Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Tow #12- IRB post: A Deadly Wandering by Matt Richtel

           I am now about half way into this book A Deadly Wandering and I am really enjoying the read. I don’t normally like books that my mom recommends to me but this one happens to be different.  So this book is basically about texting and driving. It follows the case of this boy named Reggie who lives in Utah. He was the first ever case of texting and driving where the awareness for such an act was started. On his way to work he happened to be texting and driving, slid into the other lane, and then hit a car killing two scientists that were inside. Originally it was considered hydroplaning, but the cop thought it sounded to suspicious. So he pursues a deeper investigation, which presents the reader with a lot of facts and statistics about distractions behind the wheel. The goal of the text, which is why my mom wanted me to read this book, is to teach young drivers about the horrors of distractions while driving and how they are a serious matter.


            Matt Richtel achieves this purpose well throughout the text by the organization he uses. For the most part the book is laid out by a narrative style story and then statistics and facts. It switches between the two of these to make a logical story that presents facts along the way. For example in one part of the book Richtel would write, “The family drove to Bunderson’s office. It was located in a single story building near the county courthouse. It was unassuming to the point of being ugly, with a pink, unkempt exterior and a mass-manufactured mailbox with an eagle on top” (pg 69) and then later would say something like, “Reinforcing that finding is research by Dr. Gloria Mark, a professor at the University of California at Irvine, who found through survey studies that people are happier at work when they use Facebook more” (170). This constant switch back and forth makes the read a lot easier on the reader who is likely a teenager.

            I recommend this book to any young drivers.

No comments:

Post a Comment