I really did not enjoy this book very much. I wouldn't say it was terrible but I wouldn't say it was good either. I found that I had to force myself to read it just to get through the book. I didn't feel like I could relate to any of the characters but that could be because I'm white and the book deals with racism. I also felt like a modern day school wouldn't have allowed what happened in the book. This book is written for the younger side of young adult literature. I just felt like it wasn't exciting and really didn't pull me in at all. I don't think I liked it because I just couldn't relate to it at all. I've never experienced anything that happened partially because I'm white and I've lived on the west coast my whole like where racism really isn't as prominent as on the east coast.Violence: 1- There are kids almost getting in fights but no fighting, blood, or guts show up.Language: 1- There were no swear words.Sex: 1- No sexual comments.Drugs/Alcohol: 1- The main character walks by some kids getting busted for weed but that's about it.I think another reason I didn't like this book is that all 4 of those categories got 1s. There isn't any sex drugs or rock and roll to make the book interesting! The Cruisersby Walter Dean MyersI hate to say it, but I wish I had “cruised” right on past this slim little novel. The DaVinci school for gifted and talented students is in the midst of a Civil War assignment where a group of African-American students (The Cruisers) are charged with using the school newspaper to illustrate the types of things that were said and that some people believed during the Civil War. By doing this, the principals of the school hope to get the kids more in touch with what people were feeling back in the day. In addition, some of the more poorly performing Cruisers might just save their coveted spot as DaVinci students (rather than being doomed to return to the horrors of the public school system). The articles in the paper do, in fact, spark tensions in the school, but that’s all they do. The book reads like an outline with characters sketched in. It was hard to keep track of the different characters, they were so underdeveloped; and, it was really, really hard to care one way or the other about what happened to them (and really, who cares if the Cruisers do have to go back to public school? Most readers of Myers’s work are public school students!) I have always loved Myers’s writing in the past, but it seems like there are far better ways to show students that racist attitudes are still around. Sadly, it looks like Myers intends to make this into a series. Let’s hope some savvy editor talks him out of it. Myers fan or not, I won’t be reading another installment of this series if I can help it.
What do You think about The Cruisers (2010)?
It would be a good book for classroom discussion on racism, however, not for kids to read "for fun".
—angelica25700
Story felt preachy. I felt like the story cut corners. Character development was lacking.
—kikiora
Great little jump into issues behind the Civil War.
—Anitsirk
