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    Plank's Law
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    Plank's Law
    Unavailable
    Plank's Law
    Ebook120 pages1 hour

    Plank's Law

    By Lesley Choyce

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    Trevor has known since he was ten years old that he has Huntington's disease, but at sixteen he is informed that he has one year to live. One day while he's trying to figure stuff out, an old man named Plank finds him standing at a cliff by the ocean. It's the beginning of an odd but intriguing relationship. Both Trevor and Plank decide to live by Plank's Law, which is "just live." This means Trevor has to act on the things on his bucket list, like hanging out with real penguins, star in a science fiction movie and actually talk to Sara—the girl at the hospital who smiles at him.

    With the aid of Plank and Sara, Trevor revises his bucket list to include more important things and takes charge of his illness and his life.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOrca Book Publishers
    Release dateSep 12, 2017
    ISBN9781459812512
    Unavailable
    Plank's Law
    Author

    Lesley Choyce

    Lesley Choyce is an award-winning author of more than 100 books of literary fiction, short stories, poetry, creative nonfiction, young adult novels and several books in the Orca Soundings line. His works have been shortlisted for the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour, the White Pine Award and the Governor General’s Literary Award, among others. Lesley lives in Nova Scotia.

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    Reviews for Plank's Law

    3.5/5

    17 ratings7 reviews

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    • 3/5
      I must admit that I was first drawn to this title because I’m a physicist and I inadvertently read the title as Planck’s Law, the law of physics involving blackbody radiation. I was curious to see how somebody could make fiction out of this physics principle. Of course, the title is actually Plank’s Law, and has nothing to do with physics. I didn’t realize this until I was reading the plot blurb about the book. When I realized my mistake, I was momentarily annoyed that someone would try to trick physicists in this manner. Until it occurred to me that the ‘fiction for physicists’ market would be so infinitesimal that the author would have to be nuts to seek it out on purpose. By this time, I’d read the blurb and was interested anyway.The book concerns a teenager, Trevor, dealing with a fatal Huntington’s diagnosis. Given that this is a YA book, this is pretty heavy subject matter. The novel opens with Trevor on the edge of a cliff, beginning to at least imagine what suicide would be like, and if it might be a better option for everyone. This is when Plank shows up, a quirky 93-year-old with a snarky manner that interests Trevor and distracts him from his morbid thoughts. They begin a friend/mentor relationship that advises Trevor throughout the book. Plank’s Law turns out to be a personal philosophy to “stop trying to make sense of things and bloody well live your life.”Key characters as the story develops are contemporaries Sara and Antonio. Antonio is a reckless best friend who disappears from the story, much to Trevor’s dismay, because of a move far away. Sara is a cancer patient with an easy beauty, both inside and out, who embraces Plank’s Law with Trevor as they deal with their diseases together. She eventually helps Trevor get back in contact with Antonio. The way these relationships develop is engaging and convincing and drew me along through three-quarters of the novel. Near the end, things seem rushed and less convincing. I found myself feeling unsatisfied by the end, probably because I expected a better wrap-up after such an artful build-up. Nevertheless, this is a worthwhile novel dealing with very serious subjects.
    • 3/5
      There's a lot to love about this little book. The first thing is, in fact, because it's so little: with less than 200 pages, it's a very quick read. It reminds me a lot of the books I used to find in my high school library. They were short and thus full of quick action in order to encourage students to read. I can definitely see this book fitting among them; because it's short, there's not a dull moment. Of course, this can be a problem too. Due to its length, it seems like a lot of major things happen way too fast. I feel like an extra 100 pages could have really helped stagger the events and flesh out characters a bit better. While I loved Trevor and Plank, I felt like a lot of the other characters were rather blank and flat. Trevor, our protagonist, has a great narrative voice. He feels very much like a teenage boy, and I found myself relating to him and how he feels about his own life. Trevor holds a "brave face" throughout the narrative, but there are moments of sadness, where something much deeper slips through. One of my favourite parts of the book, in fact, is when Trevor talks about religion, and how he selected which religion he wanted to believe in. He mentions how he chose Buddhism because all he wanted was to be born in a body that isn't sick. This hit me in the gut, because it sounds exactly like something a child would want. His exact life, but without the sickness. Moments like this, where some subtle fear, or pain, or sadness seeps through are definitely some of the highlights of the book.What I really loved was how death appears in the book. Everyone is dying in some way, and I think that's a really smart move to make in a book about death and life and regret and finding that seed of happiness. Death exists in many different forms, and touches us all, but that doesn't mean we have to die: we can follow Plank's Law and search for life in our lives. The ending I felt was rushed, but I guess that's what happens in short narratives. While I liked this book, I really do believe it could have benefited from being longer so that themes and characters could be better explored, but I do think it's a book that people who aren't big readers will enjoy.
