Book Talk #2

The Butterfly Garden by Dot Hutchison is about a group of girls, all under the age of 21, who have been kidnapped to live in a secret garden, which is tended by the Gardner. The book starts off with a girl named “Maya” being interregated by two FBI agents, agent Victor Hanoverian and agent Brandon Eddison, to get as much information about life in this secret garden. Readers learn that the garden can only be accessed by the Gardner, and eventually his two sons Desmond and Avery. In this garden, lived over 15 girls between the ages of 15 and 21. Each girl received a new name given to them from the Gardner, and also a distinct tattoo of enormous butterfly wings on their back each representing a different species of butterfly, and each girl was raped by the Gardner and Avery. Avery specifically abused Maya because of her strong will and courage. Also, any girl who turned 21, misbehaved, or tried to escape was murdered, but their bodies were preserved in glass cases filled with resin, and their wings were put on display in the hallways where the girls lived. Maya is looked up to by all the other girls because she is a type of motherly figure to them, and also she is treated the best by the Gardner. Maya also becomes close with the Gardner’s son Desmond, who eventually helps Maya and the others escape.

I chose this text because originally I was supposed to read it for a book club, but the book club ended up not working out. I read this text on my own, and I absolutely loved it. Growing up, my favorite genres of books were the horror and psycho thriller type books, and this book falls perfectly in those categories. I think this text would be appropriate for older high school students, especially those who I thought were mature enough for this book just because the characters in this book are young girls who are trying to overcome this huge challenging obstacle, but also personal challenges as well, such as loosing family members, overcoming depression and anxiety, etcetera.

I don’t think I would use this book as a book for the whole class to read, but I can see using this book for any type or reading circle or book club, as a book to use for a book report, or even on a personal project (ex: my lesson plan unit on conflict, this book would be perfect for various types of conflict.)

Challenges I think I would face using this text would because of the mention of really heavy topics such as rape, molestation, suicide, and domestic abuse, and I think parents and administration would have a problem with really dark topics like that. That is why I would only recommend it to those I know who could handle this book in a maturely manner, and I would let administration and parents know that in no way this book nor I are condoning the acts committed in this book, but they are topics that shouldn’t be sheltered from readers. I would always make sure to clear it was parents and administration first before I recommend this book to students.

Important things to note about this book:

-          It’s apart of a 4 part series – each are different to each other

-          It’s 288 pages

-          It MAY be made into a movie, but nothing confirmed