors have a really unexpected consequence to deal with – Rowan now believes he is Superboy from the planet Krypton.
Rowan, however, isn't the only test case. He shares a room with Dorothea, a very intelligent teenaged girl with a quick smart mouth, who also just happens to see people’s guardian angels, including her own – Joan of Arc.
My first reaction to this book happened when I judged it by its cover. It has one of the worst covers I have ever seen and after I finished the book, I disliked the cover even more. It completely fails to capture Rowan’s basically kind, compassionate, serious nature. And so it sat on my shelf for a long time. But when I finally started reading, I was hooked before I finished the first page.
Rowan the Strange is set during the first year of World War II – the year of the phony war when no major fighting occurred - outside the asylum. But everyone’s nerves are taut with anticipation. Inside the asylum, deep feelings of hate are running high among the hospital’s staff against Dr. von Metzer, who, they assume, is a Nazi. And I admit, in the beginning, I expected von Metzer to be a Dr. Mengele equivalent. But I soon realized that Hearn turns all our expectations about the characters upside down in this book and, like the cover of the book, forces the reader to see beyond our first impressions.
Ms. Hearn has drawn the characters of Rowan, Dorothea and Dr. von Metzer with such depth, that the loneliness they feel because of their ‘outsider’ status is palpable. But the bond that forms between these three very gentle people is so genuine that it is enviable, especially in comparison to some of the other more socially acceptable but cruel, superficial characters in the novel.
Rowan the Strange is also a YA novel that could, like so many coming of age novels, have a great deal of appeal to an adult audience. It is straightforward story and, though not predictable, it is disturbing. Ms. Hearn’s writing style is clear and concise, and the topic of mental illness well researched. There are detailed descriptions of how electroshock is done and the immediate recovery process, which I found disquieting. There is also an interesting parallel between the treatment Rowan receives in an asylum thought to be compassionate and the so-called ‘euthanasia’ certain children were subjected to in Nazi Germany at the same time.
We live in a world where mental illness is not longer hidden away in asylums, but retrograde often happens, and we go back to doing things the old way. I highly recommend reading Rowan the Strange, first because it is a good, well written story and second, to remind us that asylums are not necessarily good things to go back to. I rather agree with Dr. Metzer’s comments:
“Compassion…human kindness…the effects of these, are far more than the shocks. I have seen and can measure with confidence. Cruelty too. And just recently I have come to a startling thought: is a person’s strangeness always to be seen as such a terrible thing? A thing to be altered, hidden away or even, in extreme cases--” (pg 308)
This book is recommended for readers age 12 and up.
This book was purchased for my personal library.
Julie Hearn received the following well-deserved honors for Rowan the Strange
2009 Shortlisted for the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize
2010 Shortlisted for the CILIP Carnegie Medal
September 13, 2010
I absolutely loved this book! Having read all of Julie Hearn books I have to say this was my favourite of them all. It's funny and so sad :( Nearly made me cry a few times. A must read I thinnk :D
November 26, 2011
The cover and the description for this book are highly misleading; they make it sound like it's going to be some creepy One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest type story, or even science fiction. Instead, although the characters and setting is indeed a troubling one -- the patients and staff at a mental hospital in Britain in 1939 -- the story is, in the end, almost heartwarming.
There were so many characters to appreciate here. Rowan's family, particularly his eccentric dog-loving grandmother, captivated me. Though stressed and bewildered by his illness, they truly wanted what was best for him. The same for his psychiatrist, Dr. von Metzer, a kind and compassionate doctor whose biggest problem was being German in a very xenophobic Britain. Dorothea was annoying but refreshingly real, and the other patients in Rowan's unit were fully drawn, not just cardboard cutouts like supporting characters often are. Even the bad people in the story weren't evil, just bigoted and selfish.
The historical details of the early war -- gas masks, blackout curtains, evacuations of children to the countryside -- were authentic and added color to the story without seeming too didactic. I thought the subplot about Germany's T4 program was very well done.
I would recommend Rowan the Strange to junior high schoolers up through adulthood. There's a lot for people to like in this book.
