Book Title:
Catcher, Caught

Author:
Sarah Collins Honenberger

Plot Background:   The story follows a teenage boy (15-16 years old, he has a birthday midway) named Daniel Solstice Landon. Daniel is like any other teenage boy, he longs to find love, enjoys reading, has friends and brothers. The things that are different about Daniel are that he has Leukemia, his parents are hippies against traditional medicine, he lives on a houseboat, and he is obsessed with J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, and this is his story.

My Thoughts:   This was another book I found on Amazon’s $3.99 or Less list a few months back, and am so glad I did. I also recently made it a featured Deal of the Day, so as promised here is my review!

  At first glance, I thought Catcher, Caught would be a short, sappy book about a dying boy. I got my tissues and sat down on a rainy day ready to feel sorrow and sadness, however, what I found was a completely different set of emotions. Daniel is a kid that I really fell in love with in the first paragraph, his voice is clear and he is painstakingly honest. He knows he has a life threatening disease, and he is not kidding himself about his lifespan. He also knows that Holden Caulfield is someone he aspires to be like, but no matter how much he tries, there are times he finds that he cannot be as blunt or detached as Holden.

  As someone who read and loved the Catcher in the Rye, I felt that the way he thinks of Holden as a friend, the way I thought of Holden as a friend when I read it, quickly makes you think of Daniel as a friend. Like we are all linked together, fiction and real, and when you read this, the lines begin to blur and you begin to think of them all as friends. Maybe I was just happy to see that someone else, even a fictional character, also gets as attached to characters in a book as much as I do.

 Daniel is not the only character I fell in love with. This book, overall, has fantastic character development which for me, is often what makes or breaks a book. In my opinion, it is better for a character, or set of characters, to change over the course of a book, even if the person they became isn’t someone you would like, than to not change at all.

  This novel really showcases a huge range of character development, and it really gives some insight to the variety of ways that different people handle grief. Daniel’s best friend, Mack, goes from being a regular mischievous teenage boy to being someone turning to drugs for comfort. His girlfriend goes from being someone trying to flirt with a boy to someone deeply in love. His parents and siblings change as well, but I don’t want to ruin all of the good parts for you. Simply put, I fell in love with these people, they were relate-able, even the ones (like his hippy parents) that I never thought I could relate to.

  Another thing I really enjoyed was the way that his family, his mother in particular, decided to treat his Leukemia. She tries the holistic route, which doesn’t work, and she takes him to Mexico for a treatment that seemed a bit out-there, and she does everything she can to avoid chemotherapy and radiation. She sees her son already in pain and doesn’t want to make what may be his last days worse, but it raises the question- was she right to avoid something that could have made him better, to avoid making his last days worse? Should she have asked Daniel for his input in his treatment, or as a parent is it always right for you to make the decision for your child, even if it means making a decision that will not save his life? These are all serious questions raised in this novel, and really and truly, I am happy to see these questions being asked.

  Another great thing about this novel was… drum roll… THE ENDING!!! I loved it! I literally was sitting in my bed, reading the ending just sobbing, but not because I was sad. Sobbing because I had hope. My cats and boyfriend were looking at me like I was insane, but the ending gave me such a strong reaction. I will not give away the ending, but it not only makes you have hope for Daniel, but hope for his friends as well, for his family and his girlfriend to be able to move on with their lives, no matter what happens-good or bad.

  The only negative thing I can say about this book is that I cried, which got my Kindle wet making the buttons stick, which really I cannot fault the writer for.

  This book was certainly worth reading, and if you haven’t already, I would highly recommend reading The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger at some point as well. Its short and would be a good read for someone looking to fall in love.