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The Drowning of Stephan Jones

by Bette Greene (Goodreads Author)

3.45 of 5 stars 3.45 · rating details · 123 ratings · 16 reviews

As her mother battles a citizens' group that wants to ban all "anti-Christian" literature from the public library, Carla faces her own battle of torn loyalties when her boyfriend starts persecuting the homosexual owners of an antiques shop.

Paperback, 217 pages

Published October 1st 1992 by Starfire (first published 1991)

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May 12, 2009 3Bridget! rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

"A censor is a man who thinks he knows more than you ought to." Laurence J. Peter thought that books should not be banned, and neither do I. Most people do not really think of the subject of banned books while they are reading. Some people find it hard to believe that some books could be banned because they seem so harmless. Would you allowed a book to be banned, put away so that no one could see it, that no one could ever experience the story it had to offer? Books were meant to be read, and pe...more "A censor is a man who thinks he knows more than you ought to." Laurence J. Peter thought that books should not be banned, and neither do I. Most people do not really think of the subject of banned books while they are reading. Some people find it hard to believe that some books could be banned because they seem so harmless. Would you allowed a book to be banned, put away so that no one could see it, that no one could ever experience the story it had to offer? Books were meant to be read, and people have the right to read them. No one should have the right to tell you what you can and cannot read. Stories open people up to different ideas and different ways of life. They teach some people that its okay to be different or unusual and perhaps you aren't that different after all. Some books even show you why you would not want to do something.

When you read a book about magic and fantasy, it can open you up to a whole new world. When you read a book about a Buddhist monk, it can show you a different way of life. Books can show you differences in religions and beliefs, and give you different options for what you believe yourself. Its extremely important to look at all walks of life, and to experience what each goes through. Books are wonderful at exposing different cultures to an individual. Bridge to Terabitha and Siddhartha are two examples of books that show exactly this.

Most of the time, a book is banned because people are afraid of what it teaches. A book that includes homosexuality, religion, abuse, or sexual content is often the first to be banned. Sometimes, a book teaches a young person that its okay to be different. A teenage boy can read a book like The Drowning of Stephan Jones and realize that he's not a freak because he is gay. It helps him to know that there are other people like him that are going through exactly what he is going through. The abuse, religion, and sexual content of the book help him to cope with the things he might be going though in his own life.

Drugs, alcohol, and sex are three major reasons why books are banned and is exactly why Go Ask Alice was banned. The character, Alice, has a downward spiral in her life because of a drug addiction. She has sex for drugs, runs away to get a hold of drugs, and dies in the end of a drug overdose. Reading this story has made me, as well as many other teenagers, not want to get caught up in drugs. Reading about Alice's experience makes one reevaluate the importance of staying away from drugs.

To ban a book is to ban the right to read and become informed. I would never want someone to tell me I could not read something because they did not think it was appropriate. Stories open up worlds of opportunity, and offer excellent stories. Whenever you are upset or caught up in something, a book is a good way to relax and escape. Reading is the best way to calm down. What will you say when a book is banned from you?(less)

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Feb 02, 2012 Elizabeth Ditty rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

First, I always like to point out that I use Goodreads mouse-over text for my ratings, so two stars = "it was OK."

As for the book, I appreciated the story, but I was disappointed in how two-dimensional and stereotypical the characters were. The conservative religious characters especially had no depth, no explanation as to why they hated so fiercely. None of them ever showed any doubt or psychological complexity at all. Granted, there are some people in the world who fall into the moral black &...more

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Oct 19, 2012 Julie (Mom2lnb) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Fans of Thought-Provoking YA Lit; Anyone Interested in LGBT Issues or Hate Crimes

