33 Snowfish

Reason Book Chosen

I chose this book because of the “controversial” subject matter explored, the buzz it was getting in the library (a teen librarian I work with said it was “intense”), for the complicated characters and reviews. School Library Journal wrote “This book will be controversial, but for those readers who are ready to be challenged by a serious work of shockingly realistic fiction, it invites both an emotional and intellectual response, and begs to be discussed.” I also am drawn to anything that explores experimental form, and appreciated, upon skimming the novel, the simple childlike drawings Rapp uses to tell one character’s story.

Bibliographic Information

Author: Adam Rapp

Publisher: Candlewick

ISBN-10: 0763618748

Copyright Date: 2006

Genre

Urban fiction

About the Author

Adam Rapp is a young and edgy writer. Rapp has written several other young adult novels, including Missing the Piano, The Buffalo Tree, The Copper Elephant, Little Chicago, Under the Wolf, Under the Dog, and "Punkzilla." He has also written two graphic novels, is a playwright, screenwriter, filmmaker, and musician. 33 Snowfish is not the only piece of work by Rapp that has been considered to be controversial. The Buffalo Tree was banned by a Pennsylvania school board.

Reader’s Annotation

Three teens, two dead parents, and one stolen baby run away from the law means running towards mother nature, towards nowhere, towards hate that reeks of kindness. 

Plot Summary

In a rural Midwestern town, Custis, an emotionally undeveloped, homeless and abused, racist pre-teen, and Curl, a young hooker, run from the law with Boobie, the oldest of the three, whom has killed his parents and stolen his baby brother. The story is told from three perspectives, the main one being Custis’s. The teens’ plan consists of renaming the baby (a name rich people would pay for), selling him, and trying to otherwise survive. The three teens live out of a van and the woods, steal food and supplies as they go, and, occasionally take care of the neglected, nameless baby, whom they have built a bed for out of a busted out stolen television set. Their underdeveloped plan starts to go awry quickly, leading two of the teens to an unfortunate fate, and one towards a surprising, yet intriguing encounter with a stranger.

Critical Information

This novel paints a dark and yet beautiful picture of wounded teens living in and contributing to a wounded society. Despite their despicable behavior, Rapp makes it difficult for the reader to hate the characters. Using stream of conscious prose, realistic dialogue, and a wasteland setting that acts as a fourth character, Rapp injects emotion in the unlikeliest places. 

Only one of the teens, Custis, undergoes any character development, but the flatness of the other two characters aids in this development, as well as the introduction of the man at the end.

The central themes of this novel are not explored in a traditional, easy to digest manner, and even a mature teen might have a hard time fully grasping all that Rapp is saying about love, loss, family, society, and the harshness of reality.

Themes/Issues/Tags

Death, Race Relations, Homelessness, Adult/Teen Relationships, Drugs, Intimacy

Challenge Issues

Violence and bad behavior as a result (and as acceptable) because of tragic/difficult upbringing/society

Custis’s racism 

Defenses: Custis’s upbringing is to blame. Custis ends up overcoming the racism. Ending is about acceptance and empathy and the giving and taking in a relationship.

Booktalking Ideas

Format hook - Show Boobie’s Drawings

Prop hook - Show a picture of a baby (a drawing, perhaps without a face), with the words, “What would you name this stolen baby?

Character hook - Read a few lines from each character’s story/journal                                   

Curriculum Ties

Race Relations

Tolerance

Violence in Society

Reading level

13+

Interest level

 14-17+