There were so many characters to appreciate here. Rowan's family, particularly his eccentric dog-loving grandmother, captivated me. Though stressed and bewildered by his illness, they truly wanted what was best for him. The same for his psychiatrist, Dr. von Metzer, a kind and compassionate doctor whose biggest problem was being German in a very xenophobic Britain. Dorothea was annoying but refreshingly real, and the other patients in Rowan's unit were fully drawn, not just cardboard cutouts like supporting characters often are. Even the bad people in the story weren't evil, just bigoted and selfish.
The historical details of the early war -- gas masks, blackout curtains, evacuations of children to the countryside -- were authentic and added color to the story without seeming too didactic. I thought the subplot about Germany's T4 program was very well done.
I would recommend Rowan the Strange to junior high schoolers up through adulthood. There's a lot for people to like in this book.
July 24, 2013
A strange little bit disjointed crossover book. Didn't really flow for me. Some of the descriptions of early use of electric shock treatment for schizophrenia and mental illness were interesting but a bit sketchy. What was truly disturbing (particularly for me as an adult) were the atrocities alluded to in Nazi Germany taking place in the hospitals full of mentally and physically disabled children. Described via coded Christmas cards this small section was a blood chilling reminder of the horrors of the Nazi regime.
July 15, 2014
genuinely amazing fantastic and heart breaking. READ THIS AND ENJOY
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October 23, 2011Rowan the Strange by Lily Hearn
Story set in wartime England. Rowan is a boy from a well-off and eccentric family. He suffers from bouts of strange behaviour – becomes very anxious and then hears voices and behaves strangely without much recall of what he has done. His own bewilderment is portrayed well in the start. In one of these spells he hurts his sister and it frightens him that his family is getting scared of him.
He is sent to a mental hospital, where a new researcher from Germany is trying out new therapy – which turns out to be shock therapy.
The book is startling in unexpected ways – it is quite strongly against xenophobia and speaks out against the strange being targeted. The strange being the mentally ill, but also the stranger in the country in the time of war. It is not the German scientist with his new electric shock therapy who is dangerous – he questions his values and treatments the whole time, his care is for the patients under his care – but the administration who wants the glory of new research at the cost of the well-being of patients. There is a bit in about Hitler starting euthanasia programmes in Germany on the mentally ill, the weak. The experimental therapy work is presented as shocking and frightful, but not one-sidedly good or bad.
It reads well – it is aimed at a youth market, so the idea is to present this story, not to reflect on the consciousness or represent it in incoherence, which it might have done in a different telling.
My one criticism might be that we can see Rowan’s strangeness when he is home, his own bewilderment – there is no doubt that he is troubled. However, when he is in the hospital, this sense vanishes to a large extent. The story must move towards him ‘getting out’, but this need seems to have less to do with him healing than with the place in itself being threatening (corrupt administration, meanness from staff, community disgruntlement).
I read the book some time ago, cant quickly find itin my list though. Guess December 2010. Want to bookcross it - though I liked it, I feel it can travel (I don't need it in that way).
Story set in wartime England. Rowan is a boy from a well-off and eccentric family. He suffers from bouts of strange behaviour – becomes very anxious and then hears voices and behaves strangely without much recall of what he has done. His own bewilderment is portrayed well in the start. In one of these spells he hurts his sister and it frightens him that his family is getting scared of him.
He is sent to a mental hospital, where a new researcher from Germany is trying out new therapy – which turns out to be shock therapy.
The book is startling in unexpected ways – it is quite strongly against xenophobia and speaks out against the strange being targeted. The strange being the mentally ill, but also the stranger in the country in the time of war. It is not the German scientist with his new electric shock therapy who is dangerous – he questions his values and treatments the whole time, his care is for the patients under his care – but the administration who wants the glory of new research at the cost of the well-being of patients. There is a bit in about Hitler starting euthanasia programmes in Germany on the mentally ill, the weak. The experimental therapy work is presented as shocking and frightful, but not one-sidedly good or bad.
It reads well – it is aimed at a youth market, so the idea is to present this story, not to reflect on the consciousness or represent it in incoherence, which it might have done in a different telling.
My one criticism might be that we can see Rowan’s strangeness when he is home, his own bewilderment – there is no doubt that he is troubled. However, when he is in the hospital, this sense vanishes to a large extent. The story must move towards him ‘getting out’, but this need seems to have less to do with him healing than with the place in itself being threatening (corrupt administration, meanness from staff, community disgruntlement).