Shelves: desert-island-keepers, read-2012, young-adult-fiction

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"4.5 stars" The Drowning of Stephan Jones is yet another thought-provoking book from Bette Greene. It focuses on the extreme bullying and eventual murder of a gay young man by a group of homophobic, supposedly Christian teens. Considering that this book was first published in 1991 when the environment for gays was still pretty hostile, I think it was not only a groundbreaking story, but also a very brave move on the part of the author. Not too surprisingly, it became one...more Reviewed for THC Reviews
"4.5 stars" The Drowning of Stephan Jones is yet another thought-provoking book from Bette Greene. It focuses on the extreme bullying and eventual murder of a gay young man by a group of homophobic, supposedly Christian teens. Considering that this book was first published in 1991 when the environment for gays was still pretty hostile, I think it was not only a groundbreaking story, but also a very brave move on the part of the author. Not too surprisingly, it became one of the top 100 banned/challenged books of the 1990's. I can easily predict that many Christians would be off-put, if not outright offended, by the fact that the main perpetrators of the violence in the story are professing Christians. However, not all of of us are bothered by the book. I myself am a Christian, and I don't think that the author's intent was to bash Christianity, so much as it was to shed light on the problem of how certain Christian beliefs (or just ultra-conservatism in general) can lead to tragic consequences. She also explores the idea of responsibility and when it is our duty as citizens to speak up for what's right, as well as the very simple concept of treating every person equally, as a human being, no matter if they're different from us. Lastly, Ms. Greene touches on the importance of educating ourselves and our children, so tragedies like this don't happen in our own communities.

The primary character in this story is Carla, a high-school junior who isn't exactly the most popular girl in school. Her mother is the librarian of their small Southern town and pretty much the only liberal in a sea of conservatives. Carla's mom has always encouraged her to be open-minded, and Carla has learned a lot from books, which is where the idea of education as a way to prevent and combat prejudice and intolerance comes into play. Because of the way her mother raised her, Carla hates to see anyone being picked on, but at the same time, she has grown tired of being “different” because of the way that her mom always seems to be drawing negative attention to them with her activism. There is a part of me that could understand Carla's need to distance herself from her mother's “causes,” but I'm not sure it would have been quite as easy for me to identify with the conservative Harris family as it seemed to be for her. She was attracted to their son, Andy, and thrilled when he finally asked her out. I was very conflicted about her choice to go out with Andy, and more importantly, to then stay with him even after she found out about his bullying behavior toward the young gay couple in the next town. Part of me couldn't understand why she would even like a boy like that much less want to be his girlfriend, but I started thinking back to my own youth and some of the stupid things I did. Then it started to make sense. First of all bad boys often have an indescribable allure, especially for young girls, so in this respect, Carla was probably thinking more with her hormones than her head. Then there was the difficult to combat peer pressure, which made her feel like she had to go along with the crowd in order to be liked and fit in. Lastly, Carla seemed like a fairly shy girl. Deep down, she didn't really agree with Andy's position, but found it very hard to speak up, because Andy and the others pretty much overwhelmed her and steamrolled her whenever she tried. I may not have always agreed with Carla's choices, but when the chips were down and her friends actually attacked Stephan, she finally did do the right thing even though it ultimately wasn't enough to save him and also cost her dearly.

The other main characters in this story are the victims and the perpetrators. Stephan and his partner Frank moved to Arkansas from Boston for a change of pace, and run a little antiques shop in a touristy type town. They love the area and just want to live peacefully, but their plans are disrupted by a bunch of bullies who hate them merely for loving one another. Stephan is a pretty reserved young man, while Frank is more outspoken, but other then them being a gay couple there is nothing that sets them apart from the crowd. Their attackers are led by Andy, another young man who seems to appoint himself as judge, jury and executioner to this couple. It was easy to see where Andy learned how to hate and bully. He was a teen who was himself bullied by his own father, although it certainly didn't make his actions right on any level. It is difficult to imagine or understand how anyone can twist the Bible to justify the kind of hatred and violence that Andy commits, but I know it does happen. We want to believe that we live in a more civilized society nowadays, but there are those among the population who still behave like animals. Andy and his friends just happened to be some of those people.

