Vera
just lost her best friend. Well, he was her best friend until he started to
hang around the wrong crowd and began ignoring her. He loved him, but felt
angry at his funeral and was struggling to forgive him for what he did to her
(he hit her). Charlie, while he was alive, left his “secrets” in the Master
Oak, thus sharing what really happened.
Months
go by and Vera tries to live a normal life. But, she begins to have visions of
Charlie (remember, he is dead).Vera starts to conclude that dead Charlie wants
to communicate with her.
Soon
we learn that Charlie wanted to be as sophisticated as Vera, but his true self
hindered these desires. He quickly realized it was not possible to escape
having a violent father, and the fact that he was destined to live a certain type
of life (different from Vera’s). Therefore, he decided to distance himself from
her in order to protect her. He didn't deserve her! He begins to hang around with the “Detentionheads”
and dating Jenny Flick (the girl that Vera feels is the one that caused
Charlie’s death). Vera continues with her life, but she is having trouble
coping with the death of her friend. She begins to drink when she wouldn’t
drink before.
Vera
is interested in a co-worker, James. One New Year’s, after work, Vera and James
decide to drink and make out. Suddenly, thousands of Charlies appear in the
car. Vera is stunned; she ends this rendezvous. Apparently dead Charlie
did not agree with this relations and sent the cops to stop them. He felt Vera deserved better than a college
dropout that worked as a pizza delivery guy.
After the cops stop them, one of them walks Vera home; he tells her
James is a bad influence.
Charlie
continues to appear; he even invades her dreams. He gives her a mission,
choosing her for her bravery. Dead Charlie wants to make things right and wants
the truth to come out. He confesses and shares how he got involved with the
wrong people, including Jenny Flink. He believed her lies and fell for her
charm (sexual favors, mainly). When he realized what a terrible person she was,
he broke up with her. Her rage took control over her, she threatened to kill
him, and to burn down the town’s pet shop. After Charlie’s death people
believed he was guilty of this, but he was innocent. Dead Charlie had no peace
until Vera went to the cops, showed them all the evidence Charlie had left
behind, and his reputation was repaired.
This
would be an excellent text to use for character analysis. Since the author
provides several perspectives from multiple characters, the readers are able to
have a deeper understanding of the plot and the lives of the characters. Vera
was constantly having vocabulary tests! Students can learn those words
(vivacious, parsimonious, apathetic, deviations, etc.), use the context clues
from the sentences she would write using the vocabulary words, and sharpen
those dictionary skills to find the meaning of the words.
Please
Ignore Vera Dietz is a
wonderful book! A.S. King did an outstanding job meshing several themes:
abandonment, family, bullying, and coming of age. She has also written Still Life With Tornado, I Crawl Through It, Ask the
Passengers, Everybody Sees the Ants, and Reality Boy (one of
my favorites.) You have to read her work, check out the trailer for Please
Ignore Vera Dietz!
Home.
A.S. King. (n.d.). Retrieved October 21, 2018, from https://www.as-king.com/
King,
A.S. (2010). Please ignore vera dietz. New York, NY: Random House.
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