I read the book some time ago, cant quickly find itin my list though. Guess December 2010. Want to bookcross it - though I liked it, I feel it can travel (I don't need it in that way).
April 4, 2014
Zgodba o odraščanju, drugačnosti, elektrošokih, junaštvu in življenju v psihiatrični bolnišnici, ki je za Rowana veliko lažje kot "zunaj" v resničnem, normalnem svetu.
May 4, 2021
Best book cover I have ever seen. My personal belief is that the success of this novel is directly correlated to the boy on the cover, although I did enjoy the book somewhat. Its truly a battle trying to decide who is more talented, the amazing mystery man behind the camera that originally took the photo, or the talented young man who portrays Rowan. They say don't judge a book by its cover, probably because no amount of writing could ever amount to the perfection that is this cover. If a regular picture is worth a thousand words, then this book would have to be immensely longer than the Encyclopedia Brittanica. The cover photo is best described as the outcome of Ansel Adams' camera fucking Annie Liebowitz's camera. This cover photo makes every other work of art obsolete. I would rather own the original photo than the Mona Lisa. Julie Hearn owes every ounce of her success to whoever designed this cover, whoever took the photo, and most of all the book cover model. Actions speak louder than words, and this book cover speaks even louder. I removed every family photo from the frames on my mantle, and replaced them with this cover. Paul McCartney has been quoted as saying, "If this photo had been around years earlier, it would have been the cover for The White Album". They should change the title from Rowan The Strange to Rowan the Ridiculously Good Looking. Unless you are the photographer who took that photo, you should give up on your career because you will never be as good as he/she is. I pray every second that the sequel to this book is nothing but hundreds of pages of this cover, over and over. I would literally wallpaper my entire house with this photo. When humans have faded from existence, another species will find remnants of our civilization. They surely will find us destructive and appalling at first, but upon the discovery of this book they will immediately shift their opinion. "They destroyed their own planet and brought their own extinction upon them, but the one worthy accomplishment of this species was this breathtaking work of art upon the cover of this decent book" is what they'll say. Anyone and everyone who has or ever will lay eyes upon this cover should consider themselves lucky, and enjoy it as it will be the peak of your entire life. Nothing in my life holds even the slightest amount of joy anymore, except for staring at this book cover. The worst moments are when I have to blink, and spend a microsecond blinded by blackness instead of blessed by the most beautiful image in the history of mankind. I would happily take the crippling mental illnesses Rowan suffers from in the novel if it meant I got to embody the character as a whole, based off the cover.
To sum up, decent book. Legendary book cover. I give 4 stars to Julie Hearn, and the entire Hollywood Walk Of Fame to the godlike creators of the cover. We are told not to judge people from the outside, but in the case of this book, the outside is Brad Pitt crossed with Leonardo DiCaprio and makes the inside look like Steve Buscemi. I've spent my whole life believing that my calling was to be a cover art critic, but after today nothing else with ever compare. My true calling was just to lay eyes upon this book, and I could die tomorrow a happy man now that I have.
To sum up, decent book. Legendary book cover. I give 4 stars to Julie Hearn, and the entire Hollywood Walk Of Fame to the godlike creators of the cover. We are told not to judge people from the outside, but in the case of this book, the outside is Brad Pitt crossed with Leonardo DiCaprio and makes the inside look like Steve Buscemi. I've spent my whole life believing that my calling was to be a cover art critic, but after today nothing else with ever compare. My true calling was just to lay eyes upon this book, and I could die tomorrow a happy man now that I have.
November 26, 2024
My favorite of the "Ivy" trilogy. Beautifully researched and presented.
May 15, 2025
I really enjoyed it but I definitely with that Dorothea didn't kill herself because it was horrible and I actually cried 😭
xxx
xxx
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 29, 2010
In a classic case of don't judge a book by its cover, Julie Hearn's Rowan The Strange is a moving, emotional and unforgettable read centering around 13-year-old Rowan Scrivener, a British teen battling "voices" in his head. It's 1939 and England is at war -- just as the battles begin in the Scrivener home. When Rowan accidentally harms his young sister, his parents decide it's time to take him where he can get well: an asylum in the countryside.
