Recommended by: I first heard of The Tulip Touch here on goodreads, and I was interested by it. It was completely by chance, however, that I stumbled across the book in my school library one lunchtime. As soon as I finished reading the first three pages, I knew it would be hopeless to avoid reading it. So here goes: my review of 'The Tulip Touch'!Basic Plot: Natalie, who's Father is the manager of a hotel, befriends a girl named Tulip. The two quickly become fast friends, and play many strange games together. But as the two grow up, Tulip begins to abuse their relationship and Natalie starts to see the negative impact Tulip is having on her life. Tulip's games go from stalking hotel guests and wrinkling their nose at strangers to knocking on people's doors and burning down sheds. Genre: DramaCharacters: I adored the characters. Each of them had their own depth, even if there weren't actually that many. Natalie - The main character, Natalie, develops over the course of the storyline, most noticably wben she stops being friends with Tulip. Natalie, at first is the naive, care free eight-year-old you'd expect her to be. However, as the years pass and the two grow older, Natalie quickly starts to obsess over Tulip, barely spending a minute not thinking about her. Tulips influence starts to have a bad affect on Natalie's life, but at first Natalie simply ignores it. But when the games the two play get more and more dangerous, going from stalking the guests at the hotel where Natalie lives to setting fire to sheds, she finally breaks away from Tulip, with some very interesting concequences, leading to Natalie becoming a better person.Tulip - From the very moment Tulip is introduced, it's obvious she doesn't have a very good home life.
Typo alert for those of you who mark a book down for typos/editing (I am definitely NOT included in this, I couldn't give a hoot as long as it's readable): there is a fragment of a sentence lurking somewhere in my edition, which I think was supposed to be deleted. On with the actual review:I have extremely mixed feelings about this book. Anne Fine does a superb job at describing a sexually/emotionally/ physically abused child in Tulip and an equally good job at describing the fascinated yet increasingly more repelled but trapped friend in Natalie. She doesn't fall into literary clichés with Tulip and has obviously done her research into how (sexually)abused/neglected children will often act (different from common expectation). She also nails Natalie's rabbit-caught-in-headlights car crash helplessness. So here is the BUT: it's all just alluded to, a dark hint here, a dark hint there and that's it. Ultimately the book lacks a confrontation between the protagonists and the balls as a serious piece of (children's) writing. It could have been important but it chickened out. And that annoys the hell out of me.
What do You think about The Tulip Touch (2006)?
An exceptionally well-crafted book that presents very frank and uncomfortable truths about the way we all, from children, to schools, to social services, deal with "troubled" (or downright abused) children, and the question of whether or not a child can be inherently evil is expertly framed by certain adults in the novel, and left hanging there, exceptionally sadly.A book in which the cruelty and sheer cleverness of children is not underestimated by the writer, but by the adults in the book, is a very tough read, and rightly so. This is an important book, for all its nuances, on the face of it, it's about the consequences of friendship, the idea that you can't 'save' everyone, the idea that sometimes we don't all want to be saved, and fact that when everyone gives up, no-one wins.
—A.E. Shaw
I say I liked this book, but take that with a grain of salt. I'm a young adult, returning to this book approximately twelve years after I first started it in elementary school. This is a fascinating, disturbing novel about human nature and a little girl's descent into what really can't be described as anything but evil. Tulip, Natalie's good friend, lives in an impoverished, abusive home. This is the story of Natalie's dependent unhealthy relationship with Tulip and how she finally breaks free.The story begins, if I am correct, when Natalie and Tulip are around eight year old. The writing is simple and the plot is fairly slow, all of which keep this book in a younger audience range. However, the subject matter is adult; there's disturbing imagery, especially concerning drowning kittens, and I think most kids wouldn't really understand what this book is about.So, I'm not all that sure what to say about this book. It both fascinated and terrified me when I was younger. As a more mature reader, I found the questions posed about human nature thought-provoking and interesting.PG-13 for disturbing subject material and some disturbing images.
—Abby
Ive had this book this since I was 9 but I never bothered to read it and I never understood why. It's an amazing read, very disturbing and thought-provoking. And it explores, so simply yet deeply, a child's companionship with someone who isn't what she seems. Throughout the entire book I was wondering if Natalie would grow up with all the memories and emotions regarding tulip, and what would happen in the future between the 2 - maybe Atwood's Cat's Eye might offer a similar insight in an adult context in a different way. next read!
—Annabella
