3 NBs of Julian Drew

by James M. Deem

Overview

Julian Drew “lives” with his father, his abusive stepmother and her children, but it’s not a life anyone would want. He buys his first NB on October 25 at Osco Drug in Tucson. Green spiral. 80 pages. 34 lines per page. He tries to write but his pen won’t cooperate. Then he develops a secret code. Mysterious notebooks record his fight for survival and recovery. Gripping and poignant, this story will hook readers from the first page.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780618439072
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	06/07/2004
Edition description:	Reissue
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.00(h) x (d)
Lexile:	560L (what's this?)
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

James M. Deem is the author of numerous books for young readers, including 3 NB of Julian Drew, Bodies from the Ice: Melting Glaciers and the Rediscovery of the Past, and Faces From the Past. Mr. Deem lives outside of Phoenix, Arizona.

Read an Excerpt

T025
427WP
can't
can
have 2
my eyes saw
Ur letter
in my dream
in MY dream
IN MY DREAM
my
MM
bought
this
NB
2day
2DAY
JD
W026
414WP
The lock is on
my hand
is trying 2 write
trying
TRYING 2 write
my brain dreamed about Ur letter
4
20
nights
until last night
now no dream
no dream now
no
dream
now
the lock
is
on
JD
S029
217WA
Dear
Deer who?
Why won't my pen do this?
know why?
no why?
Everything is like watching myself in a mirror
My eyes are tired of mirror-watching me
My eyes are tired but my hand is trying.
Julian
M031
742WP
My brain is thinking of some 1.
It is thinking of U.
Me + U
My brain can't stand it
Anymore
4 yr is a long time. 4 yr is 4ever.
All it thinks about is U.
Or THEM.
Don't think about THEM, brain.
Just think about U.
Julian
THN3
415WP
My hand is going 2 WRITE
My hand IS going 2 write.
My hand is going 2 write
U if it K1775 me. No I can stop me.
43 can't stop me. 543 can't stop me.
There are 2 many things 2 write.
2 many.
My hand will write I THING.
Some THING my brain thinks about.
My brain had a nowhere dream 4 20 nights.
My body was nowhere. It was dusty, smelly, old.
My eyes saw a book on a shelf It was Ur book.
My fingers found a letter inside.
The letter was from U.
It was so real my ears heard the envelope crackle. My nose could smell Ur perfume.
But the dream stopped be4 my eyes could read the letter + now my brain doesn't dream this dream anymore.
What was inside theletter? What did U want 2 tell me?
My hand wrote 2 many things (maybe it's the pen's fault).
Julian
SN5
349WP
This NB is green 80-page spiral w/34 lines on a page 5440 lines total 2 write on.
This NB says Econo-line on the cover.
This NB was purchased 335WP T025 in Osco Drug at Mercado Plaza on University Dr.
My brain wants 2 remember everything about it.
The cashier w/the Janice nametag waited on me. She was wearing a T-shirt that said (2 me) 170V3 Rick. My brain was wondering what it would be like 2 be Rick. My brain was playing crazy thoughts. Only Janice 70V35 Rick, not me. A me w/o U.
Julian
MN7
407WP
Dear XXXXX,
My hand wrote Ur name (even if the pen crossed it out). Then the pen drew a box around each letter + wrote every
letter of the alphabet on top of each letter in Ur name just 2 make sure no I can tell what was there.
Just, in case.
Writing Ur name was like seeing Ur face + holding Ur hand. Like talking 2 U again, breathing Ur air. It makes me feel scared. My hand was shaking. My brain was thinking about doing this 4 a long time. My hand decided 2 be a little braver + try this. My hand is going 2 TRY.
2 be braver.
My brain thought about starting (really starting) this NB every day. Could U tell? Writing this is like trying 2 walk after being in a coma since birth. Maybe not birth. Maybe just 4 4 yr. Writing this is like.trying 2 talk after having my mouth taped shut 4 4 yr. My hand can't write things that easy. It feels funny. My hand doesn't know what 2 write.
No.
My hand knows what 2 write but the pen won't let it. Do U understand?
Do U?
What my hand wants 2 write is hard 2 write What the pen won't write U is