Under the care of Dr. von Metzer, a German with experience in mental illness, Rowan undergoes electric shock therapy -- and develops interesting new personality traits. While undergoing treatment, he meets Dorothea, a young woman who believes each of us has a guardian angel looking out for us. Spirited, angry and sarcastic, Dorothea "runs" the ward where Rowan stays -- which, for a while, includes just the two of them.
The unlikely friends work through their issues together as they prepare for the Christmas pantomime, a play the asylum's attendees put on each holiday season. After Rowan is cast in a major role, he must confront his own fears to perform his part well. And maybe help others in the process.
The book's strength lies in our main character -- a young boy who has no idea what's happening to him and why, who desperately clings to the belief that someday he'll be "normal." Taunted as "Ro the Strange" by classmates and his sister, Rowan tries to control the voice in his head that causes him to have "panics" and do strange things, but he's powerless to stop it. What carried me through the narrative was the belief that Rowan was, in his heart, a good person -- a good son, a good brother. This wasn't his fault. It wasn't anyone's fault, really, but it most especially wasn't his.
Every preconceived notion I had about the plot proved wrong. I assumed the Scriveners would be a surly lot, angry that they had a "damaged" son, embarrassed by him and desperate to send him away. (Wrong.) I assumed Rowan would be an awkward, silly boy, dangerous and scary and just plain weird. (Wrong.) I assumed Dr. Von would be a masochist, a deranged German doctor with no regard for his patients' well-being and only a regard for the "science" of the experiments he performed on them. (Wrong.)
In fact, I was wrong about nearly everything in Hearn's novel -- including my own belief that I would loathe this one, turning the pages as if weights were positioned on my fingers. In reality? I tore through it in record time, eager to find out what happened to Rowan and hopeful that he would find the solace he seeked. I loved his nana, a kindly woman who never once treated Rowan like he was someone to fear, and his parents, who were so supportive. Against the backdrop of World War II in London, the Scriveners managed to stay brave, strong and loving -- even with their children all over the country.
You know? I just loved this book. If you get the chance, I think you'll -- surprisingly! -- really love it, too.
Under the care of Dr. von Metzer, a German with experience in mental illness, Rowan undergoes electric shock therapy -- and develops interesting new personality traits. While undergoing treatment, he meets Dorothea, a young woman who believes each of us has a guardian angel looking out for us. Spirited, angry and sarcastic, Dorothea "runs" the ward where Rowan stays -- which, for a while, includes just the two of them.
The unlikely friends work through their issues together as they prepare for the Christmas pantomime, a play the asylum's attendees put on each holiday season. After Rowan is cast in a major role, he must confront his own fears to perform his part well. And maybe help others in the process.
The book's strength lies in our main character -- a young boy who has no idea what's happening to him and why, who desperately clings to the belief that someday he'll be "normal." Taunted as "Ro the Strange" by classmates and his sister, Rowan tries to control the voice in his head that causes him to have "panics" and do strange things, but he's powerless to stop it. What carried me through the narrative was the belief that Rowan was, in his heart, a good person -- a good son, a good brother. This wasn't his fault. It wasn't anyone's fault, really, but it most especially wasn't his.
Every preconceived notion I had about the plot proved wrong. I assumed the Scriveners would be a surly lot, angry that they had a "damaged" son, embarrassed by him and desperate to send him away. (Wrong.) I assumed Rowan would be an awkward, silly boy, dangerous and scary and just plain weird. (Wrong.) I assumed Dr. Von would be a masochist, a deranged German doctor with no regard for his patients' well-being and only a regard for the "science" of the experiments he performed on them. (Wrong.)
In fact, I was wrong about nearly everything in Hearn's novel -- including my own belief that I would loathe this one, turning the pages as if weights were positioned on my fingers. In reality? I tore through it in record time, eager to find out what happened to Rowan and hopeful that he would find the solace he seeked. I loved his nana, a kindly woman who never once treated Rowan like he was someone to fear, and his parents, who were so supportive. Against the backdrop of World War II in London, the Scriveners managed to stay brave, strong and loving -- even with their children all over the country.
You know? I just loved this book. If you get the chance, I think you'll -- surprisingly! -- really love it, too.
July 23, 2009
Review from my blog.
