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142nd out of 326 books
—
449 voters
Rowan the Strange (Ivy #3)
by
Julie Hearn
Set at the start of the Second World War, Rowan the Strange shows what life is like in a mental asylum for a young boy who is diagnosed with schizophrenia. The treatments he receives are still experimental - and nobody predicts the effect they will have on him ...
Hardcover, 332 pages
Published
April 2nd 2009
by Oxford University Press
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I absolutely loved this book! Having read all of Julie Hearn books I have to say this was my favourite of them all. It's funny and so sad :( Nearly made me cry a few times. A must read I thinnk :D
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Rowan Scrivener hears a voice, and sometimes, when stressed or scared, the voice makes him do things he never would normally, like the time he slammed the lid of the piano down on his sister's hand, breaking three of her fingers. It is 1939, war has just broken out, London is under blackout and schizophrenia is poorly understood. Rowan is sent to a hospital where he is to undergo a radical new therapy, administered by a German doctor.
What a brilliant, beautiful, heartrending book. Its power lie...more
What a brilliant, beautiful, heartrending book. Its power lie...more
The cover and the description for this book are highly misleading; they make it sound like it's going to be some creepy One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest type story, or even science fiction. Instead, although the characters and setting is indeed a troubling one -- the patients and staff at a mental hospital in Britain in 1939 -- the story is, in the end, almost heartwarming.
There were so many characters to appreciate here. Rowan's family, particularly his eccentric dog-loving grandmother, captivat...more
There were so many characters to appreciate here. Rowan's family, particularly his eccentric dog-loving grandmother, captivat...more
Rowan the Strange by Lily Hearn
Story set in wartime England. Rowan is a boy from a well-off and eccentric family. He suffers from bouts of strange behaviour – becomes very anxious and then hears voices and behaves strangely without much recall of what he has done. His own bewilderment is portrayed well in the start. In one of these spells he hurts his sister and it frightens him that his family is getting scared of him.
He is sent to a mental hospital, where a new researcher from Germany is tryi...more
Story set in wartime England. Rowan is a boy from a well-off and eccentric family. He suffers from bouts of strange behaviour – becomes very anxious and then hears voices and behaves strangely without much recall of what he has done. His own bewilderment is portrayed well in the start. In one of these spells he hurts his sister and it frightens him that his family is getting scared of him.
He is sent to a mental hospital, where a new researcher from Germany is tryi...more
It is September 1939 and Rowan Scrivener, 13, is in the fight of his life and it has nothing to do the war between England and Germany and everything to do with the state of his sanity. Rowan has always been a little ‘strange’ but now he is hearing voices in his head. They are getting louder and stronger and they are telling him to do things that hurt people.
His parents decide to put him in an asylum with the strong belief that Rowan will be helped there. The egotistical director, however, is mo...more
His parents decide to put him in an asylum with the strong belief that Rowan will be helped there. The egotistical director, however, is mo...more
This is a highly compelling story, about Rowan, a lonely teenager with schizophrenia, during the WWII.
Ro-the-Strange has unexpected, aggressive craves that, after an uncontrollable occurrence involving his sister, forces his parents to send him to a lunatic asylum. This is just the icing on the cake for them once they realise that they can’t cope with Rowan’s sudden urges. Once there, Rowan becomes the subject to an experimental treatment- electroconvulsive therapy. Alongside Julie’s expressive...more
Ro-the-Strange has unexpected, aggressive craves that, after an uncontrollable occurrence involving his sister, forces his parents to send him to a lunatic asylum. This is just the icing on the cake for them once they realise that they can’t cope with Rowan’s sudden urges. Once there, Rowan becomes the subject to an experimental treatment- electroconvulsive therapy. Alongside Julie’s expressive...more
In a classic case of don't judge a book by its cover, Julie Hearn's Rowan The Strange is a moving, emotional and unforgettable read centering around 13-year-old Rowan Scrivener, a British teen battling "voices" in his head. It's 1939 and England is at war -- just as the battles begin in the Scrivener home. When Rowan accidentally harms his young sister, his parents decide it's time to take him where he can get well: an asylum in the countryside.
Under the care of Dr. von Metzer, a German with exp...more
Under the care of Dr. von Metzer, a German with exp...more
The cat doesn’t really get all the gushing about Rowan the Strange by Julie Hearn. Not that she found it a struggle to get through this book, she just didn’t know what all the fuss was about.
Set in 1939 in London, by all accounts a time of confusion and hardship, Rowan Scrivener is the strange one, he has these uncontrollable fits, which turn out to be symptomatic for his schizophrenia. For his own and his family’s safety he is sent to an asylum in Kent. His mother signs a waiver agreeing to all...more
Set in 1939 in London, by all accounts a time of confusion and hardship, Rowan Scrivener is the strange one, he has these uncontrollable fits, which turn out to be symptomatic for his schizophrenia. For his own and his family’s safety he is sent to an asylum in Kent. His mother signs a waiver agreeing to all...more
Review from my blog.