    • 3/5
      This is a book about 16 year old Trevor who has been given one year to live and after meeting a man named Plank decides to revamp his bucket list. This was a very heartfelt story and a quick read. That being said it left me wanting me in the length department.
    • 3/5
      An insanely fast teen read, I had this bad boy knocked out in no time flat. I feel though for what it was trying to achieve, the book should have been a little longer. Trevor has Huntington's Disease and he knows it's only a matter of time before he kicks the bucket. Unsure of what to do about life he passes time watching sci-fi movies and not doing much of anything. Then one day as he contemplates jumping off a huge cliff he sees an old man telling him to just go on ahead and do it already. This launches their friendship and the old man introduces, Planks Law, which is essentially "just live." Nothing fancy but Trevor takes it to heart and decides he wants to do something about all the items on his bucket list, most importantly, find a girlfriend. He eventually works up the courage to talk to the pretty smiling girl they see at the hospital and eventually they try to check different items on Trevor's list. I felt that the book was a little rushed, things happened too fast and it's hard to care about some of the characters who don't get a lot of time on the page. This is a good book for teens who like "The Fault in our Stars" and other " sick lit."
    • 5/5
      Trevor is one amazing character. He is a 16-year-old guy with an incurable disease and recently was told by his doctors that he has approximately one year to live. By chance he meets and befriends an old man who gives him the advice he needs to make his life meaningful - Plank's Law - instead of trying to figure everything out, just live your life to the fullest. Trevor does and things start falling into place. This is a wonderful story about the powers of hope, family and love, as well as the importance of just living.
    • 3/5
      This story follows a teenage boy named Trevor who has lived a sheltered life and now has only one year left to live. He has been diagnosed with Huntington?s disease when he was 10 years old and it has recently aggravated. In a moment of reflection he finds himself on the side of a cliff imagining that he would just jump when an elderly man named ?Plank? stops him and starts talking to him. Trevor is having a Hamletesque experience, he says: ?I think about doing things, but that?s about it.?Plank tells Trevor that there are two parts to ?Plank?s Law? or his own way of living. The first is: ?just live? and the second: ?Brains don?t count. Imagination is what counts.? Trevor thinks about what Plank has said, and creates a list of all the things he wants to do. As an adult I had to take a step back and understand his choices as a young teenage boy because I don?t think ?to drive a Lamborghini? and ?get arrested? would be on my bucket list.Trevor has many moments of reflection where he narrates about his family, and makes various lists like: the primary bucket list, secondary smaller goals, the many factors that shaped his life, and lists about people he meets. As a character his is a little different. He broods a bit more than he does activity, refuses to take too many chances, is intrigued by religion and thinks of himself as a Buddhist and Christian, and loves to watch Sci-Fi films. Trevor?s life changes even more-so when he meets a girl named Sara. Every time he feels lost he revisits the elderly man Plank and is set straight by Plank?s matter-of-fact attitude about life.The book has a good message and a good premise but I found the vocabulary to be a bit simplistic, especially for its intended audience. There?s also a lot of telling and not enough showing. The first 50 pages are filled with ?but before I move on let me tell you about my mom?my dad?my grandpop.? This is a bit too much because no one does this even in real life, you find things out as you go along. This book also contains a lot of profane language especially when Plank needs to come across as a ?cranky old man?: a lot of ?bullshit? and ?fuck offs.? Those components irked me a little as a reader.What I did enjoy was the premise. It?s a good message to stop overthinking, to prioritize imagination, to just live, and take each moment in your stride. There are some great lines scattered through the book from time to time like: ?the best parts of your life are the ones you share with someone else.? I also enjoyed the ending in that it wasn?t a cartoon ending, nor was it world-shattering. It was just right and realistic. I prefer realistic endings so hats off in that respect. I also appreciated that Choyce decided to shed some light on Huntington?s disease because I?ve rarely encountered it in young adult fiction. If I were to recommend this book, I would hand it to people who are having a bit of a crisis and need some perspective (teens and adults alike).
    • 3/5
      I feel like the ending for this book was rushed, and that given the seriousness of Trevor's disease, it could have had a lengthier plot. Having said that, I did like Plank, and I really liked it when he told Trevor, "Don't think I'm gonna start unloading a whole lot of philosophical bullshit on you or anything. Movies make it look like old people have some kind of accumulated wisdom. None of that is true. We're as confused and uncertain as young mugs like you. We've just been around long enough to know when to walk around a big pile of dog shit rather than into it."