An emotional read. Rowan is 13 and it's 1939. The Second World War has just started. The country is gripped by paranoia and fear. Fears of German spies are running wild. Thoughts of threat of invisible killer gas attacks and wondering when the bombs will start to fall occupy the minds of the nation. This is a very bad time to be exhibiting the first signs of schizophrenia as young Rowan does. After an incident where he violently breaks three of his sister's fingers with a piano lid followed by another incident with a knife, the boy is admitted to a place which promises to put him to rights. Unbeknown to his family, he is soon used as an experimental test subject in the use of a new process being trialled in Italy. Electroconvulsive therapy.
The book is extremely well handled with some great characters. I loved Dorothea. But there are other fascinating characters to get to know like Doctor Von whose psychological journey is almost as traumatic as some of his test subjects. The passages where the Nazis' policy is revealed to Doctor Von for killing children who are institutionalized disabled or mentally ill by compulsory euthanasia are truly chilling.The story has some clever parallels with The Wizard of Oz, and the physical performance of Peter Pan as the Christmas pantomime has a profound affect on many of the troubled inhabitants of the psychiatric hospital. Very compelling and memorable. There are two other books by Julie Hearn that are about Rowan's mother and grandmother. I shall seek them out.
An emotional read. Rowan is 13 and it's 1939. The Second World War has just started. The country is gripped by paranoia and fear. Fears of German spies are running wild. Thoughts of threat of invisible killer gas attacks and wondering when the bombs will start to fall occupy the minds of the nation. This is a very bad time to be exhibiting the first signs of schizophrenia as young Rowan does. After an incident where he violently breaks three of his sister's fingers with a piano lid followed by another incident with a knife, the boy is admitted to a place which promises to put him to rights. Unbeknown to his family, he is soon used as an experimental test subject in the use of a new process being trialled in Italy. Electroconvulsive therapy.
The book is extremely well handled with some great characters. I loved Dorothea. But there are other fascinating characters to get to know like Doctor Von whose psychological journey is almost as traumatic as some of his test subjects. The passages where the Nazis' policy is revealed to Doctor Von for killing children who are institutionalized disabled or mentally ill by compulsory euthanasia are truly chilling.The story has some clever parallels with The Wizard of Oz, and the physical performance of Peter Pan as the Christmas pantomime has a profound affect on many of the troubled inhabitants of the psychiatric hospital. Very compelling and memorable. There are two other books by Julie Hearn that are about Rowan's mother and grandmother. I shall seek them out.
June 29, 2011
The cat doesn’t really get all the gushing about Rowan the Strange by Julie Hearn. Not that she found it a struggle to get through this book, she just didn’t know what all the fuss was about.
Set in 1939 in London, by all accounts a time of confusion and hardship, Rowan Scrivener is the strange one, he has these uncontrollable fits, which turn out to be symptomatic for his schizophrenia. For his own and his family’s safety he is sent to an asylum in Kent. His mother signs a waiver agreeing to all necessary therapies, not really realizing Rowan will be submitted to electroconvulsive shock therapy – the man in charge here is a German doctor, no less!
Maybe the rave reviews have something to do with the setting of the book: an English insane asylum at the beginning of the Second World War, with a department run by a German doctor? Or maybe it’s about the reversal of roles (bad nursie, good Jerry). Or maybe it’s because mad kids just invoke sympathy? Or maybe it’s making the production of Peter Pan by the loonies and nurses alike central in your book (you know…the road to self-discovery and all that). Or maybe it’s the fact that Julie Hearn doesn’t make it very hard to get through this book in one sitting?
All in all, the cat would guess that Julie Hearn has attempted to write a One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest but then for children. Nice attempt, I’m sure this would work as a film too…or would have worked as a film, like 20 or 30 or so ago. I guess it might be this that made the cat feel as if this was just nothing new…the story in itself – though interesting enough – feels oddly old-fashioned, as did Julie Hearn’s style. This one won’t stick.
Set in 1939 in London, by all accounts a time of confusion and hardship, Rowan Scrivener is the strange one, he has these uncontrollable fits, which turn out to be symptomatic for his schizophrenia. For his own and his family’s safety he is sent to an asylum in Kent. His mother signs a waiver agreeing to all necessary therapies, not really realizing Rowan will be submitted to electroconvulsive shock therapy – the man in charge here is a German doctor, no less!