An emotional read. Rowan is 13 and it's 1939. The Second World War has just started. The country is gripped by paranoia and fear. Fears of German spies are running wild. Thoughts of threat of invisible killer gas attacks and wondering when the bombs will start to fall occupy the minds of the nation. This is a very bad time to be exhibiting the first signs of schizophrenia as young Rowan does. After an incident where he violently breaks three of his sister's fingers with a pia...more
An emotional read. Rowan is 13 and it's 1939. The Second World War has just started. The country is gripped by paranoia and fear. Fears of German spies are running wild. Thoughts of threat of invisible killer gas attacks and wondering when the bombs will start to fall occupy the minds of the nation. This is a very bad time to be exhibiting the first signs of schizophrenia as young Rowan does. After an incident where he violently breaks three of his sister's fingers with a pia...more
This book certainly does belong on the Carnegie Medal shortlist. Rowan is 13, living in Spitalfields with his family (artist father, writer mother, two sisters) in 1939, when children are being evacuated from London to escape the threat of German bombs. When he has panic attacks and behaves violently, injuring his younger sister, his parents and grandmother take him to a mental hospital in Kent. For a while, I thought it would be a familiarly depressing account of the misguided treatment of ment...more
This absolutely marvellous book is about a 13-year-old boy who is diagnosed as a schizophrenic during WWII. While his siblings are evacuated from London to the countryside, Rowan finds himself sent to an asylum, where there are creepily beautiful, vapid nurses and a German doctor who is experimenting with electro-shock therapy...
At first glance, at least, things seem extremely sinister to the reader. Dr von Metzer is not what he seems, though, and neither are the other 'inmates', particularly a...more
At first glance, at least, things seem extremely sinister to the reader. Dr von Metzer is not what he seems, though, and neither are the other 'inmates', particularly a...more
This book wasn't at all what I was expecting.
The book follows the story of Rowan a young boy who is sent away by his family to a mental hospital because he is strange. During the course of the book you see how he is treated by the staff at the hospital, other patients and his family. It also has the nice touch of being set during the early part of World War Two.
The main reason I would recommend someone should read this is because it gives you real insight into how people with mental illness were...more
The book follows the story of Rowan a young boy who is sent away by his family to a mental hospital because he is strange. During the course of the book you see how he is treated by the staff at the hospital, other patients and his family. It also has the nice touch of being set during the early part of World War Two.
The main reason I would recommend someone should read this is because it gives you real insight into how people with mental illness were...more
Excellent example of the genre 'teenage fiction'. This is a well-written, adeptly-thought out novel - with themes that should get young people thinking....mental health, racism, hypocrisy ...
I am a little nonplussed by the frightful cover, but in a way, it teaches one not to 'judge a book by its cover'. So too, we must not judge people by their outer appearance, but look within.
Rowan and Dorothea are intriguing and believable characters, despite the 3rd-person narrator giving us their thoughts.
T...more
I am a little nonplussed by the frightful cover, but in a way, it teaches one not to 'judge a book by its cover'. So too, we must not judge people by their outer appearance, but look within.
Rowan and Dorothea are intriguing and believable characters, despite the 3rd-person narrator giving us their thoughts.
T...more
Mental illness and experimental treatments supervised by a German doctor during WWII. There are an awful lot of issues covered in this book. But it is done with a light touch - the plot moves forward smoothly and the characters are beautifully drawn.
Perhaps it is because my children are younger, but I worry about this being too harrowing for some teens. It has certainly stayed with me.
Perhaps it is because my children are younger, but I worry about this being too harrowing for some teens. It has certainly stayed with me.
Wow, pretty intense stuff. A little slow to start but it certainly picked up, though it was never exactly a 'light' read. The Christmas card Dr. von Metzen received from his colleague in Munich was *chilling*.
Rowan was interesting, not always likeable but fantastic at the end where it counted most. I loved how his grandmother was actually the title character from Ivy! It was fabulous to see how her life had gone, that she was still working with animals. Interesting detail and it wouldn't matte...more
Rowan was interesting, not always likeable but fantastic at the end where it counted most. I loved how his grandmother was actually the title character from Ivy! It was fabulous to see how her life had gone, that she was still working with animals. Interesting detail and it wouldn't matte...more
This is the fictional story of a schizophrenic boy treated with electro-convulsive therapy in 1939. It was surprisingly (and perhaps unrealistically) upbeat.
Great children's book exploring mental illness and war. A slow start but the narrative picks up the moment Rowan leaves home.
i thought it was a good book gave me lots of insight into Schizophrenia
Amazing! Incredibly moving but more than worth it. An all round great book that you will remember for a long time.
Interesting storyline, at times a bit boring.
An interesting and insightful read.
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