On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer
On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer, a Newbery Honor book from 1987, is a book about choices and how when we don’t stand up for ourselves, the consequences can be disastrous. Joel and Tony are best friends. They do everything together. Joel is cautious and likes to play it safe. Tony is a free spirit, who has no fear, and lives for a thrill.
Tony talks Joel into biking out to Starved Rock, which is pretty far. Joel would rather go swim at the city pool. Tony lies to Joel’s father and says his mother has given him permission to go. Joel’s father says,
“On your honor?” Joel’s father said. “You won’t go anywhere except the park?”
“On my honor,” Joel repeated.
But will he keep that promise? During their bicycle trip to the state park, they come to the river and Tony dares Joel to swim to the sandbar in the middle. Joel knows they aren’t supposed to be anywhere near the river. He knows how dangerous it is. He really doesn’t want to do it but he lets Tony convince him anyways against his better judgment. It’s a decision that he will end up regretting for the rest of his life. It’s a story of how a simple moment can turn tragic and the clock doesn’t move back.
How can he go back to his father and let everybody know that he didn’t listen? That he disobeyed? That he was to scared to stand up for himself? That he wasn’t assertive? That his pride was more important than doing what’s right? Okay, so that sounds really, really preachy. But it wasn’t. It all comes out in the story. It’s also a great book to illustrate the fear that some children may have when approaching their parents but that when they finally do, love conquers all.
On My Honor is a quick read that will have you turning the page to see how Joel reacts to his unfortunate circumstances and will have you cringing when he does exactly opposite what you want him to do. A good book for preteens and their parents as a gateway to discuss ***spoiler*** death.
Hey you! Yes. You! I've noticed that you've stopped by to visit a few times! But I don't know who you are. Why don't you take a moment and introduce yourself. Don't be scared. I try not to bite. I know you're a lurker but I'd love to hear your thoughts about what's been bringing you here. And if you haven't done so already, don't forget to never miss a post by subscribing to my feed or receiving updates by email. Thanks for visiting!
Tags: A-D Author, banned, female author, Fiction, M-P Title, Newbery, Newbery Honor, published 1980's, Publisher: Yearling
 |
| or | 
|
Maw Books has an affiliate relationship with several bookstores, including Indiebound, Powell’s, and Amazon . When you buy a product (not just books – any product), via one of my links, Maw Books earns income from the sale and as always, it’s much appreciated as all affiliate income is used to support the blog. There is no cost to you.
My teacher read this one to us in the third grade and wept as she read.
you brought back some memories.
on January 26th, 2009 at 12:42 pmI’ve been meaning to read this book….thanks for bringing it back to attention!!
on January 26th, 2009 at 7:11 pmI’m trying to be careful with some of the Newberry’s I read with my daughter. She is a weeper. She found her copy of “I’ll Love You Forever” and read it upstairs and came down sobbing, “but mo-oo-mm-y the mommy loved her baby and the baby grew up and she still loved him and then she was old and he still loved her and they sang the song and he had a baby and it was all saa-aaaaaaa-d”
She wanted me to promise her that I would never die and she would never grow up. Hard conversation to have with a 7 year old.
So far I have been avoiding books with topics that I think are too heavy for her to deal with right now. She got through Charlotte’s Web though….with very few tears.
Poor kid. It’s all my fault. I can’t bring myself to read or watch Ol’ Yeller because I know I would cry. I cried at EVERYTHING when I was pregnant. Even soap commercials.
on January 26th, 2009 at 9:57 pmAmy – I could imagine that this book hits home a lot harder for some than others.
Staci – You’re welcome!
Jenn M. – So funny that you mention “I’ll Love You Forever.” Rebecca at Rebecca Reads just had a post about that book and talked about the death aspect of it. You are right, not all Newbery’s are appropriate for a younger crowd. As a parent it’s always best to know what you are getting yourself into.
on January 28th, 2009 at 5:15 pmI make sure i read reviews and and see if they are appropriate or not. Feel good, because most of those reviews are yours!
on January 28th, 2009 at 6:39 pmI have been thinking about reading this to my kids, or just having them read it. I think I’ll get it from the library and read it to them this week. Thanks!
on January 31st, 2009 at 5:49 ami read On My Honor with my now 18yo daughter when she was in fourth grade. (it was assigned reading.) i loved it!
i helped her do a project on it about choices and consequences and how each choice leads to another choice, and how each time you can make a good choice or a not so good choice. we made a big flowchart of the whole thing. the teacher thought it was impressive. such an important message for kids (and parents) to learn!
on February 1st, 2009 at 10:42 pmI read the story der angst hat, bist doch du,
on March 5th, 2009 at 8:21 amthats the german translated version from on my honor. Its a good, quick read book.
Thanks for the Review!
yea i read this story when i was younger. somehow this book came back to my mind after years and im 15!!..and i just remembered the story but not the title. im soo glad i found the title online. this was a veryy good book!..
on May 8th, 2009 at 5:37 pm[...] On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer [...]
on December 30th, 2009 at 9:26 pmmmm i like the book it good but too much too read that my opinoin idk wat u guys think =] i rrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaalllllllllllllly lllllllllllllllllllllllloooooooooooooooooooovvveeeeeeeeeeeee reeeeeeeeeaaaaaaadddddddddinnnnnggg aaaaallllllllllloooooooooooottttttttttt oooooooooooffffffffffff ppppppppppppppaaaaaaaaaaaagggggggggggggggggggggeeeeeeeeeeeeeessssssssssssssssss
on May 2nd, 2010 at 2:04 pmThis is one of the books I use as an example everytime I break into my “censorship stinks” speech, which happens on a regular basis.
I purchased this book for my daughter when she was in roughly the third grade as a Christmas gift. I read it before I wrapped it, and realized that she was not emotionally ready for the book’s theme. At the time she was scared of her own shadow, and petrified of death, so it went into the closet instead of under the tree for awhile.
I pulled it out and gave it to her when I felt she was ready for it. She was still a kid who was scared by things that didn’t bother other kids, but I felt she was ready for it. Turns out I was right, and although it bothered her some, she enjoyed it as much as I did. It also provided an excellent opportunity for us to discuss, as a family, a subject that we probably wouldn’t have discussed otherwise.
Part of my job as a parent is to filter the things that my children read or watch. It is NOT my job to filter what other people’s children read or watch – or what anybody else reads or watches for that matter.
Thank you for writing a beautiful story that gave us the opportunity as a family to discuss themes that made us nervous but yet open the door to conversations we otherwise might not have had.
on September 16th, 2010 at 10:35 amI personally thought the book wasn’t just about dealing with the strain, guilt, and pain of death, but just protecting your friends when they really need it. If you ask me, Tony was very reckless, so reckless it was stupid for a kid. He should have known the kind of damage he would have left behind him.
But then again, he was a kid. He didn’t know any better. But really the entire moral for me was to protect and help advise your friends; don’t let them do the wrong things that your parents wouldn’t let you do. You may not be your friends’ parents, but you’re their friend. Friends have more influence on people then anyone can ever imagine.
on November 10th, 2010 at 7:44 pm