Maybe the rave reviews have something to do with the setting of the book: an English insane asylum at the beginning of the Second World War, with a department run by a German doctor? Or maybe it’s about the reversal of roles (bad nursie, good Jerry). Or maybe it’s because mad kids just invoke sympathy? Or maybe it’s making the production of Peter Pan by the loonies and nurses alike central in your book (you know…the road to self-discovery and all that). Or maybe it’s the fact that Julie Hearn doesn’t make it very hard to get through this book in one sitting?
All in all, the cat would guess that Julie Hearn has attempted to write a One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest but then for children. Nice attempt, I’m sure this would work as a film too…or would have worked as a film, like 20 or 30 or so ago. I guess it might be this that made the cat feel as if this was just nothing new…the story in itself – though interesting enough – feels oddly old-fashioned, as did Julie Hearn’s style. This one won’t stick.
October 31, 2014
Rowan Scrivener hears a voice, and sometimes, when stressed or scared, the voice makes him do things he never would normally, like the time he slammed the lid of the piano down on his sister's hand, breaking three of her fingers. It is 1939, war has just broken out, London is under blackout and schizophrenia is poorly understood. Rowan is sent to a hospital where he is to undergo a radical new therapy, administered by a German doctor.
What a brilliant, beautiful, heartrending book. Its power lies in its understated humanity. Rowan's is a tiny, surely insignificant drama in the face of the coming global conflict. He is not treated harshly or cruelly, but by today's standards it is clumsy, callous, insensitive and even contemptuous. Set against the scale of human suffering, however, Rowan seems downright lucky. About halfway through, in a scene of quiet devastation, we discover why this book has been set when it has and why the doctor is German, and suddenly every tiny mistreatment is set in sharp relief, not diminished but accentuated, as these vulnerable people are horribly exposed in the face of indifference or fear or spite at the hands of others.
This isn't a tale of plucky rebellion against institutional authority, it's a story of people struggling against an illness they cannot understand trying to get better with the help of people with limited insight, and who do not understand the limits of their vision.
Yeah, I cried.
What a brilliant, beautiful, heartrending book. Its power lies in its understated humanity. Rowan's is a tiny, surely insignificant drama in the face of the coming global conflict. He is not treated harshly or cruelly, but by today's standards it is clumsy, callous, insensitive and even contemptuous. Set against the scale of human suffering, however, Rowan seems downright lucky. About halfway through, in a scene of quiet devastation, we discover why this book has been set when it has and why the doctor is German, and suddenly every tiny mistreatment is set in sharp relief, not diminished but accentuated, as these vulnerable people are horribly exposed in the face of indifference or fear or spite at the hands of others.
This isn't a tale of plucky rebellion against institutional authority, it's a story of people struggling against an illness they cannot understand trying to get better with the help of people with limited insight, and who do not understand the limits of their vision.
Yeah, I cried.
February 27, 2010
This is a highly compelling story, about Rowan, a lonely teenager with schizophrenia, during the WWII.
Ro-the-Strange has unexpected, aggressive craves that, after an uncontrollable occurrence involving his sister, forces his parents to send him to a lunatic asylum. This is just the icing on the cake for them once they realise that they can’t cope with Rowan’s sudden urges. Once there, Rowan becomes the subject to an experimental treatment- electroconvulsive therapy. Alongside Julie’s expressive descriptions, we follow the events inside the institution, and soon meet Dorothea, a lively young girl who believes that everyone has a guardian angel – except those whose angel has gotten sick of them of course! Dorothea’s guardian is St. Joan – of Arc that is, who, it looks like, leads a difficult life with Dorothea and her troubled ways. It’s so sad when Dorothea commits suicide, it really makes you think about what would’ve happened had she not done this to herself and the loving people around her.
I think that Julie Hearn has given us a life-changing tale, full of compassion, hope, and courage.
I have also find out that this is the third in a series, a sequel to Hazel and Ivy, notice anything? But it works amazingly well and could easily be mistaken as a stand-alone novel.
