Author: Catherine Ryan Hyde
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Copyright: 2009
Summary: Ernie and Will are best friends who are inseparable, until an accident involving Will and his younger brother devastates their community.
Plot: A tragic accident unleashes one tragedy after another until both Ernie and Will are at risk; Ernie is ceaselessly bullied and Will has the potential to wreak havoc at their school after his innocence is lost.
Major Characters: Ernie and Will
Major Subjects: Bullying, School Violence, Trauma and Loss
VOYA Review:
"In this starkly told story of grief, guilt, loss and redemption, Hyde uses first-person diary entries and third-person narration to tell a deeply moving tale...the emotional honesty of the work will keep readers interested until the end. Anyone who has been hurt by someone they love or has hurt another carelessly will find an echo of self in this story."
Review:
Gr 6-8-This is a story about two best friends, struggling to fit in at school. Ernie plays the protagonist, a kind, but lonely boy, who is mercilessly bullied for being overweight at a large, public school. Will, his best friend, is consumed by self-hatred, in part because of his classmate’s relentless jeering following his brother’s accidental death. The plot gains momentum gradually, during which time both characters endure an escalation of brutality and undergo a significant transformation. Ernie matures as his friendship with Will is tested and Will’s vulnerability and extreme fragility is revealed following one personal tragedy after another. There is a strong undercurrent of character development between the two pivotal characters throughout the novel, but the novel fails to give adequate attention to other important relationships. This novel is intended for Hi/Lo readers because of its attention to the topics of school bullying, school violence, and single-parent households, its large type, and its small vocabulary. Diary of a Witness is recommended for general purchase for school and public libraries, although its quality does not compare to other books which portray school bullying deftly such as By the Time You Read This: I’ll Be Dead by Julie Ann Peters (Hyperion Books for Children, 2010) or Burn by Suzanne Phillips (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2008).
Notes about Audience:
Recommended for ages 12 and up.
Other books by Catherine Ryan Hyde:
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