The inside cover reads:
Jake Semple is a scary kid. Word has it that he burned down his old school and then was kicked out of every other school in his home state. Only weeks into September, the middle school in Traybridge, North Carolina, has thrown him out, too.
Now there's only one place left that will take him--a home school run by the most outrageous, forgetful, chaotic, quarrelsom family you'll ever meet. Each and every Applewhite is an artis through and through--except E.D., the smar, scruffy girl with a deep longing for order and predictability. E.D. and Jake, so nearly the same age, are quickly paired in the family's first experiment in "cooperative education."
The two clash immediately, of course. The only thing they have in common is the determination to survive the family's eccentricities. In Tolan's hilarious tale, a local production of The Sound of Music-- directed, stagecrafted, choreographed, and costumed by Applewhites-- brings the fmaily together and shows E.D. and Jake the value of the special gifts they've had all along.
My Rxn:
First of all, any novel with this kind of cover is bound to pique my interest:
It caught my attention because i thought it might be about a punk kid. A great novel. packed with tons of information on the side. Complicated family life and realistic characters make the connections easy. plausibility is high. The narrator is a limited omniscient that alternates between the pov's of E.D. and Jake. Any YA novel that uses anything more than monosyllabic words is an awesome one, but this one wins the Word Nerd Seal of Approval because it uses one of my favortie big words: impervious. It is a bit saccharine at the end... but only because the sound of music is involved. I like E.D. the most... because she stands for order amidst her chaotic family.... and she thinks she has no talent.... but by the end of the story, she is the one managing everything... and she gets it done. a strong character. Jake, on the other hand, is a archetypal rebel kid... who starts off doing whatever he wants... but eventually his spirit is broken... and he starts to realize that he's a completely different person. Read this in two days. It made me laugh out loud in public. That's one thing that I look for in a novel- wit. Definitely recommendable for the classroom. it's pretty squeaky clean except for the fact that a 15 year old smokes.... but i'd say for grades 6-9
I was also just poking around the hyperion teen site... and i found this.
Born to Rock
I'm adding it to the list. heh.
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