Ro-the-Strange has unexpected, aggressive craves that, after an uncontrollable occurrence involving his sister, forces his parents to send him to a lunatic asylum. This is just the icing on the cake for them once they realise that they can’t cope with Rowan’s sudden urges. Once there, Rowan becomes the subject to an experimental treatment- electroconvulsive therapy. Alongside Julie’s expressive descriptions, we follow the events inside the institution, and soon meet Dorothea, a lively young girl who believes that everyone has a guardian angel – except those whose angel has gotten sick of them of course! Dorothea’s guardian is St. Joan – of Arc that is, who, it looks like, leads a difficult life with Dorothea and her troubled ways. It’s so sad when Dorothea commits suicide, it really makes you think about what would’ve happened had she not done this to herself and the loving people around her.
I think that Julie Hearn has given us a life-changing tale, full of compassion, hope, and courage.
I have also find out that this is the third in a series, a sequel to Hazel and Ivy, notice anything? But it works amazingly well and could easily be mistaken as a stand-alone novel.
October 16, 2011
This absolutely marvellous book is about a 13-year-old boy who is diagnosed as a schizophrenic during WWII. While his siblings are evacuated from London to the countryside, Rowan finds himself sent to an asylum, where there are creepily beautiful, vapid nurses and a German doctor who is experimenting with electro-shock therapy...
At first glance, at least, things seem extremely sinister to the reader. Dr von Metzer is not what he seems, though, and neither are the other 'inmates', particularly a girl called Dorothea, who claims to be able to see everyone's guardian angel and has Joan of Arc for her own.
Hearn manages to make this an absorbing, readable story that is positive in parts without being cloying, yet infuses certain sections with such pain and grief that they hit the reader in the gut almost out of the blue.
When we talk about YA lit, we do need to think about the messages/lessons of each book, cloaked a little more shabbily in less skilfully crafted works and more subtly as themes in works like this one. I think this is an excellent book with which to discuss the questions of prejudice, family relationships vs. friendships, and history... but if you are not a teacher or parent, then you can enjoy it simply for its own sake, as a great story.
At first glance, at least, things seem extremely sinister to the reader. Dr von Metzer is not what he seems, though, and neither are the other 'inmates', particularly a girl called Dorothea, who claims to be able to see everyone's guardian angel and has Joan of Arc for her own.
Hearn manages to make this an absorbing, readable story that is positive in parts without being cloying, yet infuses certain sections with such pain and grief that they hit the reader in the gut almost out of the blue.
When we talk about YA lit, we do need to think about the messages/lessons of each book, cloaked a little more shabbily in less skilfully crafted works and more subtly as themes in works like this one. I think this is an excellent book with which to discuss the questions of prejudice, family relationships vs. friendships, and history... but if you are not a teacher or parent, then you can enjoy it simply for its own sake, as a great story.
April 8, 2017
This book wasn't at all what I was expecting.
The book follows the story of Rowan a young boy who is sent away by his family to a mental hospital because he is strange. During the course of the book you see how he is treated by the staff at the hospital, other patients and his family. It also has the nice touch of being set during the early part of World War Two.
The main reason I would recommend someone should read this is because it gives you real insight into how people with mental illness were treated and viewed during the 1940s. The treatments used are quite horrific and the way they are treated by other is at times appalling.
I loved the relationship between Rowan and Dorothea another hospital inmate. The dialogue between them was really funny and heartwarming at times and really heart breaking at other times.
The story also had another edge when looked at the German Doctor who worked at the hospital and his motivation for doing what he was doing. It touched on the T4 programme in Germany and ideas about the role of bystanders allowing such terrible things to happen.
All in all defiantely not the book I was expecting to read. A interesting read with many issues raised.
The book follows the story of Rowan a young boy who is sent away by his family to a mental hospital because he is strange. During the course of the book you see how he is treated by the staff at the hospital, other patients and his family. It also has the nice touch of being set during the early part of World War Two.
The main reason I would recommend someone should read this is because it gives you real insight into how people with mental illness were treated and viewed during the 1940s. The treatments used are quite horrific and the way they are treated by other is at times appalling.
I loved the relationship between Rowan and Dorothea another hospital inmate. The dialogue between them was really funny and heartwarming at times and really heart breaking at other times.
The story also had another edge when looked at the German Doctor who worked at the hospital and his motivation for doing what he was doing. It touched on the T4 programme in Germany and ideas about the role of bystanders allowing such terrible things to happen.
All in all defiantely not the book I was expecting to read. A interesting read with many issues raised.
