Drowning Anna

by Sue Mayfield

Book Overview

Moving from the bustling city of London to a small town in Yorkshire has been hard on brainy and shy Anna Goldsmith, who feels alone until she is befriended by Hayley Parkin, the most popular girl at... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0786808705
• ISBN13: 9780786808700
• Release Date: October 2002
• Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.0" x 7.3"
• Age Range: 10 to 14 years
• Grade Range: Grades 5 to 9

Customer Reviews

Excellent Book

The book Drowning Anna is definatly an excellent book it kept me turning the pages. This was the first book i read by Sue Mayfield and i truly think shes a incredible author. This book really helps people understand that no matter what if people are bullying u and bringing u down or have turned there back on u there is no reason to blame it on yourself..always be true to yourself there were moments i have to say where i cried in the book because it got so sad..but this book is definatly a must read!!

brilliant

the author really put her feelings into this book. it was about a girl name anna.shes a typical girl who had just moved to a town.she starts befriending other girls like hayley.but then hayley bullys her as it seems.anna is a violinist, hockey player and a good french speaker. she is a perfect student .this book really made me almost cry.it was so sad about a life of a girl.this book really tells a penatrates a vision of emotions like sympathy and hatred.

Drowning Anna

Sticks and stones will break my bones but... Anna Goldsmith knows the rest. And she knows it's a lie. It started with Hayley Parkin, who befriended Anna when Anna moved to Melanie's school. Everyone loved Hayley but they were also afraid of her. Hayley was the sort who would be your friend one minute and make fun of your clothes the next. Of course no one told Anna that. So when her best friend suddenly starts ignoring her, spreading rumors about her and turning their classmates against her, Anna can't figure out where she went wrong. She tries to appease Hayley, but nothing seems to work. The only one who's skeptical of Hayley's actions is Melanie, who's been burned before by Hayley's slick form of cruelty. Melanie is caught in a bad place: she wants to be liked, which means staying on Hayley's good side, but she also knows exactly what Hayley does to people. No one has all the answers, until Anna attempts something drastic. In a series of letters and memories, we see Anna's true self: strong and resilient on the outside but a total wreck inside. Think you know your friends? Think again. You know Anna, Melanie and Hayley, and you hate what they do. The author never lets you forget how real the characters are. Despite this, much of the book is melodramatic, emotionally flat and unfulfilling. The reader sees too much pain, too many malicious actions and soon becomes desensitized to it. It's tearjerker television converted to book format. A better picture of strength through cruelty is Laurie Halse Anderson's brilliant SPEAK. --- Reviewed by Carlie Kraft

Phenomenal Book

Anna Goldsmith is 16 years old. She plays the violin in the school orchestra. She's a skilled tennis player, good at hockey, and speaks French beautifully. And she has just attempted to commit suicide. Slowly, the events leading up to Anna's decision to end her life unfold, alternating from the first-person view of Melanie, her best and only friend, and the third-person view of Frances Goldsmith, her mother. What made Anna hate herself? Can she survive?... Drowning Anna made me cry. Not only is the reader extremely in tune with each character's feelings, but the plot could be the life story of any junior high or high school girl. Any girl who has been teased, bullied, or otherwise trapped in a net of demeaning lies can relate to Anna easily. From the very first page the reader is pulled into the story and the lives of those involved. Anna's struggles become your own. Mayfield notes at the end of her book "...I hope [this book] gives girls like Anna a voice- and some sense of being understood." In my opinion, she has exceeded her goal.

Very Good

You'll have to read it to find out what happens to anyone who wants to read a good and moving book. I was really captivated by the Authors understanding of Anna's feelings and even Haley Parkin's. In the book the point of view changes from Anna's to Melanie's to even her parents and brothers. It was a very well written book and I would definitely recommend it to someone.