god of beer

Reader Response to God of Beer by Garret Keizer.

the cover of the book reads: "High School kids in Salmon Falls are much the same as high school kids anywhere else: bored. In the far reaches of Ira County, Vermont, in the dead of winter, it seems there's nothing to do. But when eighteen-year-old Kyle Nelson and a handful of friends decide to challenge the status quo with an act of civil disobedience, they discover that there's more to do than they ever bargained for."

My Response:
An interesting book. I think that Keizer could have done so much more with this kind of story. His characters are flat. I wish they had more emotions than tantrums. He introduces a great idea about civil disobedience, but abruptly ends the story when one of the characters dies. The majority of the book was exciting, but the end kind of fizzled out. I'm afraid the title will catch the attention of most readers. It's a great supplemental to Civil Disobedience by HDT. The book also mentions Ghandi, and one of the protagonist's friends is a Quaker. I would throw this in there during an anti-war unit. Minimal swearing. It would spark some good conversation. In the story, one of the teachers says, "Ghandi said that the people of India would only recognize God if he came in the form of bread. It's the only thing they'd understand. If God came to our school, what would he have to come as?" One student facetiously answers "beer." The story encapsulates the social status associated with underage drinking, and the determination of 3 students to crush it. I just wish they would have been more fired up about it.

What form would God take if he came to your school?

This book doesn't deserve the Word Nerd seal of approval, but I would use it in my classroom!