As a parent I think that this book contains a strong message for teens, not only about the importance of being tolerant of those who are different, but also about standing up for what's right by speaking out when you know someone is being bullied. Even though the entire responsibility for Stephan's death lies squarely on the perpetrators, it is possible that if Carla had told someone about what Andy was doing sooner, it might not have escalated as far as it did. As to content that might concern parents, the book does have a fair bit of strong language, including several uses of the “f-word” and a lot of hate speech. I didn't find it to be gratuitous though, as it fit the characters and situations. I also don't think the story would have had quite the same impact without these “bad” words. There is no sexual content per se, but Carla mentions Andy pressuring her for sex. She thought long and hard about her answer before it even came up between them, and her response was a very mature one which sends another positive message to teens, especially girls. Any teen who is being bullied or fears bullying might be upset by the scenes in which Stephan is bullied. The final scene right before his death is particularly intense, as three good size guys, as well as two girls, are beating up on, molesting, and otherwise menacing a much smaller, innocent man who is begging for his life. In spite of this, I still believe that most older teens could handle the mature subject matter. In my opinion, it is no worse than some PG-13 movies.

Overall, The Drowning of Stephan Jones is a book that leaves the reader with a lot of food for thought. There was a twist to the ending that some may find fitting, but which may not be satisfying to others. I'm kind of undecided myself, because I can see it both ways. After reading several of Bette Greene's books, I've come to realize that she has a tendency to leave her endings somewhat open, and I will say that it was realistic for the time period in which it was written. While we now have hate crimes laws which would help prevent endings like this in real life today, there were no such laws at the time this story was written. Not only the ending, but the entire story was pretty realistic. As I was reading it, I was eerily reminded of the real-life murder of Matthew Shepard which had some really bizarre similarities. Since this book was published seven years before Matt's murder, there couldn't possibly be a correlation, but it does make one wonder how many other gay individuals have experienced this kind of abuse that we never even hear about. All in all, I thought that The Drowning of Stephan Jones was a very good book that I would recommend to anyone, mature teens and up, who want to read more about LGBT motivated hate crimes or who might want to challenge themselves to see those in the LGBT community from a different point of view.(less)

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Jun 01, 2013 Lisa Houlihan rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ya, female, juvenile

Going by the first chapter, which is as far as I've read, this book's tone is laughably dated. The protagonist ogles at a color TV in a shop window. It's 1991, Ms. Greene. Also I can't quite believe that a small town in Arkansas in 1991 had a viable independent hardware store. Right now I'm reading it to see how Greene juggles her dated tone with her subject.

Wow. I'm sorry to say that a book with such important subject matter is execrably, egregiously, hideously bad. The characters are one-dime...more

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Jul 20, 2012 Andrea thebusybibliophile rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle, ya-saves

This is the true story of what happens when a bunch of ignorant people raise their kids to hate people who are different. You know how it’s going to end (you saw the title of the book, right?), so it’s no surprise there, but what happens before and after is just as important.

The people in the novel were flat and only mildly interesting, although I assume Bette Green was limited in her ability to bring them to life, because these are real people and not fictional characters. Andy Harris and his p...more This is the true story of what happens when a bunch of ignorant people raise their kids to hate people who are different. You know how it’s going to end (you saw the title of the book, right?), so it’s no surprise there, but what happens before and after is just as important.

The people in the novel were flat and only mildly interesting, although I assume Bette Green was limited in her ability to bring them to life, because these are real people and not fictional characters. Andy Harris and his posse (and in fact, the entire town) were your typical bible-thumping bigots who couldn’t see past their own view of the world. It was not made clear why they felt this way, though. Nor was it understood why Carla and her mother acted so different from the rest of the town. Carla seemed too naïve and trusting, even after seeing the things her friends were capable of.

The writing was stiff and the dialogue was halting and unbelievable. It reminded me of some of my earlier writing attempts when I thought everything had to be descriptive.

With a practiced hand, Carla brushed her auburn hair, which shone with an inbred luster reserved for the young, the healthy, and the beautiful. By the time she had slipped the saffron party dress over her head, she looked as though there were nothing she could possibly add or subtract that would make her look more radiantly beautiful than she looked right at this moment.

