TRIAL OF ANNA COTMAN, THE

Rating:
Summary: "Faces are Masks Enough..."
Review: Anna Cotman is a sweet, pretty, vulnerable girl who has just moved to Redmarsh with her grandmother and facing the first trials of a new school, making friends and adjusting to her new life. But luck isn't on her side, and Lindy Miller snaps her up at school: "a bossy girl, quick to quarrel and slow to forgive." After running through her own friends, she looks upon newly arrived Anna as a blessing and quickly snaps her up, announcing "you're my best friend."

Anna is delighted and eager to please, which is how she gets caught up with initiation into the club known as the Society of Masks (or the Som for short). Started by Lindy's brother Jeremy Miller and including all of his school friends, the Som is designed to prevent bullies and provide comradeship, including all the codenames, secret passwords, elaborate rites and junk food feasts that you'd expect from such a club.

Of course, Jeremy didn't want his little sister to be a part of it, but his stepfather (who gives him the key to the abandoned factory in which they have their meetings) insists that they all be involved. And so Lindy is allowed, as is one of her friends, and Anna makes the vow of loyalty to the Som. At first she is happy - she's is accepted, she has a friend, and she's under the protection of the popular Jeremy Miller, who wears a golden mask at meetings and is known as the Goldmaster - she's in awe.

But a friendship with Lindy has its costs; she is manipulative, jealous, spiteful and extremely difficult to get along with. But Anna has been raised to keep her promises and be loyal to her friends - despite her reluctance; she is now a part of the Som.

And then things begin to go very bad. More people are initiated into the club - people that aren't school children and who control and bully the younger kids. On top of this, they never take off their masks. The Yellow Lord in particular makes life difficult for Anna, forcing her to do several menial chores about the place. Soon the youngest children are being forced to shoplift and work themselves to exhaustion. Anna wants to tell, but she can't - she's sworn an oath of secrecy.

Finally the catalyst comes - Anna stands up for one of the smallest members of the club and is labelled a traitor as a result. She is to be put on trial before the Som, and with more and more sinister goings-on at the factory, the Goldmaster himself under the influence of alcohol, and Lindy seemingly abandoning her, poor Anna is almost in a state of nervous collapse as the trial date moves closer and closer.

"The Trial of Anna Cotman" is absolutely riveting, shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal and a book that should be on every child's reading list. Vivien Alcock creates an incredible and realistic story, with perfect representations of bullying, insecure friendships, corruption and values among children, and the small seed of evil that can germinate in groups that rely on secrecy, control and unquestioning loyalty - in many ways it is a "Lord of the Flies" for younger readers.

Alcock creates many memorable characters, and I'm certain that almost everybody in their lives has known a Lindy; she is vividly portrayed as the girl on the playground who has to have it *her* way, who is never to blame for the misfortunes inflicted upon her, and who is a master at dissembling and fibbing. Likewise is the sad reality of her family - a distant mother, a woebegone stepfather and a perfect elder brother that is everything Lindy wants to be - and isn't. There are other perfect little portrayals of human character and behaviour in Tom Smith, the friendly best friend of Jeremy who tries to help, and Peter Elkin, the petrified boy under the power of the malevolent Yellow Lord. Speaking of which, the Yellow Lord is certain to give anyone nightmares...

Anna Cotman herself is a thoroughly likeable, intelligent young girl, who has been raised the best way, but put into the wrong situation. Taught to be loving and forgiving, she's the perfect tool for Lindy and the Som to manipulate, but eventually learning to stand up for herself and the injustices of the Som.

This is a terrific book, meticulously displaying the interactions between children and adults, the shadowy world that children can create for themselves, and the strength that they can display when faced with corruption of the system. Some of Alcock's insights into the lives of children made me gasp with their accuracy - this is an author that remembers what it was like to be a child, and the very real existence of a playground hierarchy.




Rating:
Summary: Wow :)
Review: I recently re-read this book and didn't find it as interesting as I once did, but of course that's because I'm not ten years old anymore. However it is an excellent book for younger people, and it's not such a bad idea for "adults" to read either. It tackles issues like friendship, betrayal, addiction, struggle to fit in, using a very unique setting. The world is that of any adolescent, but has been made dark and frightening by a "game" gotten out of hand. The Society of Masks is intriguing, color-coded and led by "lords" who impose tasks and duties upon the lower-ranking "companions". It takes the reader to a different world, despite the fact that it's only some kids with some masks in an abandoned shop. The trial scene is strangely symbolic, and the ending is perfect (a rare thing for me to say, as I never like the ending of a book). Read!! ~Raksh:)

Rating:
Summary: A book you can't put down
Review: This book is great! The first time I started to read, I couldn't finish. It is about a girl who goes to a new town. The snotty Libby declares the new girl, (Anna Cotman) her best friend. Libbys brother has a club and they let Anna join. in the biggining, the club seems fun. But when time goes on, a world of problems is opened up.

Rating:
Summary: A kind of dark book
Review: This is a different, creative book that could be kind of dark for a children's book. The plot is interesting, when a new girl, desperate for friends, joins up with a girl who is in a secret club. The club bosses Anna (the new girl) around for a time, until more members are introduced. When Anna is put on trial for sticking up for a younger member, the action starts to pick up. Overall I liked the book, although in some parts it is a little bit slow-moving, but the author makes up for it by adding suspense, like the part when Anna is made to sit on the roof to spy on one of the club's leaders. It has a dark side to it, when kids start taking their own "secret societies" a little too seriously. The characters are extremely well-developed and I really cared about some and hated others. I definitely recommend this book.