The Facts Speak for Themselves by Brock Cole

Cole, Brock. The facts speak for themselves. Arden, NC: Front St., 1997. ISBN: 186910146

Summary

Linda is in the police office telling them that she was on the parking ramp talking to Jack when Frank Perry came up and shot him. Then he walked down the ramp and shot himself. That's all there is to the story, according to Linda, but social services takes her to an orphanage anyway. Dissatisfied with her social worker's report, Linda writes her own report on her life. When Linda is in first grade, her mother has an affair and her father kills himself. Her mother's lover moves in and they have a child, but the man leaves. Her mother is depressed and Linda tries to feed the family as best as she can. Soon, her mother finds another man only this time he is much older. When he gets dementia, Linda's mother leaves, leaving Linda alone to care for the old man. Again and again, Linda is left to clean up after her mother, taking care of her two little brothers the best that she can. As for her relationship with Jack Greene, the man who was murdered, Linda says it was consensual. She doesn't want anyone to think that she's a fool. Nonetheless, the social workers won't let her leave until she figures things out.

Critical Evaluation

Told entirely from thirteen year old Linda's point of view the reader is sympathetic to Linda's need for control. Even when Linda insists that she was in control of her relationship with Jack (made especially creepy by the fact that he has a daughter Linda's age) the reader can't help but be impressed with Linda's strength. Linda's entire life is driven by her coping mechanisms. At once we see the whole story through Linda's eyes while at the same time wondering what the story looks like from other's eyes. The frustration readers feel with Linda's unreliability as a narrator only makes the story more engaging.

Reader's Annotation

Linda has already told the police the facts. She told them that Frank Perry walked up to Jack Greene and shot him. She also told them that her intimate relationship with Jack was consensual. Those are the facts. What more is there?

Genre and Subject

Realistic fiction. Abandonment, abuse, parentified children, sexual abuse.

Bibliotherapeutic Usefulness

Children who are forced to take care of themselves and younger children may see themselves in Linda. They may realize that their situation is unusual and not accepted by society at large.

Why I chose it

Right from the beginning you know that Linda thinks their relationship was consensual. But the social workers don't believe her. Why not?