The Virgin Suicides. Jeffrey Eugenides. 1994. Grand Central Publishing.
Annotation: A goroup of male teens become fascinated with a group of five sisters that all commit suicide.
Justification for Rejection: This novel takes place in the 1970's in a quiet Michigan neighborhood. The narrator and a few of his friends are obsessed with the mystery and beauty of all five of the Lisbon sisters. The sisters live a very sheltered, strange life these boys want to be a part of. When one of the sisters, Cecelia, commits suicide, it is the biggest thing to ever happen in town. Since then, the boys are even more fascinated and need to know more. They start noticing strange behavior from the house that is out of the ordinary. In this now-and-then book, it flips back and forth between the present (many years later) and the past (when the girls are still alive). The whole story is about the boys interviewing witnesses and friends to find out why all five of the sisters ended up committing suicide.
This novel was something very different than anything I have read before. It has a very unique story line that flips from past to present and has a very engaging topic of mystery and suspence. I thought some parts were fairly slow and I got bored a few times. I also did not think this book was appropriate for many adolescents, as it contained curse words, sexual references, and the disturbing topic of suicide that was graphic in some parts.
Genre: YA fiction, edgy
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