Tagged

by Eric Walters

The city is cracking down on graffiti and guerilla art. Between that and cutbacks to the local art gallery it seems like nothing is safe. But Oswald, masquerading as a graffiti artist known as The Wiz, is fighting back—by painting elaborate murals in public places and planting art in the galleries, and then by taking on the mayor himself. As the fight escalates and the stakes become higher, Oswald gets in deeper than he meant to and needs to rely on his friends to get him out of his latest mess.

Genres: Fiction, Young Adult

136 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Eric was born in Toronto in 1957, which makes him "real old". But, as Eric says, "Just because I have to grow old doesn't mean that I have to grow up!" In his many roles as parent, teacher, social worker, youth sports coach and writer he is in constant contact with children and young adults. He draws from these experiences and feels that this helps him to capture the realistic interaction between young people—the conflicts, tensions, stresses and interests that make up their lives.

Eric began his writing as a teacher. He taught in classes from kindergarten up and his stories often reflect the curriculum that he was teaching. He always read stories—picture books and novels—to his students and this helped him to understand what children liked, responded to, and were inspired by. He enjoys the enthusiasm of his students and often looks at them to provide him with the inspiration to pursue a particular topic in both the classroom and in his writing.

Eric tries to write every day. When he has a story idea he starts with research. This could involve reading books, watching a documentary, or trying to experience the things that his characters are going to go through. This could include rock climbing or riding white water (for Stars), spending time in a wheelchair (Rebound), playing and walking with tigers (Tiger by the Tail), hanging around a tough biker bar (Diamonds in the Rough), standing out in his backyard in a blizzard wearing a T-shirt and shorts (Trapped in Ice), or traveling to Africa (Alexandria of Africa).

"The most important thing anybody ever told me about writing was to write what you know . . . and the only way to get to know things is to do your homework and research before you write," Eric stated.

Once the writing begins the story is always playing around in his head. He takes any opportunity, even if it's just a few minutes between presentations, to put things down, either with pen and paper or on his laptop.

Prior to entering teaching and writing Eric was a social worker (B.S.W., M.S.W., B.A.Hons—specialized major psychology). He worked in a variety of settings including child welfare, private practice, a mental health centre, and, for twenty years on a part-time basis as a Crisis Social Worker in an emergency department. He stopped teaching 4 years ago and left the ER only last year.

The majority of Eric's time is spent in the company of his wife, children and dogs (Lola a big standard poodle and a little white dog named Winnie the Poodle).

Reviews

[Melanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tagged was okay. It was written well, but the story wasn't for me. I found it pretty obvious who the Wiz was and I wasn't that interested in the whole storyline surrounding the mayor. Just not a book for me.

[Megan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was an alright story, but I thought the characters were flat and that it was very obvious who the Wiz was. I thought the graffiti featuring the mayor sounded hilarious. The ending felt very forced and not natural to the rest of the story. Not a story I'd recommend.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Wiz is a great artist, a great graffiti artist. He wants to make a statement. The mayor is cracking down on public programs and has cut funding to the swimming pool, the library, even the art gallery. He also has vowed to stop the graffiti. Should The Wiz be able to express himself anyway and anywhere he wants? Tagged is part of the Orca Soundings series; low level, high interest titles for High School students. This is not a very exciting story, I found it too educational which did not make it high interest. There are many misleading conversations meant to tease a certain character that would confuse an art novice. The characters were flat, dialogue seemed forced, thin plot, disappointed reader.

[Brenda · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short novel for teens about a teen and his friends and graffiti. I think if it were fleshed out a bit more the characters would have been more likeable and had more dimension. When is art art, and when is it vandalism?

[chloe · Rating 3 out of 5]

The mayor of the city where Ian, Julia and Oswald live is fed up with graffiti and is calling it nothing more than vandalism. He’s cutting back the hours of places such as the art galleries and trying to get graffiti artists arrested. Zero remorse. Then the Wiz starts fighting back by painting large murals all over the city, putting his own art in galleries, and even getting himself into some trouble with the mayor. He’s going to need a lot of help to get out of this one.

This book is mostly dialogue and not as descriptive as most of Eric Walters’s books typically are. It’s also quite predictable and could have been made into something more. I did like the concept of the book and I was impressed at what the author managed to accomplish in a mere 125 pages in large font. If you want a quick, easy read, this would be it.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Best friends Ian, Julia, and Oswald go to view some mural-size graffiti with the tag Wiz and they begin to debate the difference between art and graffiti. While Julia admits the artwork is good she asks why don’t you see graffiti-type art in museums. More of the artwork poking fun at the law and order mayor appears around town, even turning up in one of the art museums. Astute readers will discover the identity of Wiz before Ian and Julia do, but the feel-good ending will please most readers. Meant for reluctant readers, it is a fun read.

[Ella · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was a little disappointed, actually. I knew just from reading the back cover that The Wiz was Oswald. The phrase in Italics at the top of the back cover told me everything. I was disappointed in Eric Walters! Eric Walters is my favorite author and I enjoy every book he writes, so this was a shock. An Eric Walters book; predictable!
But I did enjoy the story, though every time someone said "I wonder who The Wiz is..." I wanted to scream at them. I did think the way Oswald used art to defy the mayor was really cool.

[Megan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quick reads for class visits. This one had some good discussions between the characters about art and society, without sounding too preachy. The ending had an awful pseudo-Spartacus scene and the terrible line "and there was our teacher, Mr. Singh, his hands as red as his turban." but was overall pretty satisfying.

[Bridget]

Good hi-lo choice with a cover compelling enough to get asked about by lots of high school students on our visit. And the story is easy to booktalk by comparing it to Banksy, a name most kids are familiar with.

[Alisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

a definite quick read, but it wasn't elaborate enough for my liking. not much of a plot either.

[Jessie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just like the rest of the Orca Currents/Soundings/Sports books, there isn't much of a plot and I only read it to help catch up in my reading challenge.

[Cody West · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was decent it was to short to get really into.

[Mark Verdun · Rating 3 out of 5]

Goodreads

it was a good book but it is a very short read, not many interesting events. blew by very quick

[Steven Diaz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was a decent book. The book was very predictable but I understood the message behind the Wiz.

[Pamela McDowell · Rating 3 out of 5]

High interest yet straightforward storyline for older readers developing their skills.

[Rylee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very short and there was about 90% dialouge.

[Keenan Iredale · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought the book was ok it was kinda slow to start but then it picked up

[Christian]

Fiction/Art

Tagged by Eric Walters
Is about a guy and two of his friends and they all like going around doing graffiti and try to change the city.

I kept reading this book because he wanted to change people perspectives about graphitti thats its art not something bad people express themselves through it.
I choose this book because i liked the cover it had someone doing graffiti
It was a really good book but it was weird what i mean by weird is that it started off bad like people didn't want that in there street and at the end a lot of people changed their mind they really liked it.
I would also recommend this book to the people who like art and like all of those colors and the ones who cant express themselves try graffiti.