Under suspicion (novel)

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Under suspicion: The story of Big Mouth and Ugly Girl (Original title: Big Mouth & Ugly Girl ) is the first youth novel by Joyce Carol Oates . The publication of the original took place in 2002 at HarperCollins . The German-language edition was published by DTV in the Hanser series in a translation by Birgitt Kollmann with the recommended age from 13 years.

content

Matthew Donaghy is a popular student who has a wayward sense of humor. One day, two FBI agents took him out of class, arrested him, and took him to a police station. He is suspected of plotting to assassinate the school, is questioned and suspended from school. As you can see in the book, Matt was kidding. Whether the witnesses who reported him to the school principal, the Brewer twins (see persons), deliberately lied or misunderstood Matt's joke is not clear in the course of the book.

Due to a relieving statement from the rather unpopular classmate Ursula with the director, Mr. Parrish, Matt is released and can go back to school. However, he is ignored by his classmates. He tries to get in touch with all the students again, but he cannot regain the trust of anyone and is still excluded. The fact that his parents are suing the school for an extremely large sum doesn't make matters any better and Matt has increasingly many enemies at the school, he is even beaten up by older students. During this lonely time, he often takes his dog Pumpkin for walks in a nearby nature reserve. With the intention of killing himself, one day he goes to the park alone without pumpkin. Ursula happens to be walking through the park and sees Matthew about to kill himself. She manages to dissuade him from his plan. The two students then become friends. They email each other and spend a lot of time together. Suddenly, Pumpkin has disappeared and Matt and Ursula suspect their classmate Trevor. They then go to him and accuse him. Ursula threatens the position of her father, who is the boss of Trevor's father. In fact, Pumpkin is back at Matt's home that evening. Ultimately, the two 16-year-olds fall in love and Matt is rehabilitated .

people

  • Matthew Donaghy, one of the two main characters. Device in trouble because of a stupid joke (see content). Writes plays and columns .
  • Ursula Riggs, the other main character. Describes herself as an "Ugly Girl" who stands alone and doesn't let anything get her down. Interested in sports and art.
  • Mr. and Mrs. Donaghy, Matt's parents. Sue the school for $ 50 million after the incident.
  • Alex Donaghy, age 10, younger brother of Matt.
  • Mr. and Mrs. Riggs, parents of Ursula and Lisa Riggs, Mr. Riggs is important in town as the head of a company.
  • Lisa Riggs, Ursula's younger sister, admires Ursula.
  • Mr. Parrish, the headmaster of Rocky River High School.
  • Pumpkin (dog), Matt's Golden Retriever, 7 years old.
  • The Brewer twins, the twins Muriel and Miriam, report Matt's "threat" to the director, daughters of an independent church leader, the father is controversial because of his extremely conservative positions.

Locations

  • Matts at home
  • Ursulas at home
  • park
  • Rocky River High School
  • Police station
  • Trevors at home

Reviews

  • The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes: “A lesser writer could easily have mistaken the complex story of belonging and being an outsider, civil courage and first love to the romantic detective story, but Joyce Carol Oates knows how to embed her subjects in the plot in such a way that no aspect is too comes shortly. The story of Big Mouth and Ugly Girl reads fluently and excitingly. "
  • From the Frankfurter Rundschau : “One thing is certain: if you have a clean slate, you have to fear something. Our freedom is based not only on security, but also on trust. This youth book makes that clear in concrete terms. "
  • Susanne Meyer von der Zeit says: “In an 'e-mail style mix', the author then tells how the outsider Ursula takes care of his (Matt), how they become friends and help each other. In addition, a 'cinematic prelude' and just such an end ... "

expenditure

  • US first edition: Big Mouth and Ugly Girl. HarperCollins (HarperTempest), New York 2002, ISBN 0-06-623756-4 .
  • UK first edition: Big Mouth and Ugly Girl. HarperCollins (Collins Flamingo), London 2003, ISBN 0-00-714573-X .
  • Paperback: Big Mouth and Ugly Girl. HarperCollins, New York 2003, ISBN 0-06-447347-3 .
  • E-Book: Big Mouth and Ugly Girl. HarperCollins (HarperTeen), 2014, ISBN 978-0-06-175622-1 .
  • English: Under Suspicion: The Story of Big Mouth and Ugly Girl. Translated by Birgitt Kollmann. Hanser, Munich 2003, ISBN 3-446-20302-8 . Paperback: DTV (series Hanser; dtv 62216), Munich 2005, ISBN 3-423-62216-4 .

In addition to the German translation, there are editions in French ( Nulle et grande gueul ) and Italian ( Bruttona & Lingua Lunga ).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Under suspicion: In the cauldron of hysteria - provocatively up-to-date! on the website of the Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag.
  2. ↑ Welcome to Absurdistan - Being restless is good: Joyce Carol Oates' first novel for young people. In: FAZ. March 29, 2003, No. 75, p. 36.
  3. ↑ Joyce Carol Oates: Under Suspicion. on: perlentaucher.de