Snitch, by Norah McClintock

{April 9, 2011} Snitch, by Norah McClintock

The cop pulled something out of his pocket.
“You recognize this, Josh?”

I stared at it. It couldn’t be.

Andrew looked at it too. After a moment he said, “That looks like the fish club Dad gave you.”

“Those are your initials, aren’t they, Josh?” the woman cop said.

I nodded.

“It’s what Scott was hit with. We have it down at the police station, Josh. Besides your initials, it has your fingerprints on it.”

Josh struggles to control his temper. Josh had been living in a group home after being ratted out by Scott, his one-time best friend. Now he has moved in with his brother and overbearing sister-in-law and has been sent to a class designed to teach him to deal with his anger. When an old enemy continues to push his buttons and Scott appears to be up to his old tricks, Josh struggles to control his temper. Framed for a crime he didn’t commit, it will take all of his new-found strength to keep his cool—and his freedom.

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Orca Book Publishers is an organization that produces fiction for reluctant readers, especially readers on the lower spectrum, with a reading level between second grade and fourth grade. Snitch comes from the Orca Soundings series, which is for those ages 12+, and is written in a way that the reader, especially a reluctant reader, can easily understand.

I was really surprised that this novel dealt with dog training. I really wasn’t ready for that, but I think McClintock uses a great literary device comparing rage and anger in humans to untrained dogs. It was a really interesting look at anger management, and I enjoyed reading it, even though dogs aren’t my specialty.

I think this novel has a great overall message that our society needs to adhere too. Being considered a snitch is one of the worst labels one can have, according to my students, and I think it is interesting that they hold such a strong belief. I hope that reading this short novel will help them see that snitching is not always a bad thing, especially when it deals with crimes and life and death situations. Three stars.