Maybe my brain could think thoughts 2 U w/o talking + U would know them. But it doesn't know how. All it knows how 2 do is think in secret code. My hand writes secret code 4 some words. Maybe the pen will let me write a secret code just 4 U.
What could my code be? OK what about this?
The code is: 1M155U.
1 M155 U. Do U understand it? Here's another: 170V3U.
Now my brain says 2 hide this from THEM.
Maybe there will be more 2morrow if my hand has something 2 say.
Julian
TN8
432WP
Dear U,
This is 4 U, even if the pen won't let me write Ur name. Do U understand? My brain has been thinking about things 2 write U all day. It has 23 things 2 tell U. It remembers them all.
Thing 1: We left WV on A14: 3 yr 6 mo + 25 d ago (do U want 2 know the min + sec?)
Thing 2: 43 drove the car away at 202WA. 543 was right beside 43.
Thing 3: My eyes saw (but no ls eyes saw me) as we passed under the streetlight at the comer.
Thing 4: My brain could never 4get that time. My brain could never 4get that time was 4bidden.
Thing 5: 43 didn't want the neighbors' eyes 2 see. But U can't ignore the streetlights.
Thing 6: Emma (the only impt person) was sitting in her car seat next 2 me.

Thing 7: Her eyes were C.
Thing 8: We moved 2 Tucson AZ.
Thing 9: It took 171/2 d 2 get there.
Thing 10: We had I blowout going 70 across MO.
Thing 11: The car broke down near Santa Rosa NM.

Editorial Reviews

"A challenging and oddly compelling story of an abused teenager who fights a heroic battle to deal with his mother's death and to survive the mistreatment of one of the most vicious stepmothers in all of literature. . . . All of the characters, even the most minor, are surprisingly vivid and real." —School Library Journal, starred School Library Journal, Starred

"With an inventive vision, Deem present a hard-edged tale of abuse and recovery." — Kirkus Reviews Kirkus Reviews

"A powerful and gripping survival story." —Horn Book Horn Book —

From the Publisher

Presented as a series of notebook entries by the mentally and physically abused Julian Drew, much of Deem's (How to Read Your Mother's Mind) erratic first YA novel is written in a simple but irritating code. Numbers replace letters in particularly loaded words or phrases: ``1M155U'' is the equivalent of ``I miss you'' and 543 is ``she'' (meaning the woman Julian's father has married following Julian's mother's death). Gradually the reader comes to understand that Julian's father and stepmother starve him for days, make him sleep in an unheated garage and otherwise mistreat him. As Julian confronts his vast grief about his mother, he uses less and less of his code, finally dropping it altogether-but not before the reader's patience has been taxed. Julian's voice is disturbing yet brilliant-however, aside from its almost surrealistic climax and improbably promising ending, this dark book rarely rises above the level of a moody character study. Ages 12-up. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Gr 8 Up-A challenging and oddly compelling story of an abused teenager who fights a heroic battle to deal with his mother's death and to survive the mistreatment of one of the most vicious stepmothers in all of literature. NB, in Julian's shorthand, means notebook-the only means out of his profound loneliness and pain. His mother died when he was in the fifth grade, leaving him almost instantly in the hands of ``stepnother.'' She locks him in his garage room, virtually starves him, and inflicts an endless string of verbal and physical abuses that drive him nearly to madness. NB1 expresses his complete isolation. In NB2, he begins to make contact with a girl in his Spanish class, his English teacher encourages his writing, and he gets a job. In NB3, it all falls apart and he runs away to Wheeling, WV, where his mother died. Here, his prophetic dreams of a letter from his mother, the book Portrait of Jennie, and his obsessive desire to go back in time to rejoin his mother converge. Instead, he nearly dies and is joined by Susan from Spanish class who has run away, pregnant, from her own destructive home to be with the "`weirdest, nicest person I've ever met and the biggest puzzle I've ever tried to solve.'" All of the characters, even the most minor, are surprisingly vivid and real. The plot structure and the parallels to Portrait of Jennie are consistent and logical, and they add an intriguing twist to Julian's search for his mother and his past. But best of all, Deem leaves enough literary space between dialogue and action for readers to infer character and emotion, which is a blessed relief from the heavy-handedness of so many YA novels. Overall, a well-written book about a character well worth knowing.-Kathy Fritts, Jesuit High School, Portland, OR

School Library Journal