Young boys are forever seeking competition to be the fastest or best at doing something. Tony dared his best friend, Joel, to climb the Starved Rocks buffs with him; however, Joel thought the only reason dared him was because Tony was scared of swimming in the dangerous Vermillion River. Joel dared Tony to a swimming race in the gushing currents, and despite struggling to breathe and keep his head above water, he insisted on finishing the race and making it all the way to the sandbar. When Joel finally hit the shore and looked back, there was no sign of Tony . . . he didn’t make it over. He went under. The author, Marion Dane Bauer, based this book on an actual drowning incident that took place near the Vermillion River when she was growing up. It's devastating how many deaths are completely preventable; sometimes a life could be saved just by being a little bit more careful. I read On My Honor a few years ago, back when I was in middle school. I remember finishing this book with tear-filled eyes; Tony was a lovely boy and didn’t deserve the tragedy! Back then, I understood it as simply a tragedy and a message to kids out there who are sometimes a little too adventurous and little too reckless. After picking this book up again years later, I saw that it was way deeper than that. The boys were a metaphor for people in society. Sometimes we get so caught up in wanting to be the best and winning that we start running so fast that everything else beside us becomes a blur, and we lose sight of why we’re doing it in the first place. Striving to be the best through extreme routes and trying to force yourself into things you don’t want to but feel pressured to do becomes destructive, rather than proving a point. What made the book so powerful to read was even though a lot of us probably never lost a loved one to an accident (or lost a loved one at all), Joel’s emotions is relatable to everyone. As Joel was describing the accident to a teenage couple who passed by, he “choked as he spoke, his chest heaving in something like a sob, but he wasn’t crying. His eyes were perfectly dry, and though he was shaking, his insides were frozen into a dead calm” (page 39-40). We all had a time in our lives when we felt lost and scared and we just wasn’t sure what to do or think or feel. We all, at some point, felt conflicted, and we all know what it was like to struggle to shape our thoughts into words because we were just so damn scared. The most impressive part of this book, however, was still how carefully the words were chosen and how such a short book can leave you thinking.
"On My Honor" is an amazing story that tells the tale of regret, guilt, and the realities of life through the eyes of a young boy. Joel, a conscientious and responsible boy is constantly left frustrated by his adventurous and free-spirited best friend, Tony, but when Tony gives up his idea of dangerously scaling Starved Rock, Joel agrees to swim in the unknowingly more dangerous Vermillion River to satisfy Tony's need for adventure. After challenging Tony to swim to the sandbar in the river, Joel discovers Tony's best kept secret-he can't swim. Despite all of Joel's efforts, he is unable to save his best friend after he disappears under the dark, mysterious water. The rest of the story follows Joel as he struggles to accept the decisions that he and Tony made, and ultimately, how to continue to live through a tragedy, how to find the strength to tell the truth, and how to accept the things that cannot be changed. Bauer's book does an amazing job making the reader feel as if he/she is experiencing Joel's emotions along with him. This book would be great for a third through fifth grade class to explore dealing with hard times-death, loss, regret, and guilt and could be used in combination with a writing exercise on connecting the story to a difficult time that each student has experienced. These hard times center around Joel trying to develop the courage to tell the truth and admit everything that happened on that terrible day, so including this book in a text set on character traits for a reading and/or writing unit would be great! This book has something that everyone can connect with, and it reminds us what we are not alone in our suffering! We all have someone around us to care and support us when we feel like everything is going wrong. This is a great book to read to a class or one in which each child can read individually and still get something unique out of it. "On My Honor" is definitely worth the read!
What do You think about On My Honor (1987)?
Joel didn’t want to ride out to Starved Rock Bluffs, let alone climb them, but Tony wouldn’t leave him alone. He talked his dad into giving him permission, hoping the whole time that he wouldn’t succeed. But his dad said yes, and the boys set off on their bikes, and Tony stopped at the bridge over the river. Tony went into the river. And Tony never came out.Guilt is eating Joel alive. When his parents – and when Tony’s parents – start asking questions, Joel avoids them. But he can still smell the stink of the river on his skin. He can still remember the dare he called out to Tony: “You’re the one who’s scared. I bet you wouldn’t even swim to that sandbar out there.”On My Honor was recommended to me by a couple sixth grade girls, but I didn’t care for it, even though it won Newbery honors. The prose is beautiful, the thoughts deep, but it was too depressing for my tastes. The book is extremely short with a singular, gut-wrenching focus that, in my opinion, eclipses the story.In the end, Joel’s dad tells him, “You can’t live your life by maybes,” which is pretty good advice. But his final words are downright hopeless. “I don’t suppose anybody knows what happens after. I believe there’s something about life that goes on. It seems too good to end in a river.”How bleak! I don’t enjoy this sort of melancholy, and I could certainly find a more comforting choice if it became necessary to broach this subject with my kids.
—Michelle Isenhoff
This was a good Newbery Honor book. I think it is a good one for kids to read because it develops the characters enough that you can understand the motivation behind the bet that the protagonist makes. He is taunted and goaded and belittled by his friend (today we would probably use the term "bullied" because today bullying is something that can happen between friends, but back then it wasn't used quite the same way), and makes the bet out of fear and exasperation. The reader then follows Joel through the moral dilemmas and reasonings behind not immediately doing what is right. I like that Tony's mom gives Joel a look that he interprets as judging him, because adults are not perfect and it is very likely that in this scenario that the mother of the victim would initially want to blame someone, even if it is a little boy.
—Melissa Namba
First of all, this book is pretty fast and the plot isn't set up too well. Although I did like the characterization coming from the two characters, Joel and Tony. There were certain parts I enjoyed about the book also. Joel and Tony are best friends and they decide to agree on doing an exciting activity together. Joel wants to go swimming in the town public pool while Tony wants to climb dangerous buffs or huge rocks at Starved Rock. Joel's dad allows the boys to bike ride to the buffs, but Joel
—Mia Martinez