I did find the action tense and even knowing the title of the novel, I expected someone to come through and save the day. I thought surely this poor man wouldn’t die because of some idiots and their skewed religious beliefs. But alas, Stephan Jones did die, and it was sad, as was his partner’s reaction to his death.

I enjoyed reading about the trial and the town’s reaction to the death. It seemed that the flowery descriptors slowed and though the dialogue was still too formal to be believable, the writing made the trial interesting.

The cover is bland and though it is relevant to the story, it doesn’t capture your attention.

The sum up: An interesting story that suffers too much from uneven writing.(less)

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Oct 18, 2012 Natashia Duncan rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I was a bit disappointed in this one. The IDEA was haunting, heartfelt, and an all around great idea for a book. It's a topic I feel so strongly about, and being the type of reader I am, reading handfuls each week, I was really excited to read it. However the writing style was disappointing, and I felt it was very stereotypical. Calling the men every hateful thing on existence that has to do with the gay community, "leader of the pack", heavy Christian background, ect. Overall, the idea was grea...more

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Aug 28, 2009 Martac rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Banned in my local high school, I had to read it in middle school to find out what all the town meetings were about and why the English teacher was being fired.

Bette Greene is a great youth fiction writer--and the spookiness of the idea of hate comes through. As I read this book, I continually related what the students in the book did to what might actually happen in our town; a gay couple had just moved into an old neighbor's house.

Just as a Greek tragedy, when all already know the ending, the...more

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Apr 21, 2008 Tim Wilson rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

In the novel, The Drowning of Stephen Jones, by Bette Greene, a lot of hardship and disrmination goes on in the state of Iowa. A girl named Sarah is in a very tight spot where she has to decide whose side she will go on. She has to choose whether to defend two homosexual teenagers at her school that always get picked on, or to side with her boyfriend and the rest of the town who believe that it is "unhuman" to be gay. She really thinks that Stephan and John are two nice guys and think its wrong...more

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Oct 01, 2011 Katrina Miller rated it 3 of 5 stars

Very stereotypical. The book is badly written. I was expecting a lot better from Bette Green. The two gay men in this book are described using every gay stereotype out there. I read it for banned books week, but I cannot stand when a book stereotypes a gay couple.

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May 14, 2010 Angelica rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Wonderful topic, but I could barely get past the horrible writing and unrealistic dialogue. If I didn't have to read it for my book project, I would not have picked it up.

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Sep 28, 2011 Michelle White added it

Shelves: contemporary-realistic-fiction, chapter-books

I didn't like this book. It was strange. I got it from the IUS Library.

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Dec 05, 2008 Ali C rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Very good!

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Jan 02, 2012 Delilah Trenaman rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was a very powerful book. I feel that everyone should read this book and then maybe the world wouldn't be so prejudice. It was very well written and teaches lots of lessons.

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Sep 13, 2007 Poofygoo rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

When I read this in seventh grade or so (I hid it from my very Catholic parents, who did not approve)I didn't actually like the prose, but it was the first book that I read that really brought home the idea of a hate crime and the persecution gays go through. It really opened a whole new world of ideas, tolerance and thinking. So, sucky writing, important book.

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Dec 07, 2012 Lisa Lewis Robison rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book made me mad. Which I guess was the point. The hatred and bigotry is appearant and I think it's a good book to read and discuss.

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Jun 10, 2008 Gili rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Every gay book I read as a child was super traumatic. What gives?

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About Bette Greene

Bette Greene’s award-winning classic novels will be celebrating 40 years in print!

As an award-winning author, screenwriter and news reporter, Bette Greene is read worldwide in over 16 languages. Bette continues her legacy of writing and speaking for the victimized. Within the heartbeat of her storytelling and the realism of her prose lies Bette’s demand that her readers feel what she feels and see...more

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Books by Bette Greene

Summer of My German Soldier (Summer of My German Soldier, #1)

Philip Hall Likes Me. I Reckon Maybe. (Beth Lambert, #1)

Morning Is a Long Time Coming (Summer of My German Soldier, #2)

Get on Out of Here, Philip Hall (Beth Lambert, #2)

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