Read
August 30, 2011This book certainly does belong on the Carnegie Medal shortlist. Rowan is 13, living in Spitalfields with his family (artist father, writer mother, two sisters) in 1939, when children are being evacuated from London to escape the threat of German bombs. When he has panic attacks and behaves violently, injuring his younger sister, his parents and grandmother take him to a mental hospital in Kent. For a while, I thought it would be a familiarly depressing account of the misguided treatment of mental illness--the doctor who is experimenting with electro-shock therapy has a German name, and the director of the hospital is greedy for both fame and wealth. But the German doctor is a much more complex character, and Rowan does work out his own identity through a series of events including a Christmas pantomime production of Peter Pan and a visit with the doctor and other patients to the cinema to see The Wizard of Oz. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this book to either children or adults.
August 9, 2010
Wow, pretty intense stuff. A little slow to start but it certainly picked up, though it was never exactly a 'light' read. The Christmas card Dr. von Metzen received from his colleague in Munich was *chilling*.
Rowan was interesting, not always likeable but fantastic at the end where it counted most. I loved how his grandmother was actually the title character from Ivy! It was fabulous to see how her life had gone, that she was still working with animals. Interesting detail and it wouldn't matter at all if you hadn't read Ivy, just a bonus if you had. Now I need to read Hazel to fill in the missing middle :D
Rowan was interesting, not always likeable but fantastic at the end where it counted most. I loved how his grandmother was actually the title character from Ivy! It was fabulous to see how her life had gone, that she was still working with animals. Interesting detail and it wouldn't matter at all if you hadn't read Ivy, just a bonus if you had. Now I need to read Hazel to fill in the missing middle :D
May 17, 2012
Excellent example of the genre 'teenage fiction'. This is a well-written, adeptly-thought out novel - with themes that should get young people thinking....mental health, racism, hypocrisy ...
I am a little nonplussed by the frightful cover, but in a way, it teaches one not to 'judge a book by its cover'. So too, we must not judge people by their outer appearance, but look within.
Rowan and Dorothea are intriguing and believable characters, despite the 3rd-person narrator giving us their thoughts.
The Christmas card parable of the Nazi atrocities towards 'strange' children is masterly.
I am a little nonplussed by the frightful cover, but in a way, it teaches one not to 'judge a book by its cover'. So too, we must not judge people by their outer appearance, but look within.
Rowan and Dorothea are intriguing and believable characters, despite the 3rd-person narrator giving us their thoughts.
The Christmas card parable of the Nazi atrocities towards 'strange' children is masterly.
January 1, 2015
Interesting book set in Wartime England. After a few episodes Rowan's family place him in the care of an asylum. He is diagnosed with schizophrenia and undergoes shock electrotherapy. The story of Rowan and the other 'unique' occupants of his ward coupled with the back stories of the medical staff looking after them instills many emotions as you follow their journey to a "cure". Humour, pathos, anger, shock with a heart warming ending.
March 8, 2009
Mental illness and experimental treatments supervised by a German doctor during WWII. There are an awful lot of issues covered in this book. But it is done with a light touch - the plot moves forward smoothly and the characters are beautifully drawn.
Perhaps it is because my children are younger, but I worry about this being too harrowing for some teens. It has certainly stayed with me.
Perhaps it is because my children are younger, but I worry about this being too harrowing for some teens. It has certainly stayed with me.
May 5, 2014
This book was fine. I neither liked it nor disliked it. Nothing really happened. I think this is why I so often avoid YA - I hate horrors being alluded to but never explored, it just irks me. This was sad and sweet and funny at times. The writing was decent. It just didn't grab me particularly.
May 13, 2010
i thought it was a good book gave me lots of insight into Schizophrenia
March 24, 2011
This is the fictional story of a schizophrenic boy treated with electro-convulsive therapy in 1939. It was surprisingly (and perhaps unrealistically) upbeat.
March 14, 2012
Great children's book exploring mental illness and war. A slow start but the narrative picks up the moment Rowan leaves home.
March 13, 2013
Interesting storyline, at times a bit boring.
October 15, 2014
Loved it, there are parts of this book which havecstayed withhme. Rowan is a brilliantly developed character. If you like YA novels with substance then I would recommend this.
May 28, 2010
An interesting and insightful read.
June 4, 2016
Excellent. Neigh on perfect
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