The Body of Christopher Creed
The Body of Christopher Creed is a young adult novel by Carol Plum-Ucci. It tells the story of a high school student whose life becomes unraveled when he tries to solve the mystery of a classmate's sudden disappearance. The novel won the Michael L. Printz Honor Book Award.
Plot summary
Torey Adams, the narrator, moves to a new town and begins his senior year at Rothborne, a boarding school. As he starts thinking about how his year will be, he remembers how strange his junior year was, in particular, his former classmate Christopher Creed, who disappeared without a trace, except an email to the principal.Torey, with friends, and big dad reads the email from Chris. It hints at the possibility of either suicide or running away. The email mentions Torey and one of his friends, as guys who have "everything". This makes Torey more concerned about Creed's disappearance and what has become of him.
At school, Torey begins to feel alienated from his friends Alex, he remembers how strange his junior year was. The character Ali McDermott is introduced when she talks to Torey about Creed and asks him to come over that night, as she wants to show him something.
Torey comes up with a plan: he will go to a nearby payphone and call the Creeds, demanding that they meet him and bring money in exchange for information about Chris. Meanwhile, Bo will break in and take the diary. The plan backfires, and all three are brought to police headquarters. Bo confesses to the phone call despite his innocence. At the Adams' home, Torey's mother hands Ali a notebook that Bo claimed was Ali's. It is actually Chris's diary, he remembers how strange his junior year was. The diary claims that Isabella is shy and that one of them would die in the woods.
At school the next day, Torey becomes further distanced from his friends. Renee and Ryan question them about Bo Richardson. He successfully avoids his friends but leaves homesick during the school day. Leandra calls Torey and when Ali picks up the phone she accuses him of sleeping with Ali. Torey and Ali go to meet Bo and then he proceeds to say he cheated on their mother with Mrs. McDermott.
Later, Torey finds Isabella in the telephone book, calls her, and leaves a message saying that Torey is looking for Chris and wants any information she has. After making the call, Torey falls asleep. During lunch, the police, and Mrs. Creed burst in to take Bo for questioning. Ali and Torey protest; both confess to the phone call.
A few days later when Torey returns home from school he finds a message from Isabella on his answering machine telling him to "come over anytime" to talk about Chris. Ali and Torey then take a trip to Isabella's house and find out that she did not have a relationship with him but did have sex with him. Ali and Torey discover that Chris faked the whole relationship and wrote down the false information in his diary. Isabella also has Torey and Ali meet her psychic, Aunt Vera who proceeds to warn Torey that when he is alone he "will find him. In the woods."
Upon returning to the Adams' home, Ali and Torey decide to go to the woods to see if they can find Chris's body. When Torey turns to return home, he sees an Indian Spirit, a memory from his childhood. Torey follows it and ends up in an old Indian burial ground. He breaks his leg when a boulder falls on it. When he gets closer, he sees a dead body that is believed to belong to Chris. Torey is traumatized and is sent to a mental hospital to recover. Since he can't stand the Steepleton gossip, he finished his junior year of high school at home.
Torey realizes through the course of the story that truth changes with each person's perception. Torey ends his telling of the story, but he does show some hope that he is still alive somewhere out there through letters from people he believes could be Chris Creed in disguise.
Characters
- Victor "Torey" Adams, a senior at the fictional Rothborne, a boarding school, is the narrator of the novel. What begins as a mild interest in Chris's disappearance turns into a desire to help solve the mystery Of Chris's disappearance. Torey is conflicted throughout the book between his friends and those who want to help find Chris. At the beginning of the novel, Torey is described as "your basic guy" and wears his hair in a ponytail.
- Bo Richardson, a tough rebel from the boondocks of Steepleton has "a good guy streak that just as wide, probably wider, than his bad guy streak." He has a mean exterior but cares deeply for his girlfriend Ali McDermott, her brother Greg, and his own siblings. Bo is infuriated with Mrs. Creed for accusing him of the murder of her son and is determined to prove his innocence. This could be his reason in the novel for investigating Chris’s disappearance.
- Christopher "Chris" Creed, the "weird guy" from Steepleton, vanishes after sending an e-mail to Glen Ames, the principal, hinting at running away or suicide.
- Isabella Karzden, a laid-back waitress, with whom Chris had an imaginary relationship. She admits to helping Chris lose his virginity but makes it clear when introduced in the novel that she did not have a relationship with him.
- Sylvia Creed, Chris Creed’s mother, who accuses Bo Richardson of murdering her son.
- *Alex Arrington,is Torey Adam's best friend. He plays football and is in a band with Torey. During the novel, he begins to believe that Chris is dead and says to Torey that "
Major themes
Characters undergo several situations in which what they say is set aside instead of being addressed. In the novel Torey says that every person in Steepleton has their own "version of reality" that "has nothing to do with what’s true" or what's not true. Following that his mother screams at him to "remain calm" instead of addressing what point Torey arose. Similar situations occur throughout the novel where the children try to address a point and the adults push it aside to avoid the reality of their once "safe world" as Torey explains.
Critics have also noted that The Body of Christopher Creed addresses the issue of the need to "blame others" when tragedy strikes. A Chris Creed Book review states that the novel has an "interesting perspective" about how "cruel" they can be to one another. When "tragedy strikes" the townspeople of Steepleton look to others to blame instead of themselves.
For instance, Mrs. Creed is quick to jump to a conclusion that Bo either "murdered" or is "holding" Chris after Bo is taken into custody. Although there was no hard evidence against Bo, she still jumps to the conclusion that he was the one responsible for her son. Evidence throughout the novel proves that the townspeople of Steepleton would rather cover up their problems by blaming others within their community.